Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
The Washington Post reports on a bunch of street preachers who showed up in Washington DC over the last few days to deliver their usual stupidity and vitriol.
"You feed the rest of your world with your filth!" screamed the man with the bullhorn.It had all been going so well.
Tens of thousands of spectators were bundled up and making their way to the Mall for the inaugural concert when their joyous pipeline of humanity ran smack into -- how should we say this? -- a contrarian spirit.
Four men who called themselves street preachers had taken up occupation at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street, a strategic location for maximum impact. They used a bullhorn to shout to the passing crowds.
Here's some of what they yelled at people:
While soprano Renée Fleming prepared to take the stage at the Lincoln Memorial, one of the street preachers pushed the button on his bullhorn and let it rip: "You get excited over Obama! You never get excited over Jesus Christ!"He held a sign that simply listed the guilty. "Baby Killing Women, Porno Freaks, Sport Nuts, Drunks, Homos, Jesus Mockers, Mormons."
"Wait a minute," a young guy in the crowd said to his buddies. "Sports nuts?"
Gays and fornicators received the brunt of the fury. "Homo Sex Is a Threat to National Security," one of the signs said.
"You're an abomination," a guy in a black leather jacket yelled.
"Be tolerant, you homo," one of the street preachers yelled back.
I've run into these kinds of preachers many times in my life and I always wonder the same thing: do they actually think they accomplish anything? Do they think anyone listens to them and takes them seriously? Perhaps they do. But I suspect that the subconscious reason they do it precisely because it makes them feel persecuted and feel like a martyr. It feeds their sense of self-righteousness.
Politics
Comments
Posted by: WScott | January 22, 2009 9:44 AM
Posted by: Alex, FCD | January 22, 2009 9:47 AM
I think I already put this out, but I saw the Fred Phelps gang on Pennsylvania across from the National Gallery of Art on Monday afternoon. They were being their normal upstanding selves. I was on the way to meet a buddy for a beer. I stopped and just watched them "interact" with people for about ten minutes. It was educational.
Oh, and the abortion trucks have been driving around all over the place (well around the mall area at least). That's kind of OT, but tangentially related.
Posted by: Josh | January 22, 2009 9:52 AM
Posted by: Herod the Freemason | January 22, 2009 9:56 AM
"Be tolerant, you homo." I just can't stop laughing. That is priceless.
I must have missed the part of the Bible where Jesus commanded his disciples to go forth and make a complete ass of them self.
Posted by: Abby Normal | January 22, 2009 9:57 AM
No matter what people like that shout, it always sounds like:
"Look at me"
"Pay attention to me"
"I'm important"
Posted by: Taz | January 22, 2009 10:04 AM
Man, you got me all excited that the Manic Street Preachers had been there, what with your headline and all. Damn.
Posted by: Rev Matt | January 22, 2009 10:24 AM
That's gold!
Posted by: Miguel | January 22, 2009 10:30 AM
He did ride into town on an ass once before, didn't He? That must be the part they're thinking of.
Posted by: Enkidu | January 22, 2009 11:05 AM
Here's another candidate: Link
Posted by: Bourgeois_Rage | January 22, 2009 11:06 AM
Abby said:
I think that would be what mt grandfather would have regarded as "something that isn't in the bible but should be". At any rate, in my experience those that feel compeled to "go forth" tend to be complete asses in the first place.
Posted by: Al Jeremy | January 22, 2009 11:25 AM
"But I suspect that the subconscious reason they do it precisely because it makes them feel persecuted and feel like a martyr. It feeds their sense of self-righteousness."
Gee, the ones I remember around my college campus were just grade A-1 assholes, even when they weren't talking religion.
Posted by: dean | January 22, 2009 11:36 AM
Did Jesus run in the Democratic or Republican primaries?
Posted by: Julie Stahlhut | January 22, 2009 11:39 AM
Bingo.
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | January 22, 2009 12:15 PM
There's a woman in my hometown who shouts Bible verses at passing cars while in the Official Jesus Lover's Pose of Supplication (which is exactly the same as the Please Fill Both Of My Hands With M&Ms Pose).
I found her entertaining, not least because I have a hard time thinking of a less effective proselytization method.
But she's crazy - I mean, I'm not a psychiatrist, but she certainly seems like nothing so much as an unmedicated schizophrenic. I'd be curious to know how much of street preaching is motivated ultimately by mental illness, but I suppose any large-scale investigation of the topic would only result in more cries of persecution.
Posted by: chancelikely | January 22, 2009 12:24 PM
I only really encountered and interacted with Street Preachers once, and it was very strange. Some local humanists and I had set up a booth at an "Earthfest," which attracted both a counter-cultural "liberal" crowd -- and a small group of men with 15 foot signs. One of the signs said "Turn or Burn." The other one had "Jesus Has a Plan for Your Life" on one side, and "HELL!!!" on the other.
The guy manning the booth with me was a former evangelical Bible College drop-out, and he quickly scurried over to engage them in some Bible debate. They were all involved in what looked like intense discussion for a good 10 minutes. When I finally joined them, I found both sides politely exchanging Bible verses, and actually listening and responding to each other. I volunteered something to the effect that it seemed strange to me that a benevolent God would set up a hell for people who genuinely searched and came to some other conclusion in religion. "That's a good point," one of the preachers said. "Hm, I'll have to think about that."
Eventually, we all smiled and agreed to disagree. They thanked us for the interesting discussion, and one of them told my friend that he'd look up some of those verses and try to get back to him later, maybe.
WTF? Totally baffled. It was as if they hadn't actually read what the signs said, or were only carrying them for some friends. But no, one of them had mentioned that he did protests at a bunch of events.
Maybe it's a Wisconsin thing.
Posted by: Sastra | January 22, 2009 12:36 PM
Taz:
Except that the last line should be "I'm impotent".
Posted by: c-serpent | January 22, 2009 12:47 PM
Rev. Matt had the same thought as me. As entertaining as these kooks are, I'll take Bradfield any day...
Posted by: Jeff | January 22, 2009 1:28 PM
Sastra, that's a surprisingly positive experience. Most of the interaction I've had in such circumstances has been polite but not as much of an indication of real exchange going on. I suspect that your friend who had a good background in actual Biblical material helped set the tenor of the discussion.
As to the general question of why street preachers do what they do, at least one person I talked to stated that they did so that "On judgment day, everyone will be without excuse since they were warned." I'd like to hope that that isn't the most common motivation.
Posted by: Joshua Zelinsky | January 22, 2009 1:47 PM
"Baby Killing Women"?
Oh, the power of a hyphen. Babies kill women all the time, before, during, and after birth. They're not nice to their fathers, too.
Posted by: ebina2 | January 22, 2009 2:09 PM
Posted by: Gordon S | January 22, 2009 2:28 PM
Gerry Canavan has better pictures.
(Which I saw through Friendly Atheist )
When reading the posters, keep an eye out for where good people are headed...
Posted by: llewelly | January 22, 2009 2:53 PM
Joshua Zelinsky -
When I was a young fundy, my motivation for prosylatizing was caring for others. I believed absolutely, that anyone who didn't accept Jesus was going to suffer eternal damnation. Because I cared, I wanted to do what I could to keep people from suffering that fate.
Posted by: DuWayne | January 22, 2009 5:03 PM
On January 22, 2009 5:03 PM, DuWayne wrote:
When I was a young fundy, my motivation for prosylatizing was caring for others.
If evangelicals yell and scream at someone when they care, how would they treat someone that they really truly hate?
Blue Nine
Posted by: Blue Nine | January 22, 2009 5:16 PM
Blue Nine,
I think if they are the type of proselytizing evangelist that DuWayne was they might say that if they really hated someone and wanted to show it, they'd say nothing.
Posted by: heddle | January 22, 2009 5:32 PM
Ok, I really don't care why these people yell on street corners. I want to know why homo sex is a threat to national security?
Does the missle defense system go down every time I do?
Posted by: JED | January 22, 2009 6:03 PM
Blue Nine,
I wouldn't know, I wasn't that kind of fundie. Mostly I just tried to behave (Tried being the operative word), treat people well and hoped they would talk to me. I didn't yell at anyone once and was embarressed by assholes who did. I called folks on that kind of bullshit then and, in spite of my rejection of revealed religion, I still do and use the same scriptures I did then.
My point was not to provide insight into the mind of sick freaks. My point was that I was not like that, even when I was a fundie.
Does the missle defense system go down every time I do?
What, did the DOD forget to send you the letter about that? Huge fucking problem.
Posted by: DuWayne | January 22, 2009 6:16 PM
heddle:
LOL. I wish more evangelists were this passive-aggressive.
Posted by: Leni | January 22, 2009 7:15 PM
To which the only solution is to stop fucking?
Posted by: Mithrandir | January 22, 2009 8:06 PM
Abso-Fucking-lutely...... But only if it's same sex fucking. Opposite sex - nail it. The neighbors wife.....
In fact, I'm pretty sure if we're going to counter all Teh Gay fucking, we need some good, wholesome hetero gang bangs and massive orgies (just be careful not to accidentally engage in non-hetero sexual contact).
Orgies for god and country!!!!
Posted by: DuWayne | January 22, 2009 8:49 PM
Sports nuts and Mormons? I'll keep that in mind Superbowl weekend, when the Mormons inevitably drop by my place, ignore the "No Solicitors" sign, and invite me to their church.
Posted by: AL | January 22, 2009 9:26 PM
So I was at the inauguration and actually saw these numbnuts while leaving the mall afterwards. While my response is to yell something equally offensive, there was a couple walking nearby who broke into Amazing Grace instead. Within seconds, 30-40 people in our area were singing at the top of their lungs, it was a perfect moment in light of the hatred being tossed our way.
Posted by: J | January 22, 2009 9:46 PM
DuWayne:
This strikes me as a policy that should be implemented in any case.
Posted by: James K | January 22, 2009 9:47 PM
Ed,
I have lived in Tokyo for 35 years, and we have a bunch of Japanese doing this sort of thing every Christmas in Japan. They stand around outside major train stations, with big signs in Japanese saying things like "Jesus is the life, believe or else!" And they have tape recorded messages blaring out the same sort of stuff.
Now in general, Japanese people are not as outwardly expressive as Americans. We don't have the "In your face type" in Japan. The only reason I can think of for their doing this is some sort of self satisfaction. It seems almost masochistic in nature, as they stand there for days on end, completely ignored. And it is chilly in Tokyo in December, around 5 to 10 degrees Centigrade.
Less than 1% of the Japanese population is Christian.
But these people always look more than a little lost to me.
Posted by: Max von Schuler-Kobayashi | January 22, 2009 10:23 PM
While these jokers usually infuriate me, they were good for some comic relief this time. "Be tolerant, you homo" was as cooly logical a remark as when Ted Turner said, "violence on television is a crime against humanity, and they should shoot the man responsible".
Posted by: Raymond Minton | January 22, 2009 10:54 PM
As a long time Planned Parenthood escort I encounter these kinds almost weekly with special visits by itinerant preachers several times a year. One who is based locally near Philadelphia is Repent America run by a Michael Marcavage. He's nuts but crafty with sources of money from somewhere and a law firm in suburban Philly which represents him pro bono whenever he gets arrested, which is often. He knows the law and is usually careful to hew to it, but does stray across the line. He usually has a group of half a dozen acolytes and with them reads the bible loudly, sings hymns off-key, and makes an ass of himself. He also makes a practice of taking (or pretending to take) photos with his cell phone of every patient, care license plates, and us escorts. He's also got a website where he posts many of the photos. He shtick, despite the christian rhetoric, is usually an effort at intimidation.
Posted by: Keanus | January 22, 2009 11:23 PM
"Ok, I really don't care why these people yell on street corners. I want to know why homo sex is a threat to national security?"
That's an easy one. According to the standard fundy worldview, God will judge entire countries. Happened several times in the old testament, is promised more in Revelation. There was even a global flood. If God judges a country to be too full of sin, he will destroy it - either by natural disaster, or by aiding it's enemies in war.
So if gay people are tolerated, this gives the US a very poor mark in the divine annual review, and God either drops a meteor on the place or helps China or Saudi Arabia to launch a successful invasion. True patriots should work to kick the gays out, along with anything else that God may find offensive - if they can get a high enough score on the favorometer, God will even bless the US with military success overseas.
Posted by: Suricou Raven | January 23, 2009 4:59 AM
I guess they think God's cool with hypocrisy and hatefulness. Judge not lest ye be judged, assholes.
Posted by: uncle noel | January 23, 2009 9:36 AM
"Ok, I really don't care why these people yell on street corners. I want to know why homo sex is a threat to national security?
Does the missle defense system go down every time I do?"
Posted by: JED
It's not the defense system, it's the missile *attack* systems. Lots of long, hard firm projectors of power, snug in their, um, 'silos'. When you breach the sacred bond of Manhood, you cause those missiles to, ah, deflate.
Posted by: Barry | January 23, 2009 2:01 PM
... do they actually think they accomplish anything?
I'm reminded of a story told about a campus preacher who shows up regularly at a local U. He was being interviewed by a reporter for the school paper, and started by telling her something to the effect of, "Repent, you sinful slut!"
And she broke down, hugging his knees and begging for forgiveness. Ended up marrying him and following him from town to town haranguing strangers.
Seems to me like a strange pick-up line, but when it works it really works.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | January 24, 2009 10:04 AM