Christian Radicals Raise Havoc On Small Business Woman by Niki2

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Christian Radicals Raise Havoc On Small Business Woman

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Monday, December 23, 2013 15:37
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Sunday, December 22, 2013 8:00 PM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

These assholes are really getting out of hand. This is not a story in the Onion. This is not a joke. This is where radical Christianity has gone. This is not an indictment on all Christians. However, this is becoming a reality for a sect of the evangelical Christian movement. It has given tacit acceptance to the behavior of Christian Radicals.

Stealing from stores in the name of Christianity is sad. What is even more sad is that it is being popularized online by a website called Jesus Radical. According to the site, a group of three Christian Radicals stole all the material they considered ‘sexist and objectifying products’ at a Georgia kiosk and replaced it with ‘placards with anti-sexist rhetoric’. It numbered over 200 items.

According to the posting at the website:

Quote:
Every day on the way to work we had to walk by this kiosk. Each passing encounter forced a specific sexuality and beauty standard upon us and we couldn’t take it anymore.

If your environment disturbs you, disturb it. Or even better, disturb it with your friends. Together, we formulated a plan and decided upon roles that we were all comfortable with: the distraction, the bagger, and the lookout. The area was scoped out beforehand for cameras, number of employees, and general foot traffic, and escape routes were elaborated. We created placards with anti-sexist rhetoric to replace the calendars, being cautious to touch them only with gloves on.

The distraction pretended to shop until the other two entered separately, and then began to engage the sole employee in conversation. The bagger stashed the product in a trash bag, while the lookout stood beside watching for passersby and police. After the product had been replaced with the placards, the bagger took the trash out through a side door, appearing as a mall employee. Once sure the bagger hadn’t been followed, the lookout exited and headed to the meetup spot. The distraction ended the conversation with the employee and walked away without incident. We all left laughing.

A big part of any action is strengthening bonds of trust with those whom you already know and love. We invite you to disturb your own environments, with these suggestions:

- Always use gloves for everything you handle (no fingerprints)

- Make sure you have enough bags/baggers (we had to make several trips, and the employee at your kiosk may not be so inattentive)

- Wear a very different change of clothes underneath your outfit–if followed, you can hide and remove the outer clothing.

- Wear something to obscure your face from cameras and passersby (if a hat, look down at the ground while passing a camera)

Be cautious, but don’t be paranoid. This was (and should be) easy and fun! http://www.jesusradicals.com/calendar-grrlz/]

Quote:
A viewer alerted Channel 2’s Tony Thomas to a posting on a Christian anarchist site after Thomas reported the calendar thefts. The anonymous post claims credit for the theft of nearly 200 calendars.

Mall kiosk worker Chris Tott said he never saw the thieves who swiped calendars featuring Sports Illustrated models and Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.

“All the calendars on the shelf were gone," Tott said.

Gwinnett police told Thomas they believe whoever posted on the JesusRadicals.com website is involved in the crime.

“They talked about wearing gloves. They talked about having a small team, one person to distract, another one to lookout and then the third person to actually load up the calendars,” Cpl. Jake Smith said.

The post also showed a picture of the signs left behind where the calendars were. The signs are now in police evidence and are being checked for fingerprints.

Kiosk owner Jessica Roy said the shoplifters are targeting the wrong people.

“We are not Sports Illustrated. We are a small business that's just trying to make a living,” Roy said.

Thomas contacted the administrator of the website, who said he does not know anything about the crime aside from what was posted on the Internet. Video at http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/anarchists-take-credit-mall-georg
ia-calendar-theft/ncMXh/

Many groups are doing bad thing in the name of Christianity. In doing so without rebuke from many evangelical groups, it starts to become the norm. One need only remember the brutal assassination of Dr. George Tiller and the reprehensible shenanigans of Westboro Baptist Church.

I don't like the objectification of women any more than they do, but obviously being "Christian" somehow makes them think they are above the law and have the right to harm others when something offends them, and they consider it "fun". I sincerely hope they get caught and suffer for their actions.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 3:59 AM

AGENTROUKA

Okay, not a fan of radical Christians here but considering nothing but their name even suggests a religious motivation for what they did, I'm finding it hard to pin this on Christian Radicals so much as Radicals who call themselves Christians. I would leave ordinary Christians out of it entirely.

And just how accepted are "Christian Anarchists" in the general spectrum of Radical Christians? It's not exactly a classic right-wing playground, Anarchism.

They never mention god, Jesus, the Bible, anything.

"Fuck the patriarchy"
"If your environment disturbs you, disturb it"

I'm going to guess these are young "anarchist" radicals who merely called themselves Christian as another means of obfuscation. They certainly seemed proud of their MO. But that's speculation.

And they are almost certainly very young. Who else but the very young would have so narrow a focus (racy calenders) and then celebrate their "heist" on the internet like this, as if it's meaningful in any way. It's a wrongly targeted, short-sighted spectacle. More time went into the practical implementation than any of the important aspects: what the hell do they think it's going to accomplish.

It's a self-congratulatory prank by, I'm guessing, reasonably wealthy, white young people, who want to play political activist without putting in any of the hard work.

I strongly doubt most Christians even Radical Christians would approve of this. I certainly don't and I dislike patriarchy and sexism, too.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 8:15 AM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Not looking to stir up trouble here, but it appears that their motivation was, at least in part, a "feminist" protest about objectifying women, patriarchy, and misogynism.

Which ain't no excuse.

But I find this hard to equate with most Christianity, certainly with what gets credit for Christianity today, which is usually the fundamentalist sort that supports such things.

Are they some left-wing, far-out, ultra-liberal sort of radical Christian?

And I also remember the "Women's Lib" days-- My wife was one.-- wouldn't these calendars have been a prime, justifiable target in those days of "sexism?"

Still ain't no excuse for stealing from this woman business person, costing her bucks out of her own pocket.

I CAN make a moral case for stealing an offensive book from a public library, destroying it, and then paying the fine for a "lost" book. I don't exactly APPROVE of that, either: free access to ideas, even objectionable ones, should be part of civilization, but at least that allows the library to replace the item without COST, with only delay and inconvenience. At least the perpetrator has been "punished", paid for his "transgression." Justice has been served, the system balances, theoretically.

Now, if these folks had PAID for the calendars, removed them, then publicly destroyed them, that would have been entirely proper.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 9:34 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

These guys aren't even Christians. Why is Niki casting ALL Christians into the same lump as these folks ?

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

I'm just a red pill guy in a room full of blue pill addicts.

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Monday, December 23, 2013 9:58 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Oh bullshit, Rap; title is "Christian Radicals"--that's what they CALL THEMSELVES, that's what their entire website is about, talk about "shooting the messenger"!! But then you know that, you're just playing your idiotic game; please go on doing so, I'm talking to everyone else.

I agree with almost everything written; I DO think the "standards" are being screwed with by SUPPOSED "Christians" using their religion as an excuse to enforce their own agenda, and people like that are definitely not Christians in my book, as I think many of us have said before.

The idea that they might be quite young makes a lot of sense; personally I just think the whole thing is stupid. What bothers me is I see/hear people in public life being very loud about "censorship" on one hand, while seeming to have no interest in things like the protesters being charged as "terrorists" for glitter and people like this flagrantly breaking the law and harming others along the way considering it "fun".

Of course these aren't what any of us here (I would hope) consider Christians, but that religion is being used as an excuse, in my opinion, for many thing which are directly opposed to Christianity more and more these days. JMHO.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 10:59 AM

BYTEMITE

Quote:
Now, if these folks had PAID for the calendars, removed them, then publicly destroyed them, that would have been entirely proper.

...Nothing proper about censorship and destroying art or books.

But anyway, I don't think "proper" was the incentive here. I also am uniformly confused about the way people who denounce capitalism and a monetary based society also are so shocked about theft.

Agreed with AR about it being narrow-focused and short-sighted though, with no end goal in mind. Disagree with the assumption that they're young though. They could be any age - I've seen the middle-aged and elderly engaged in windmill tilting as much as I have the young. I've seen all ages post absolutely foolish incriminating evidence on the internet. And I would also say that younger individuals nowadays tend to be less susceptible to the kinds of feminism that refer to "patriarchy" - ask twenty somethings if they're feminists and watch them try to squirm around the term. It's been stigmatized.

Also agreed that these are less so much radical christians than they are radical in general and maybe christian on the side. Christians who apparently steal and break laws, but then, so did Jesus. Innocent men aren't crucified you know.

But something also makes me wonder if these self-styled radical christians aren't actually concern trolls trying to make christians look bad. Their MO is all wrong.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 12:47 PM

NEWOLDBROWNCOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Quote:
Now, if these folks had PAID for the calendars, removed them, then publicly destroyed them, that would have been entirely proper.

...Nothing proper about censorship and destroying art or books.

If the calendars had belonged to them, what they did with them would have been their own business. Besides, when you use a calendar, don't you tear off a page and throw it away each month? I do.

As to destroying art, those calendars were mass produced art- there were millions of copies. You could still buy one at the next mall down the road. OTOH, if one was a one-of-a-kind, hand-made original, signed, "only one copy ever made," and thus lost to humanity forever, that would be a shame.

Books, maybe that would be a different story-- I don't much like book burners, even of mass produced works. I made that case above. I can't quite APPROVE of that behavior, but I do come pretty close to allowing the destruction of a person's privately owned copy.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 1:13 PM

BYTEMITE

No. I keep my calendars and all the pages because I buy calendars that are either 1) awesome 2) have brilliant artwork, or 3) are funny.

The University of Munich is owed by the German government, but that doesn't mean the Nazis weren't douchebags when they burned their own books.

And if you put a limit on what's art and what's not, then everything becomes fair game for destruction on the basis of subjectivity. Andy effin' Warhol was mass-produced and people think he was genius. If you are allowed to destroy something merely because you think it is offensive, or even if you mildly dislike it, we will not have much art left.

I hate Twilight, and 50 Shades of Gray, and I think The Hunger Games are sensationalized mass-produced twaddle meant to placate the public, but you don't see me running out and burning them all to the ground.

So no, censorship is never cool.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 1:41 PM

AGENTROUKA

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Disagree with the assumption that they're young though. They could be any age - I've seen the middle-aged and elderly engaged in windmill tilting as much as I have the young. I've seen all ages post absolutely foolish incriminating evidence on the internet.

Just the entire MO seems very young, or immature to me. The way they throw out these terms like "look-out" or "bagger", trying to sound experienced, acting in a group like young people tend to, for the sake of "fun". Posting online to recruit copy-cats. It's just such a compilation of vapid self-importance and carelessness. Not to mention the free time it takes to "stake out" the place and plan the entire stunt. Not people with jobs or families to worry about, methinks.

I'd be very surprised if they are anywhere near thirty. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them aren't past 20. It's of course possible they are older, but I'd be very surprised.

Quote:
And I would also say that younger individuals nowadays tend to be less susceptible to the kinds of feminism that refer to "patriarchy" - ask twenty somethings if they're feminists and watch them try to squirm around the term. It's been stigmatized.

I would agree on that for mainstream kids, but those who would embrace the term anarchist, however distorted likely don't feel that awkward rejection of the terms feminism or patriarchy. I know plenty of legitimately activist young people who embrace the terms. Then there's Femen, etc. I don't believe it's as outdated as you think.

Quote:

But something also makes me wonder if these self-styled radical christians aren't actually concern trolls trying to make christians look bad. Their MO is all wrong.

This.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 2:18 PM

BYTEMITE

Quote:
but those who would embrace the term anarchist, however distorted likely don't feel that awkward rejection of the terms feminism or patriarchy.

Speaking as an anarchist, I don't reject feminism, but the concept of "patriarchy" has become silly. We're pretty much all underprivileged relative to the power elite, men and women. Those who are more underprivileged than others tend to be along the lines of developing nations and immigrants versus developed nations than along gender lines.

Nothing gets an eyeroll from me faster than hearing the words "phallocentric" or "rape culture." Society at large clearly doesn't even understand what rape IS, let alone deliberately promotes it or excuses it. And if someone sees dicks everywhere, I can only presume they've stumbled onto a convention populated by Richards, or are in need of psychological help.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 2:35 PM

AGENTROUKA

It's not how it used to be, by far, but when you're looking at society at large, being a man is still an advantage. The term patriarchy may be a bit dated, but it's not irrelevant. When you look at the hair-raising sexist views men in power can spout in public without being dropped like a hot potato, you're looking at an noticeable element of patriarchal thought that is still accepted and propagated.

I don't think "rape culture" is an illegitimate term. I think not understanding what rape is is an aspect of rape culture, actually. It's a sensationalist term, but not a pointless one.

"Phallocentric", though.. yeah. I remember that thread.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 2:51 PM

BYTEMITE

Quote:
but when you're looking at society at large, being a man is still an advantage. The term patriarchy may be a bit dated, but it's not irrelevant.

The wages thing is almost equal now. The childbirth thing is not, but it's really a matter of personal perspective whether that is an advantage or a disadvantage.

Quote:
When you look at the hair-raising sexist views men in power can spout in public without being dropped like a hot potato

Except for a few quislings out there, I think they generally ARE dropped like a hot potato. I don't think very many women voted for Todd Akins after he said what he did. The GOP pulled support, he lost the election, and Rand Paul, former supporter of the guy, distanced himself.

On the internet, which is one of the worst hotbeds of misogyny I've ever seen, everyone except the diehard MRAs and PUAs are getting annoyed by the "back to the kitchen" comments that inevitably come up. It's not even white knighting anymore, which is itself legitimately annoying, it's backlash against actual sexism.

Anonymous itself has gotten to the point of trying to educate the sexist internet trolls about respecting women and ending misogyny and rape enabling and sexual intimidation. ANONYMOUS for HELLSAKE. Some of the worst offenders in existence, and even THEY'RE getting tired of it.

http://3dblogger.typepad.com/wired_state/2013/01/latest-anonymous-acti
ve-measure-distracts-from-its-own-sexism-and-assanges-charges.html

http://betabeat.com/2012/12/anonymous-launches-ophunthunter-to-destroy
-hunter-moore-and-his-revenge-porn-empire/

And as we've seen, everyone is outraged by rape - it's just no one seems to know what it IS.

Quote:
I don't think "rape culture" is an illegitimate term.

Rape culture is a frustrating term because it makes it sound like society as a whole is in conspiracy to enable rapists. And in some cases, like the Florida Heismann candidate thing, there probably WAS a conspiracy. But to say the whole of society is acting under malice to keep women down with hate and sexual intimidation is simply crazy times.

Really, the same thing is implied by patriarchy as well. It's not ACCURATE. And in some ways instead of empowering people who are victims, it FEEDS the victimhood.

So I don't like it.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 3:09 PM

AGENTROUKA

Does the term imply malice and conscious effort, exactly? I don't think so.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 3:16 PM

BYTEMITE

I'd maybe be more okay with it if people used the term "rape culture" on a local scale. Like "the rape culture at FSU that protected the Heismann candidate." I think a lot of frat boy attitudes on college campuses or small town hard partying sports teams could accurately be described as rape culture. Some businesses that look the other way when harrassment happens could be described as such as well.

But something like "this is an example of the rape culture that is inherent in society"? It's bizarre.

Especially when it's obvious so many of the people who could be considered part of a "rape culture" without knowing any better actually find the concept of rape abhorrent and even think of themselves somehow as DEFENDERS of victims. I think the problem is much more complicated than a buzzword like "rape culture" allows for, and what's more, it creates a "not me" affect instead of getting people to think carefully about rape, and non-consent, and what it all means.

What's more, we already HAVE words and terms that cover the behaviours that "rape culture" covers, without being vague and inaccurate and polarizing. Terms like victim blaming, slut shaming, and entitlement.

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Monday, December 23, 2013 3:26 PM

AGENTROUKA

I understand what you mean. I wouldn't subscribe to just using the term as a blanket descriptor, i.e. "The US are a rape culture". But when something like victim blaming is still relatively prevalent, you can call that an aspect of rape culture that is still noticeable in society as a whole.

I just spent the last hours decorating my home for Christmas. I NEED a better subject to discuss. :)

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Monday, December 23, 2013 3:37 PM

BYTEMITE

Hmm. I can try to indulge you, but I'm not very good at cheer and good will. The best I could do along those lines is follow Magons lead and repost Fairytale in New York or something.

Perhaps we can compromise with first mocking this guy

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/counterfeit-wine-a-vintage-crime/

And then return to the original thread topic, or at least some offshoot of the original thread topic pertaining to the morals and ethics of theft?

Mockery begin: seriously, someone who thinks he was "violated" for deliberately spending $4.5 million on bottles of rotten grape juice needs to reevaluate his life and priorities.

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