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This caused a bit of a stir, even in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Appeared in the Denver Post. May 4th.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Representatives of a local Christian church tried to lure a seventh-grader at Russell Middle School into a church van last week, school district officials said.
As a result, the principal sent students home with a letter to parents asking that they instruct their children not to talk to strangers, and the district has beefed up security around the property at 3825 E. Montebello Drive.
The letter to parents did not identify the church, and the district — acting on the advice of its attorney — has declined to name it. But sources told The Gazette* that it was Cornerstone Baptist Church, which is about 2.5 miles from the school and has gotten into trouble in the past for baptizing children without parents' permission.
Students at nearby Keller and Fremont elementary schools also have been approached by church members, and church proselytizing has been escalating in recent weeks at Russell. Still, officials were unprepared for what happened Thursday, district spokeswoman Elaine Naleski said Friday.
"We have never had a problem like this before," she said. "We are shocked by their actions."
A few weeks ago, officials at the school met with the church's leader to complain about members coming on school property to preach the Bible, Naleski said. But rather than stop, church members started proselytizing from public sidewalks outside the school.
The school will seek a no-trespassing order if church members resume harassing children on school property, Naleski said. But it will be up to parents to take legal action against the church if their children are approached in public areas outside the school.
Assistant pastor Ford Glover said Friday that Cornerstone would have no comment.
The church website's "doctrinal statement"# that "we believe the church is a local, separated body of believers who are sent forth into the world to get people saved, baptized, and added to the church."
* http://www.gazette.com/
# http://www.cbc-colspgs.com/
Thought you all might get a kick out of the presumptuousness of faith.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Representatives of a local Christian church tried to lure a seventh-grader at Russell Middle School into a church van last week, school district officials said.
As a result, the principal sent students home with a letter to parents asking that they instruct their children not to talk to strangers, and the district has beefed up security around the property at 3825 E. Montebello Drive.
The letter to parents did not identify the church, and the district — acting on the advice of its attorney — has declined to name it. But sources told The Gazette* that it was Cornerstone Baptist Church, which is about 2.5 miles from the school and has gotten into trouble in the past for baptizing children without parents' permission.
Students at nearby Keller and Fremont elementary schools also have been approached by church members, and church proselytizing has been escalating in recent weeks at Russell. Still, officials were unprepared for what happened Thursday, district spokeswoman Elaine Naleski said Friday.
"We have never had a problem like this before," she said. "We are shocked by their actions."
A few weeks ago, officials at the school met with the church's leader to complain about members coming on school property to preach the Bible, Naleski said. But rather than stop, church members started proselytizing from public sidewalks outside the school.
The school will seek a no-trespassing order if church members resume harassing children on school property, Naleski said. But it will be up to parents to take legal action against the church if their children are approached in public areas outside the school.
Assistant pastor Ford Glover said Friday that Cornerstone would have no comment.
The church website's "doctrinal statement"# that "we believe the church is a local, separated body of believers who are sent forth into the world to get people saved, baptized, and added to the church."
* http://www.gazette.com/
# http://www.cbc-colspgs.com/
Thought you all might get a kick out of the presumptuousness of faith.
Comment
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Comment by Asa Watcher on May 9, 2009 at 2:43pm -
Actually unholyroller, I think "everybody else is just like we are", except they are latent. Occasionally they slip-up, and expose the "latent atheists" within them. We should just give them more opportunities. Hmmm, "The Atheist Within". Has that been written yet?? If not , I'll submit a chapter.
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Comment by unholyroller on May 7, 2009 at 9:50pm -
See.....we're just like everybody else.....only more rational where superstition is concerned.
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Comment by Asa Watcher on May 7, 2009 at 3:58pm
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Comments made by atheists here at A/N reflect, almost exactly, the reactions among the general population in Colorado Springs. verrrry interesting. I don't think there are as many religious nut cases as we might think. They get media time & space because they are either loud, or they pay for it. The religious right's noisiness has not translated into a significant amount of political clout in Colorado Springs. The town's political conservatism is probably due more to the large number of military (active & retired) who live there.
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Comment by Jim DePaulo on May 7, 2009 at 9:05am -
I agree, Angie, should one of my grand kids be accosted by these assholes there would be some serious rearrangement of their facial features - and the law could suck swamp water as far as I'm concerned.
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Comment by Angie Jackson on May 6, 2009 at 10:42pm -
Whoa, that's just f*cked up. If someone tried that against MY son 1) he'd run, scream, fight back, etc. and 2) I'd probably get arrested for assault/battery. I'm serious. I'm pissed!!
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Comment by unholyroller on May 6, 2009 at 10:18pm
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Lay people who try this are tracked down and arrested usually tagged as sex offenders.....why aren't these perverts in jail for attempted/actual kidnapping?
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Comment by Jim DePaulo on May 6, 2009 at 8:57pm
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I can't understand why Colorado Springs has such a concentration of theist lunatics. They are an embarrassment to the state. Their intense prostelysing at the Air Force Academy is also more than a bit troubling.
Nothing seems to distract the "faithful"; even when one of their moral leaders turns out to be a closeted gay meth head - two "sins" he vehemently railed against.
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