Missionaries Arrested in Dearborn.

I am not a Christian. That should be obvious from the title and content of this blog. I find missionaries annoying and politely refuse their literature when offered. I read it all 30 years ago and occasional survey of the latest offerings indicate they haven't come up with anything new since then. Nevertheless, they have a right to practice their religion and that right is protected by the Constitution. Which makes the following article from freep.com particularly disturbing.

Four Christian missionaries trying to convert Muslims were arrested and jailed Friday for disorderly conduct at the Arab festival in Dearborn, police said.

"We did make four arrests for disorderly conduct," Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said Saturday. "They did cause a stir."

The four, who were said to be at the Dearborn Arab International Festival with a Christian group called Acts 17 Apologetics, were later released on bail.

Haddad said that he's not taking sides in any dispute, but added that police have to keep the peace at a festival that draws 300,000 over three days.

"Everyone's space should be respected," Haddad said. "It's Father's Day weekend. ... People are here to have a good time, and it's our job to ensure security."

The Free Press reported last year on the growing number of evangelical Christians targeting Dearborn to convert Muslims.

OK, Christian proselytizers can be annoying. I've had few not take "no" for an answer and accuse me of doing Satan's work. I usually reply with something like, "Why yes, I do. I build airplanes." Then I walk away.

None have followed me yet: They probably don't get the joke.

I also know that Christians, despite any protest to the contrary, can at least threaten violence. Twice in the past 40 years Christians have threaten me physically. Not the vague "kill all the atheists!" rhetoric I expect from the sublimely idiotic but specific threats accompanied by baseball bats. Both times, me and my model 36 showed them the error of their ways. No shots were fired even though both times there were enough attackers that they could have overwhelmed me with only a couple of casualties.

I guess meeting Jesus wasn't on the agenda.

I find the idea that the Christians might have been disruptive at an Arab Festival a little far fetched. Muslims do have a reputation for religiously inspired violence. I wonder if the arrests were prompted by the proselytizers getting out of line or the crowd getting ugly.

H/T to the The Unwanted Blog