Salem Political Snark

Awakening Ministries is The Church at Planned Parenthood

In case you're wondering who The Church at Planned Parenthood really is, wonder no more.

This supposed "church" consists of moralistic busybodies who staged a protest on July 13 at the Planned Parenthood office in Salem, which resulted in a fight between Proud Boys and counterprotestors.

Because, you know, Jesus-loving churches like to have their security provided by a hate group that was part of the insurrection at the nation's capitol on January 6.

Here's a screenshot of where The Church at Planned Parenthood does its thing when it isn't harassing women at Planned Parenthood trying to use their services for cancer screening, birth control, and such.

(Yes, including abortions, which are 100% legal here in Oregon.)

And here's a screenshot of Salem's Awakening Ministries.


Proving that a career as an intelligence analyst awaits me if I wasn't already so damn old, my careful, minute, pixel-by-pixel comparisons of the two screenshots leads me to conclude that The Church at Planned Parenthood and Awakening Ministries are one and the same.

Ergo, a word I like to use when I want to appear even more intelligent than I normally am, we can also conclude that Awakenng Ministries either has ties with the Proud Boys or at the least, welcomed them to their Planned Parenthood protest.

Oh, I'm sorry. I used the word protest for a gathering where, I've heard, three Proud Boys were indicted for what they did at the Planned Parenthood office. 

The Church at Planned Parenthood is a franchise operation of sorts, with churches using that name for their local attempts to hassle clients and staff of Planned Parenthood offices. The main Church at Planned Parenthood web site makes clear what they're all about.

The Church at Planned Parenthood is NOT a protest. It’s a worship service at the gates of Hell. The Church at Planned Parenthood is a gathering of Christians for the worship of God and the corporate prayer for repentance for this nation, repentance for the apathetic church and repentance of our blood guiltiness in this abortion holocaust.

"Abortion holocaust"? I guess the Church at Planned Parenthood needs some educating about the real holocaust, since there's no comparison between women getting safe and legal abortions, and Hitler killing six million Jews. 

The web site also says The Worship is Non-Confrontational Spiritual Warfare. Apparently the Proud Boys weren't told about the non-confrontational part, just the warfare part, since two of them were arrested for assault and disorderly conduct at the Awakening Ministries/Church of Planned Parenthood "worship service."

(The third Proud Boy reportedly was charged with Robbery in the Second Degree, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Theft in the First Degree.)

By the way, Awakening Ministries is a sponsor of Salem Awakening, which has been using the original amphitheater at Riverfront Park without a permit for its summer gatherings. 

A citation finally has been issued by the City of Salem after citizen activist Jim Scheppke kept complaining about the permit-less worship services. Sure, Jesus didn't need a permit for his preaching, but he wasn't doing his thing in a public park, so far as I know.

I've enjoyed comments people have been leaving on the Awakening Ministries web site about their repeated permit infractions. 

 

Two reports of how Broadway Coffee House/Commons discriminates against LGBT people

Someone contacted me about a year ago about how the Broadway Coffee House here in Salem refuses to allow gay people to be employees, because the business is controlled by the Salem Alliance Church.

As you can read below, the pastor of the church believes this gives them a religious license to discriminate, sort of like how Agent 007 had a license to kill, even though under normal circumstances this is illegal. 

According to the Oregon State Bar, it is legal for religiously affiliated businesses to engage in discrimination against LGBT people. But this doesn't make it right.

Here's what the person who contacted me, who wanted to remain anonymous, said. I recall that this message came through Facebook after I'd written a blog post about how Hobby Lobby mixes religion with its business practices. 

I saw your post about hobby lobby, so I think I feel comfortable sharing more ...the "business" I am referring to is Broadway Coffee house. Turns out it is not an actual business and all proceeds go to pay church staff and support the church ministries of Salem Alliance Church .

Seems like something the public should be aware of, especially since I was told gay people would not be able to work there

Yes. I met with the head pastor a year ago to confirm that it was true . The pastor told me that the baristas are church staff and have to be employees of the church and follow church rules to work there . He also said that they do not need to follow non discrimination laws because they are an outreach ministry...not a licensed business. I think the general public should know this.

It feels very underhanded to keep that info from consumers. Myself and about 40 others who live around the coffee shop have been boycotting Broadway for over a year now . We just want them to put up a sign that says the coffee shop supports the ministry of the church and is not an equal opportunity employer. If they do that, we will end the boycott.

Today, the Statesman Journal ran a letter to the editor that made a similar point about how the Broadway Commons, which contains the Broadway Coffee House, discriminates against LGBT people because it is owned by the Salem Alliance Church.

Though Scott Rick focuses on not allowing same-gender couples to marry, I noted that he uses the phrase "discriminating against LGBT members of our community in various ways," implying there are other ways discrimination is happening -- such as not allowing LGBT people to work at the Broadway Coffee House. 

Here's the letter.

Boycotting Salem meeting place sends message discrimination won't be tolerated

By serving as a gathering place for the community, Broadway Commons is a major asset to Salem.

Unfortunately, the owners of Broadway Commons, Salem Alliance Church, are actively discriminating against LGBT members of our community in various ways, including refusing to allow same-gender couples to marry.

Religious freedom is sacred, but when any organization discriminates, we have an obligation to take action to bring an end to such discrimination.

In years past, the Bible was used to justify slavery and opposition to civil rights for African Americans. By discriminating against the LGBT community, Salem Alliance Church is continuing that unfortunate tradition.

Refusing to allow same-gender couples to marry is no different than refusing to allow interracial couples to marry.

By boycotting Broadway Commons, we can send a clear message that discrimination is not tolerated in our community.

Many private and governmental organizations use Broadway Commons for meetings. If you are invited to a meeting at Broadway Commons, please consider letting the meeting organizer know that you cannot attend due to the discriminatory practices of the Salem Alliance Church.

Scott Rick
Salem

Rick's call for a boycott of Broadway Commons, which includes the Broadway Coffee House, should be seriously considered by those in Salem who reject discrimination for any reason, including religious. 

I've never understood why our country tolerates discrimination in the name of religion when the same behavior is illegal for non-religious people to engage in.

What's next, allowing religious people to drive drunk if this is part of their belief system? Allowing anyone with a hateful belief system to discriminate? Why should a collective discriminatory belief system be treated differently than an individual discriminatory belief system?

The City of Salem has held a number of meetings at the Broadway Commons.

But recently public meeting for the Downtown Streetscape and Our Salem projects have been held elsewhere. It'd be good to know if this was because of the Broadway Commons' discrimination policy against LGBTQ members of the Salem community.

If so, great. Kudos to the City of Salem.

If not, then the City of Salem and other government agencies should make it a policy to never hold meetings at the Broadway Commons until the Salem Alliance Church starts acting in the name of love, not discrimination, like religious organizations are supposed to do.

"Jesus loves strippers" sign gets Salem hot and bothered

Over on the Salem Community Vision Facebook page, a post about this illegal sign has gotten a lot of attention.  

The sign is in the public right of way, which violates the City of Salem sign ordinance. So I'm wondering if Jesus loves illegal signs. Here's what the Salem Community Vision post said.

THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU DON'T ENFORCE THE CITY SIGN CODE
There are hundreds of illegal temporary signs in the public right of way all over Salem, but this one on Mission Street really takes the cake!

The signs proliferate because for years now the City has stopped enforcing our sign code which prohibits temporary signs in the ROW [right of way]. When small businesses see signs in the ROW all over town, they think its okay. It's not. It's a blight and an embarrassment. Out of towners must think we're a bunch of yahoos who don't give a damn about the appearance of Oregon's capital city.

Do you suppose we could do something about this before we get thousands of visitors for the eclipse in August? How about a volunteer enforcement brigade? We'd send a message: Don't Mess With Salem.

I totally agreed with these sentiments.

My next thoughts were these: (1) asking drivers to "honk if you agree" about anything seems stupid, especially when no one is around to hear the honking (does Jesus also love honking?), and (2) what the heck is PoleGems?

It turns out that this group aims "to support, empower, and equip people working in all facets of adult entertainment, and victims of sex trafficking, to live healthy, flourishing lives."

Well, that sounds good -- aside from the question of why PoleGems seemingly feels the need to butt into the lives of everybody who works in the adult entertainment industry, regardless of whether they feel the need for support, empowerment, and equipment to live healthy, flourishing lives.

A bit of browsing around the PoleGems web site and Facebook page led to a rather obvious conclusion: PoleGems is out to proselytize in the name of their Jesus who supposedly loves strippers.

[Note: I don't believe in God or in any religion. So trying to convert people to Christianity or any other supernatural fantasy strikes me as a waste of time. But I also believe in freedom of expression, so long as it isn't coercive. Along that line, I suspect that many, if not most, workers in the adult entertainment industry view PoleGems as I view Jehovah's Witnesses: people who deserve to hear "No, thanks, not interested."]

Here's a few excerpts from the PoleGems web site:

We have a great team of volunteers at POLE Gems. We are all committed to furthering the mission of Christ by assisting women and men who are involved in the sex industry. We believe that God has called us to this particular field and love to see Him working in the lives of those we serve.

...We have many opportunities to get connected with POLE Gems. First, pray! Our ministry would not be as successful as it is without the covering of prayer from our many supporters! Our volunteers gather once a month to go into the clubs with gifts and love for the staff and dancers.

And the PoleGems Facebook page talks about their connection with Strip Church in Las Vegas.

Strip Church serves, teaches and equips women who share a heart and calling to reach out into clubs. We provide 2-3 Training Conferences each year, developing 20-30 people each time. These leaders are trained to do strip club ministry in their cities across the U.S. Our Strip Church Network is supported through monthly training conference calls, resources, networked websites, blogs, prayer, and branded materials to use inside the clubs.

OK. Like I said, this is a free country.

Christians are free to proselytize in overt and covert ways. Bringing gift bags to women who work in strip clubs and befriending them in hopes they will come to Jesus (and leave the adult entertainment industry) is a totally legal thing to do. 

Personally, though, I feel that Christian efforts to bring people back to the "straight and narrow" would be better served by visiting the head offices of large money-sucking corporations, especially those in the fossil fuel industries that are wrecking our planet. 

I realize that some of the workers in strip clubs are taken advantage of and need help. But so do workers in many other industries, which leads me to suspect that the zeal of PoleGems is founded more in a moralistic judgement that strip clubs are evil, than in a desire to help the most afflicted American workers.

Regardless... let's get back to the illegal sign.

It really is illegal, as Salem Community Vision pointed out to the executive director of PoleGems, Cynthia Shaver -- who commented on the Facebook post, saying she was just trying to draw attention to a July 4 fundraiser and didn't know the sign violated a City ordinance.

Regardless of the content and your good intentions, this sign is illegal. It's in the public right of way. You could be fined $2,000 a day if the City enforced their code. You need to move it back from the street (behind the sidewalk) and then it will be legal. Do it now please. Repect the law.

Disturbingly, even after Shaver was told about the prohibition on temporary signs in the public right of way (which includes the area between a sidewalk and a street), she persisted in her belief that it was OK for the large illegal PoleGems sign to remain standing.

It seems strange to me that a "good Christian" would knowingly flaunt the law, especially when her group is dedicated to helping people who they consider might be at risk of getting involved in illegal activities.

My proud atheism may be speaking here, but I often find that religious people are annoyingly sure that whatever they're doing in the "name of God" is beyond reproach. In this case, PoleGems needs to realize that they are violating the City of Salem temporary sign ordinance.

The fact that many other businesses and organizations also are in violation of the ordinance is no excuse. If PoleGems wants people in Salem to believe that they are out to do the right thing for people in this town, they should start acting like good citizens.

Tear down this sign!, Ms. Shaver. (To kind of quote Ronald Reagan.)