Charlotte City Officials Apprehend Signs From the Clutches of Dangerous Gospel Singing Pro-Lifers

 
We have a group of young adults from Harmony Believers Fellowship in Harmony, NC who drive an hour each Tuesday to volunteer on the sidewalks of the Southeast's busiest abortion center. They are unassuming, gentle, and shy young ladies and men with sweet demeanors and conservative modest dress and actions. They have the voices of angels and often gather after the abortionist arrives to sing with achingly beautiful words of redemption and hope.

Their explanation of why they want to volunteer on their Cities4Life applications state reasons such as: I desire to fulfill Christ's great commission despite my feeling of inadequacy, or I want to show the love of Christ through building relationships with the women who come to abort, or I want to minister to hurting people and save lives, or my heart breaks for dear innocent souls and I want to be a voice for them.

You can see why Charlotte officials are so eager to silence these obvious threats to our fair city.

Bravely, Charlotte Zoning Officials snatched the signs from the hands of these extremists about a week ago. They cited Ordinance 10-212 as their reason for the confiscation of our signs from the hands of the shy and peaceful, quiet young lady who DARED to hold a sign in a manner the officials interpreted as an obstruction, a threat, and a violation of the safety restrictions on signage.

Below is Ordinance 10-212. That's the ordinance which the zoning officials wrote on the citations they issued to Cities4Life director, Daniel Parks, as they seized the signs.

Maybe I am just not as smart as the Charlotte city officials, but I don't see where this ordinance requires that a sign being held by a person shall have no portion of it touch the ground or it will be seized by the Zoning Authorities. Do you? AND if that is what the city insists upon, does that seem like a good use of taxpayer money, sending three city officials to snag a sign from the hands of a shy and unassuming 18-year old young lady who smiles and offers help to women in crisis?

Their courageous seizure of the sign from the hands of our sweet female volunteer was for the subversive and frightening danger posed by the sign resting on her shoes, thus legally off the ground as the ordinance they claim insists...but, GASP, her feet were not in her shoes. 

Yes. You read that correctly. The sign was seized because it rested on her shoes with no little piggies in them. The officials took their lives in their hands to look more closely. No doubt! Her feet were naked on the grass and the sign was resting on empty shoes!!!! A HUGE constitutional crisis was brewing and they had NO CHOICE but to stem this dangerous tide.

Can you imagine the horrifying situation created by this scenario they describe in the video below?

Perhaps it was because the young woman held the sign of a baby who was a victim of abortion. It is indeed a horrific sign. I find it difficult to look at. Many have told us the sign is offensive. Let that thought sink in. The sign is offensive but the reality of the law that allows 20-30 babies each day at that single abortion center to end up as the baby the sign depicts is not? We have seen women look at that sign and change their minds about aborting their child because of that sign alone. The truthful portrayal of consequences of what we do has a way of helping us consider our actions more carefully.

However, it didn't seem to be that particular sign's graphic message that so worried our city officials about the risks posed to Charlotte. Before their brave intervention with the sign depicting the truth of abortion, they tackled the terrifying problem of the young man who held a sign of a baby saved from abortion. That baby is particularly adorable with a huge smile and a flower in her hair. It is a photo of an actual child born in Charlotte and saved through the efforts of Cities4Life from abortion.

What could be the danger of that sign...other than people might reconsider which reality they wanted to be theirs that day: the mangled aborted dead baby or the smiling joyful saved baby? Who knows what unknown catastrophes the officials felt might come of the sign-wielding pro-life Harmony Believers Fellowship singers? The baby on the sign is very cute, and maybe the Charlotte Zoning officials felt people driving by might ooh and aah right into the car in front of them. An accident waiting to happen.

The young man, unlike the young woman, had his feet inside his shoes. They removed the sign from his hands without having to resort to violence, for which we all breathed a sigh of relief. These people sure know how to take control in a crisis situation. I just pray if ISIS comes to Charlotte, those city officials are there with as much authority and courage as exhibited in wrenching our signs into their cars.

As you ponder this valiant effort of Charlotte Zoning Authority to rid the city of dangerous and reckless sign behavior, you might want to take a gander at a recent article about the very issue of signs that are taking over our city! In the case of the signs mentioned in the news release, no one is holding the signs-- they are being tacked up on every available structure all over our fair city. Unlike our signs which are held or strapped to our cars and removed each and every time we leave our volunteer shift, these signs remain for months at times! What are Charlotte city officials quoted as saying they are doing about THIS clear and present danger?

In that article, the following telling statement is made: But the city said it doesn't pursue fines, saying that "non-punitive methods have proven most effective and efficient when compared to the outlay of resources necessary to identify and cite each offender"


WE must be special! We received citations for both signs the officials seized; signs NOT left for months unattended on street lamp posts but signs held by volunteers who let one edge of the sign touch the ground.

We pay a lot of money in taxes. Charlotte's violent crime rate continues to rise but tax dollars, resources, and energy are diverted to render citations to sweet volunteers just barely into adulthood, to remove signs they are holding because a two-foot wide edge of cardboard is resting on the ground. These signs are expensive and help a small privately funded ministry do such good work as typified by the past few weeks when we sheltered a homeless family for a month, fixed their car, bought groceries and clothes for their children, and gained them entrance into a private program that will provide housing and life training skills so they will never find themselves homeless again. Not a CENT of taxpayer money was expended in this effort. And by the way, they are excited about the baby they chose not to abort.

Meanwhile, instead of helping others in devastating situations, our funds and energy might be diverted to regaining our signs from the city of Charlotte. Does anything upset you about this use of government power?


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If you are concerned about this harassment of volunteers who routinely help homeless women find housing, rescue babies led to the slaughter of abortion, provide gas and groceries and support to those who choose life along with a host of other immediate helpful resources, please contact the Charlotte zoning department, specifically Ben Krise 704-336-2485

Perhaps this encourages you to join us ministering to women who feel they have no choice but abortion, and yet though our vital ministry, find out there is a better choice and real hope and help.
Email vkaseorg@cities4life.com for information on shadowing experienced volunteers and training sessions.
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Jeremiah 22:17

"But your eyes and your heart Are intent only upon your own dishonest gain, And on shedding innocent blood And on practicing oppression and extortion."