Do you agree with the authorities decision to order the take down of this public crucifixion re-enactment?

I agree that the display should have been taken down in the interest of not causing a distraction to drivers.

The people complaining that their right to be a public nuisance, I mean practice their religion, could have found somewhere else to do it that would not have caused a driving hazard.

People are fucking nuts. Yes, it should have been taken down. No, it wasn’t religious intolerance.

The traffic situation was legitimate cause for shutting down the passion play. I would otherwise have no objection to such silliness in say a park or shopping mall. I imagine stupid hobbies are one of those things allowed in the “pursuit of happiness.”

I would agree that it is a safety issue that should be removed. Of course I feel the same way about protesters that shut down or otherwise obstruct public roadways.

Only Christian protestors should be allowed to shut down or otherwise obstruct public roadways. If we stop them we are violating their religious rights.

No. If it were a highway, and they had no compelling reason nor license to do it next to the highway, then maybe. Otherwise, after looking at that video, I would say that that road is a joke. Anyone who “safety issues” driving on that road due a spectacle or people slowing down for it, would not, in my opinion, qualify as a competent driver, and those drivers having licenses and not getting better trained, would be higher on my list of concerns.

It also looks like a low-key public green space. I many urban areas, the convention is I think that they should probably get a permit, but I think that’s a minor deal. People should be allowed to do spectacles in public spaces, for religion, or for art, or for fun. Fake blood and lookin’ like Christ are not reasons to be OMG about it. Those people are extremely lame, in my opinion. My opinion of Florida culture just dropped even lower than it was before, which is fairly hard to do.

This occurred in Lehigh Acres, FL.

The cops there are well known for being heavy-handed. Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem with this display. It was not obstructing the roadway, and was really not at all different than some Halloween decorations I might have put up myself.

If people in cars were obstructing traffic in order to take pictures, or driving in reverse down the roadway, they should have been ticketed.

But, given the nature of the area, I’m not at all surprised the cops took the opportunity to order a group of people around. It gave them something to think about while wanking that night.

What @Seek said. You have to know south Florida is one of strangest places on the continent. It’s where a guy ate his buddy’s face off last year. It’s no accident that the TV show Dexter is set there. South Florida single handedly gave the presidency to George Bush, Jr.

If I saw a crucifixion on the side of road in south Florida, I would figure it was real, maybe even slow down enough to see if the guy still had a face.

South Florida is so famous for being strange that my spell check on this phone finished the sentence ”... ate his buddy’s face off” automatically.

Just to add, from what I understand the claim about safety is mainly due to this stunt being viewed as distracting for the drivers.

^^ I could well imagine… for normal people. But South Florida? I’m surprised anyone noticed.

@Espiritus_Corvus Well the only time I was in Florida myself was when I was in Orlando. So to be fair, I can’t really dispute that. Maybe some of the more likely minded people of that area, had just about enough of this type of behaviour. Of course I’m only speculating.

OK, I did some Facebook stalking. I found one news report that named the Jesus actor, found his Facebook page, found the pastor of the church on his Friends list and looked up the church.

It’s right across the street from two elementary schools – one public school and one run by the church itself. If that’s where the display was held, it’s right on Lee Blvd, which is a major roadway (as major as roadways get in Lee County). It was on Good Friday, which may or may not have been a school day (depending on whether they did week-before or week-after Easter Spring Break in that county).

I imagine a display of some half naked bloody guy first thing in the morning when a bunch of 7 year olds are on their way to school is not how Mom and Dad want to start their day.

I still don’t agree that they should have stopped it by force of law enforcement, but the church itself should have had the decorum to not put on that display at that time.

If they want to worship torture porn, they have a nice big building to do it in. They don’t need to foist it on the general public trying to take their babies to school.

Yeah, I’m with you there.

Legally speaking, I wouldn’t argue this as a religious intolerance matter. Obscenity, which is clearly not a well-defined adjective, does not always hold in cases regarding alleged violations of the First Amendment. This can be seen as obscene (the lesions, the portrayal of a dead man), and therefore grounds for government intervention.
@Seek I believe Good Friday is a holiday in public schools. It certainly is in Christian schools. Perhaps Florida is different?

@dxs – not necessarily. In Florida, some counties do week before Easter for spring break, and some counties do the week after. If all the counties took the same week off, combined with the college kids visiting, the beaches and parks would be even more hellacious than they are already.

@Seek I’m talking about just Good Friday, the specific one-day event that happens on the friday before Easter. Hillsborough County closed their schools.

Yes, and every school district decides their own days off. I don’t know Lee county’s schedule.

Wow, @Seek. GA. Churches, however, are not well known for tact and decorum. It’s more of a down and dirty Christian Guerrilla warfare. They feel they HAVE to make a scene, no matter how ungodly and horrific, to get through to the infidels.