The Obama Arrests of People Praying in Front of the White House

Anyone know what happened here?

Occupy Wall Street folks squatted on land, offices and other public and private places in Washington DC. They were lewd and lascivious. Had open sex. Boozers. Drug addicts. Thugs who terrorized and in some cases destroyed public and private property. The government embraced it all.

I would be deeply concerned that on a day when Catholics show up to pray, the government of the Obama had them arrested.

Is that what happened?

I've watched this tape a few times and I'm not sure.

Did these good folks cross into a homeland security area in front of the White House to pray?

If so, that's a bit of a..horse of a different color.

There are areas around the White House blockaded to protect a sitting President. I agree with arresting anyone who enters into that zone for any reason. If you do so, you're probably going there to get arrested. There are times in history when that is called for. But are we at that point? I'm not convinced.

There's no such thing as an official code of ethics in civil unrest - but if we go that route, it has to be led in a way that honors things like the security policies of a sitting president. (Even if we can't stand him!)

I am concerned about the pitch of crossing homeland security barriers for a number of reasons. Protests, unfortunately, attract mentally and emotionally unbalanced people who are not part of a particular movement. Rather, they are attracted to the energy of the unrest. A mentally unbalanced person may not know your mission from a hole in the wall, nor do they care. They're simply unstable and they feed off of drama and could potentially do something that can implode your ministry and mission.

Years ago, the life-saving work of Operation Rescue was impeded when John Salvi went into two abortion clinics and mowed people down with a gun. Though Salvi's presence was independent from Operation Rescue, his actions were pinned on them. Not only was the incident used to create legal 'buffer zones', where the work of saving lives is impeded, it gave enemies of sidewalk counseling and prayer an excuse to petition the Cardinal to issue an edict to stop this precious ministry.

We are in some crazy times.

I appreciate the zeal of people who want to call attention to our plight by crossing a homeland security barrier. But, do we really want to do something at this point in time to give them the excuse they need limit our rights to gather and protest?

What if we get closer to the deadline of this HHS Mandate and nothing substantive has been worked out through the branches of government?

There are ramifications to crossing homeland security barriers that I'm not convinced is the right stratagem at this time. Picket, pray, protest - but keep it moving and don't step on the toes of homeland security. It raises the pitch to a level where the dogs can hear it.

We will need to conduct ourselves in a way that preserves our right to legally demonstrate the unrest in a way that honors the sanctity of every life. Where nobody feels threatened. Let me rephrase that because prayer threatens some folks: Where nobody feels their lives are threatened.

There may be a time and place for civil unrest/protest in some rather large numbers. Thankfully, Obama is a supporter of protesting to get the message through. Wouldn't it be delightful if he looked out and saw a million or two Catholics camping out in DC until everyone got the message? We might need to pray on every corner of Washington, DC.

Maybe I have it all wrong. God knows these are brave souls who dedicate themselves to our mission. But I can't help thinking we ought stay away from supplying them with ammunition.