{"id":11433,"date":"2012-01-13T20:04:48","date_gmt":"2012-01-14T01:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=11433"},"modified":"2012-01-13T20:04:48","modified_gmt":"2012-01-14T01:04:48","slug":"christian-pastors-arrested-as-they-protest-nyc-ban-on-churches-in-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/01\/christian-pastors-arrested-as-they-protest-nyc-ban-on-churches-in-public-schools.html","title":{"rendered":"CHRISTIAN PASTORS ARRESTED AS THEY PROTEST NYC BAN ON CHURCHES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Billy\u00a0Hallowell<\/a><\/p>\n

Churches will no longer be able to use public schools to hold worship services in New York City. The decision, which goes into effect on Feb. 12,\u00a0has led to outcry and protests<\/a>\u00a0among congregants and their supporters. On Thursday, 43 individuals, comprised of both pastors and champions for religious liberty, were arrested while taking a stand against the ban outside of a public school in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"\"Thursday’s pastor-led protest (Image Credit: DNAinfo\/Serena Solomon)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

About 200 people had congregated outside of Morris High School,\u00a0the location where Mayor Michael Bloomberg was delivering his \u201cState of the City\u201d address. The protesters sang, cheered, gave speeches and prayed that the decision to keep them out of the public school system would be reversed. When they didn\u2018t leave following police officers\u2019 requests, a portion of the group was arrested and charged with\u00a0disorderly\u00a0conduct.<\/p>\n

These arrests come following another protest last week \u2014 this time over allegations that the city\u2019s Housing Authority was also attempting to remove churches from public space. During the incident, New York City councilman Fernando Cabrera (also a pastor) and supporters were among seven arrested and charged with criminal trespassing; the group\u00a0was singing hymns outside of the New York City law department.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Photo Credit: AP\/Mary Altaffer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Associated Baptist Press\u00a0has more<\/a>\u00a0about this earlier protest:<\/p>\n

The protest was prompted by reports that New York City Housing Authority officials notified several religious groups, mostly churches, over the Christmas holidays they could no longer rent community rooms and other facilities.<\/p>\n

Jane Gordon, senior counsel for the New York City Law Department said the housing authority has been reviewing policies regarding all users of its facilities \u2014 not just religious groups \u2014 for more than a year and its policies have nothing to do with the education department policies.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Pastor Dimas Salaberrios, who was arrested and whose church has been fighting to keep its space at the Bronx River Community Center, claims that there\u2019s a sinister plan in the works.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York City Law Department is working on getting rid of churches from community centers. Now they\u2019re targeting us,\u201d\u00a0he told the Christian post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But city authorities claim that they aren\u2019t discriminating and that other groups operating in the same space as\u00a0Salaberrios\u2019 church are facing similar regulations.<\/p>\n

In December,\u00a0we reported<\/a>\u00a0that the U.S. Supreme Court had refused to hear a case surrounding the city\u2019s ban on public school usage by churches. In a game of judicial volleyball, a federal appeals court upheld the policy in June, reversing the previous stance of a district judge. The high court\u2019s refusal to hear the case, thus, upholds the June ruling.<\/p>\n

The legal battle between the Bronx Household of Faith, an evangelical Christian church, and the city has been raging for years:<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lly-k7PaAqM&hd=1<\/a>\n

While the city is purportedly seeking to ban religious use of public school buildings on weekends and during times when the buildings are unused, there are certainly some downsides, outside of religious liberty, to their actions. Aside from the fact that children aren\u2019t using the buildings at this time (i.e. indoctrination isn\u2019t a concern), several million dollars in estimated rent will no longer flow into the city\u2019s coffers \u2014 and at a time when cuts to public programs are consistently on the table.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro<\/p>\n

Also, community churches help ease some of the constraints present in communities. From gangs to assistance to the poor, it\u2019s often beneficial to have churches present in high-needs communities. By forcing the churches to leave public property, there\u2019s no guarantee some of the help that they were once offering these areas will still be available following their exit.<\/p>\n

WORLD on Campus reports<\/a>\u00a0that 150 congregations will need to move their meeting spaces when the public school ban goes into effect next month.\u00a0Cabrera is said to be working with Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro to come up with a state legislation that would void the city\u2019s public school ban.<\/p>\n

Castro, according to WORLD, has introduced Bill A08800, which would allow \u201cthe use of school buildings and school sites for religious meetings and worship when not in use for school purposes or when such service or worship is deemed not disruptive of normal school operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

(H\/T:\u00a0WORLD on Campus<\/a>)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Read more:\u00a0http:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/stories\/christian-pastors-arrested-as-they-protest-nyc-ban-on-churches-in-public-schools\/<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Billy\u00a0Hallowell Churches will no longer be able to use public schools to hold worship services in New York City. The decision, which goes into effect on Feb. 12,\u00a0has led to outcry and protests\u00a0among congregants and their supporters. On Thursday, 43 individuals, comprised of both pastors and champions for religious liberty, were arrested while taking a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":403,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1686,1361,1344,3100,599,252,1867,3382,503,1502,1430,251,68,407,2837,2860,3121,108,608,167,2838,3891,806],"tags":[4069,4070,4073,4068,931,4071,4072],"class_list":["post-11433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1st-amendment-rights","category-anti-christian-bias","category-attacks-from-the-left-on-the-righteous","category-big-brother-is-here","category-big-government","category-christian","category-evil-plot","category-evil-vs-good","category-free-speech","category-godlessness","category-news-2","category-persecution","category-political-correctness","category-pray","category-prayer-2","category-prejudice","category-radical-change-towards-tyranny-dictatorship","category-religion","category-separation-of-church-and-state","category-video","category-wake-up-america","category-war-on-christ-christians-christianity","category-warning","tag-bans-churches-in-public-schools","tag-christian-pastors","tag-mayor-michael-bloomberg","tag-pastors-arrested","tag-protest","tag-religious-liberty","tag-sinister-plan"],"yoast_head":"\nCHRISTIAN PASTORS ARRESTED AS THEY PROTEST NYC BAN ON CHURCHES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS - Watchwoman on the Wall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/01\/christian-pastors-arrested-as-they-protest-nyc-ban-on-churches-in-public-schools.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CHRISTIAN PASTORS ARRESTED AS THEY PROTEST NYC BAN ON CHURCHES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS - Watchwoman on the Wall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by\u00a0Billy\u00a0Hallowell Churches will no longer be able to use public schools to hold worship services in New York City. 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