Fistfight Breaks Out Over Kerry Veterans ("Christian punches vets")

[yellowcanine]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/politics/3710608/detail.html

A member of a Christian group has been fired after allegedly punching several veterans marching for presidential candidate John Kerry in Monday's Harvest Festival parade in Windsor, Colo.

The man, who was not identified by police, was a member of the northern Colorado FamilyLife Marriage Conference and was walking ahead of 175 members of Veterans for Kerry.



"Please Jesus, save me from your followers."

[daleo]

1. A Bush Christian

"Turn the other cheek, so I can sock it too."

[Born Free]

82. America needs a "Christians for Truth" 527

According to a PBS documentary, the bush coward only became a Evangelical after he lost his first election to one in Texas. The bush coward uses the "Evangelical" spin in almost every public appearance, but if people would look at his actions they could see he is a Christian in talk only. However, he successfully hides behind this to cover every mistake he make, every time he lies he falls back on his "God" and expects all those that have faith to ignore everything he does in reality and only accept what he says about GOD. America needs some Christians to question the bush cowards sincerity and it is fair game as he uses it publicly all the time.

[Downtown Hound]

2. "Support our troops"

eh' fellas?

[Celeborn Skywalker]

3. How Christian of him <sarcasm> n/t

[acmavm]

4. Why does it not surprise me that it says 'A member of a Christian group'?

.

[blm]

28. But, it also says 175 Veterans marching FOR Kerry.

To me that's the best thing in that article.

[Cha]

68. IN Colorado!

[Walt Starr]

5. WOW, I've been through Windsor so many times!

This campaign is getting out of hand. Windsor was always a nice, peaceful community. I guess the brownshirts can no longer contain themselves.

[laylah]

56. Windsor is no longer

a nice, peaceful community. It is a sprawling wound on the formerly pristine front range...in Repub country.

Jenn

[JLucas4092]

65. Windsor elected...

Marilyn Musgrave. They are not peaceful or nice.

[eeyore]

93. I grew up in nearby Fort Collins

This unfortunately doesn't surprise me at all. Windsor and many other small Colorado towns have become Fundie hotbeds. It all started with Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, and has spread like a vicious disease throughout the state.

I now live in Portland, OR, and I'm really stunned by how conservative Colorado seems when I return for visits. My aunt just moved here from Denver, and she told me the other day that it amazes her how there's seemingly not a Republican in sight. She hasn't spent much time outside the city yet, but I agree with her that the overall tone of politics is very different here.

It was conservative when I left for college in 1986, and it's only gone further to the right.

[Catfight]

6. We're the VETS in wheelchairs? Seems to me that Christains only

beat, kick, fight and degrade people in the name of Jesus. Maybe we should give the VETS some Purple Heartless Bandaids to console them? If VETS aren't pissed yet, I don't think they ever will be!

[saigon68]

14. WHO WOULD JESUS KICK PUNCH AND DEGRADE???

WHO WOULD JESUS KILL ?????

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skip Intro]

8. How Christ-like

You'd think these morons would suffocate from their own hypocrisy.

[CarolynEC]

9. And why was he not ID'd by police?

I think the public has the right to know when someone goes around assaulting American citizens.

[apnu]

21. because...

...this took place in super conservative, protect all the Christians, nutty Colorado. Here's a state that is home to a surprising number of hate organizations. AFA, CWA, this nut-ball's "family marriage" counseling "function"

Notice how most of them use the word "family" in the name, methinks its an evil coded word for either "god hates fags (and a big F.U. to Phelps)" or "we are evil and hijack God's name for our evil"

I think they are trying to take over Denver and turn it into their own personal Clearwater FLA. (Scientologists "own" the town of Clearwater, and have all but destroyed it -- http://www.raids.org/anonyads.htm)

It seems to me that the only place of sanity left in CO is Boulder. And, I've heard, its starting to yuppify there as well.

[catmandu57]

24. Phelps is next door in Kansas

but I agree with you about there being a lot of nutcase organizations located in Colorado. I don't want to paint the whole state bad, but, this doesn't help my opinion.
I have a brother who turned whacked out nutjob after a divorce, like the moron* he decided he needed to be born again. I went to his house one night and he had "focus on the family" on I listened for a while and just shook my head in amazement.
I've given up on him as a fool.

[dmr]

54. I have an older brother like that too

He got himself 'born again', and apes everything he hears from the '700 Club' and other similar programs.

He was once a very loving and funny man - you just wanted to be around him. In the 90s he changed, and we battled over Clinton, and my being a single mother! (sigh) We haven't spoken in years. He has made it totally impossible.

Of course, he doesn't get the hypocracy in his life, either, and don't anyone dare point out that he visits the strip bars and invites prostitutes into his home.

Big sigh

[0007]

27. Creststone Colorado is the hippest place in Colorado

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

47. hitler had a 14,000 acre ranch in cheyenne co, colorado

[yellowcanine]

29. Actually the police did arrest him. There may, after all, be a God.

"Police arrested the man on charges of misdemeanor assault."

[jwirr]

50. If he was arrested his name

is a matter of public record. I think we should make him famous!

[MagickMuffin]

84. He was identified as

Russell Laughlin, 40, of Nunn, was a member of the northern Colorado FamilyLife Marriage Conference and was walking ahead of 175 members of Veterans for Kerry.

According to police, Laughlin was handing out pamphlets for his group while making loud insults about Kerry to the crowd gathered to watch the parade.

It mentions him by name.

If Jesus were around today I think he would be screaming "Not in my name"!

Of course they would try to beat him up as well. Then he could smite them straight to hell where they belong...

[KurtNYC]

96. Not sure where that idea came from, it says

Russell Laughlin, 40, of Nunn,

[apnu]

10. hmmm compare that to this B&N "incident"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2322141

and see who is hanging themselves.

[MidwestTransplant]

11. "punched HER in the mouth"

big tough guy. Bet he saw lots of combat when he volunteered for duty...oh never mine.

[RevCheesehead]

12. o dear Lord, not another one

<snip>

After about a mile, the veterans group asked the man to go back to his own group, but he refused and instead stood in front of the Kerry group, refusing to move, according to a Chris Humphries, an Army veteran and Kerry campaign employee.

That's when a fistfight erupted and the man grabbed a veteran by his shirt and started swinging, according to Gary Fedel, a Lakewood, Colo. member of Veterans for Kerry. Humphries said the man then turned around punched her in the mouth.

Police arrested the man on charges of misdemeanor assault.

The FamilyLife Marriage Conference said it dismissed the volunteer, as a result of the melee.

FamilyLife is an organization that holds conferences to bring married couples closer together.



I'd hate to be his wife.

[xxqqqzme]

25. how is a volunteer

'dismissed'? Like the next event he shows up, they're gonna send him packing? I don't think so.

[yardwork]

58. an organization to bring married couples closer together

By encouraging wives to submit or get punched in the mouth, no doubt.

These groups have received millions of dollars in funding from the Bush* administration.

[Ripley]

13. Punching Female Veterans now are they?

It's not enough they have to mock them with their stupid band-aids, now they are actually physically attacking them. She should have pulled an Army maneuver on him and seriously hurt him.

[proud patriot]

15. sent this to Malloy

We should try and get this to media who will air this story .

[tandot]

16. "Christian" Bush Gestapo ... Thank God that freeper didn't have a gun

Those people are violent and bat-shit crazy. They hate Democracy and Freedom of Speech. Pathetic losers... :mad:

[acmavm]

17. Oh geez, what even makes it better is that he hit a WOMAN in the mouth.

And he belongs to a group that

<snip>
FamilyLife is an organization that holds conferences to bring married couples closer together.
<snip>

Oh man, here I go with another bout of the giggles. I feel sorry for the woman, but if that isn't sooooo stereotypical of this guy.

[MallRat]

18. I hope this gets BIG, BIG PRESS in Colorado. n/t

[KansDem]

19. When did they start using their fists?

I thought they only used their feet, and only when the "object of their scorn" was lying defenselessly on the ground, subdued by three Secret Service agents?


http://talkleft.com/new_archives/007794.html

[commander bunnypants]

20. Christians

No wonder I gave that cult up

DDQM

[MidwestTransplant]

22. VETERANS SHOULD POST ON VETERAN MESSAGE BOARDS

This and the purple heart bandaids should help to show people who they are dealing with.

[tblue37]

63. Send an alert to Vetwife.

She gets this sort of news out to veteran groups so effectively.

[havocmom]

23. First vandalism of signs, bumper stickers and now assaulting vets!

Guess they hate vets for defending their freedom? :wtf:

This is the price America pays for not taking mental health care seriously. The self proclaimed patriots & christian (with a small c) cannot abide any sort of challenge to their beliefs and delusions. They are incapable of logic or any sort of objective thought. They cannot tolerate anyone who might just set the bar of civil behavior, service, duty,and tolerance above the low level they themselves struggle to attain.

Face it, they hate others for their ability to evolve. Want everyone to stay in the same stinking pond scum they wallow in.

[xxqqqzme]

31. evolve? Don't

think that word ever gets close 2 this kind of whacko!

[glitch]

33. "Face it, they hate others for their ability to evolve." Very well said. nt

[henslee]

26. I'd sue the perp. & the organization for phys. inj./emotional trauma!

Yes i would.

[htuttle]

30. He punched a WOMAN in the mouth?

That happens in front of me, the guy goes down. Hard!

[HughBeaumont]

34. I'm wondering if he got swarmed?

The article doesn't mention that.

If that happened here, he'd be drinking his meals through a straw.

[gratuitous]

32. Can we please can the anti-Christian tar?

Just because someone self-identifies as a "Christian" doesn't necessarily make him or her one. As the founder of the religion said himself: By their fruits shall you know them.

I don't know of any statements of Jesus that would endorse punching and kicking someone over a philosophical disagreement. And there are a lot of Christians whose work feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and imprisoned is hard enough without having to counter nasty comments from our putative allies.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

39. We'll "can the anti-Christian tar" the day that the so-called....

..."Christian" supporters of the goose-stepping NeoCons come to their senses and realize what they've done and continue to do to this very day. IMHO, those people are no different from the so-called Christians that supported the government and policies of Adolf Hitler.

Yes, I know there are actual Christians who put their belief into action, but IMHO, they are far outnumbered by those who make a mockery of what they claim to believe.

[gratuitous]

41. Well, I appreciate your putting all of us in the same boat

It's not every day that advocating for the least and the lost gets you equated with supporting the government and policies of Hitler.

[LeftyChristian]

43. Don't know why the mods

let this go on.

[niceypoo]

62. Because violence in the name of christianity is sickening

and it must be exposed for what it is

[JerseygirlCT]

69. I think you're missing the forest for the trees. -m

I think the majority of Christians are not the hate-spewing, bible-thumping lot that you're referring to. The majority of quiet believers also have no need to toot their own horn, as it were. So you probably don't notice them.

Don't let the hate-filled ones win by ceding to them the name "Christian".

[yellowcanine]

45. I meant to put "Christian" in quotes. Actually, I think maybe it is time

for the people who truly try to follow Christ - particularly those who base their core beliefs on the Sermon on the Mount - to start calling themselves something other than "Christians." Maybe "Matthew 5 Christians" - or something along those lines

[gratuitous]

48. Thanks for the quote marks

I'm just asking for people to be more careful in their locutions. I don't think too many of us around here would want to be lumped in with the LaRouchites or the Phelpsians, but both Lyndon LaRouche and Fred Phelps claim to be registered Democrats.

[LibeMatt]

80. Second That

There's a substantial difference between the loving, tolerant church I grew up in and the seemingly large group that thinks that ONLY believing that Jesus took the fall for you gives you a Get-Out-Of-Hell-Free card (unless you don't vote correctly, natch).

Not unlike the difference between the Liberation Theologists of Latin America and elsewhere and the Church bureaucracy which tried to suppress them.

I like to use the Gandhi test:

If your theology holds that Gandhi is in hell, damned, anathema, or otherwise to-be-despised, you may want to seriously rethink it.

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[htuttle]

57. And praytell us....

WHICH 'pagan gods' would those be?

:eyes:

[Tsiyu]

72. ROFLMAO

I must say, the artwork at DU is constantly improving!!!!


:headbang:

[yardwork]

59. Enjoy your short stay at DU

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

76. This jew likes jesus just fine, but some of his followers

are complete asshats.....thank goodness for christians like you and a few others on DU...

[PurityOfEssence]

94. Nah, this Jesus schmuck's out of line; who does he think he is, GOD?

All of the molly-coddling is fine and dandy, but his message wasn't one of total sweetness and light, and if you scratch the surface, it has the same take as most rigid mindsets: I'm right, and everyone else is wrong.

Couple this with the religion built on top of his teachings--especially the manic and selfish focus on getting one's own ass saved--and it's a recipe for disaster.

Obviously, much of the trouble is from his followers and the systems built up around them, but he deserves some heat too.

[Joanne98]

98. No we can't........

People who identify themselves as born-again Christians are Bush's biggest supporters. Fundies, born-agains, evangelicals whatever their calling themselves, are Bush's biggest voting block. Bush is the enemy, they are the enemy. The good Christians have to stand up and fight them. Until that happens this is the only way.

[Shallah Kali]

35. another article on this with photo

http://www.greeleytrib.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040907/NEWS/109070058&rs=2

What an unChristian jerk!

[Dhalgren]

36. Any Vet who continues to support the

republicans and their brain-damaged president is a fool.

[goodboy]

37. Wonder what happens if his wife mouths off to him....eom

[Gregorian]

38. Talk about a sore loser. And we haven't even voted yet!

[markus]

40. Who Would Jesus Hate?

:grr:

[AP]

42. Republicans: First to scream "honor the troops." First to punch them in a

parade because they support the person for president who honors them.

[Emillereid]

44. Christian Fascist Brownshirts -- it's just beginning!

[diamond14]

46. bush* brownshirts...a direct result of bush* nazi-con hate fest....

now, these bush brownshirts have HIT an American Veteran, a BLACK WOMAN....

so far, the bush* brownshirts have thrown bricks through a number of Kerry offices all across America, screamed and degraded a 70 year old WOMEN who had throat surgery, trying to speak at a Kerry rally...KICKED a WOMEN at the bush* big hate fest in NY City...


they beat up on the old and the WOMEN....soon, it will be YOU...this is only the beginning with the bush* brownshirts...bush* designed a nomination conference so filled with hate that the NYT wrote: FEEL THE HATE....


short flash video that tells the bush* story, and why we must STAND UP now...
http://www.takebackthemedia.com/bushnonazi.html

[Lefty48197]

49. Can you feel the love?

No? Well then how about another one?

[Soth]

61. Reminds me of a quote...

"Did you feel the love? No? Then did you feel the existential dread? Good, that's the correct response."

MST3K. Sorry, a bit off-topic.

Although the "Christian" Bush supporters do kind of fill me with existential dread. Shows me they don't actually UNDERSTAND their religion at all.

[Sugarbleus]

86. ROFL!!!

I read this article in another thread. I thought, wow, how nice of that "fellohsheep" to FIRE the guy. :eyes:

[Fleshdancer]

51. Whitepages.com only has one listing for Russell Laughlin in Nunn,CO

gee. what are the odds.

[humbelwarrior]

52. moraons meet at high noon

come on now any nitwit can call himself a Christian. the test is given on a daily basis, he failed but can try again tomorrow, stop dumping on the dudes religion, zell might have a point after reading some of these comments ouch!!

[Gin]

55. his name was in the article......what a wierdo...she should sue his ass.

Russell Laughlin, 40, of Nunn, was a member of the northern Colorado FamilyLife Marriage Conference and was walking ahead of 175 members of Veterans for Kerry

[LynnTheDem]

60. Bet he's a member of the

FamilyLife Marriage, getting counselling for his constant beating of his wife & kids.

What a great walking advertisement he is for "Christians".

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

64. Sigh

I second a suggestion higher up in this thread: that all Christians who still actually try to FOLLOW the teachings of Christ re-name themselves, to distinguish themselves from the "Christians" who are CINO (Christian in Name Only).

I don't know what it would be, but "Jesus please save me from some of your supposed followers" is constantly on my lips nowdays.

[LTR]

66. Yep, that's how they "support the troops"

What exactly does that statement mean, anyway?

[Career Prole]

83. "Support the troops" means the same thing now as it did

last Veteran's Day:

Anti-Iraq War Veterans Pulled from Parade

by J. Taylor Rushing , Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)
November 13th, 2003

TALLAHASSEE -- A group of 30 military veterans critical of the war in Iraq hoped to use Tuesday's Veterans Day parade to call attention to the increasingly deadly conflict but instead found themselves fighting for something much more fundamental.

Members of Veterans For Peace and Vietnam Veterans Against the War were yanked off a downtown Tallahassee street, directly in front of the Old Capitol, while marching in the holiday parade they had legitimately registered in...
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2139

In other words, the phrase "support the troops" has been co-opted by the bushreich along with the very flag veterans fought for.

[Cha]

67. Oh those m*****F****** Fundies!

"Please Jesus, save me from your followers."

That says it all!

[Obamarama]

70. His phone number is on Yahoo! People Search, too...

Russell Laughlin, Nunn, Colorado.....perhaps we should ring him up and ask him "What Would Jesus Do?"

[ronnykmarshall]

99. Hmmmm?

Mass pizza delivery anyone?

[lamster2k]

71. Religious Right

That's one thing that's always gotten to me about Conservative
Christians. They only follow what the Christian faith teaches
when its convieniant for them.

[Tsiyu]

73. Remember, they told us WE were crazy?

talk about your projecting...

We must not rest unless and until every American knows that:

Republican = Mental Malfunction

Right Wing = Psychotic Loser

Fundie * Lover = Violent Unstable Inbred

Thank you. That is all.:loveya:

[HarveyBriggs]

74. Onward Christian Storm Troopers!

They are getting bolder. I hear they used to prefer sniper positions and high(er)-power rifles.

Harvey Briggs

[bvar22]

75. Ghandi:

"I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."---Ghandi

[goforit]

77. Christianity is looking UNCHRISTIAN these days!..Satan is their God.

[PartyPooper]

78. Forget Jesus! What would Paul say?

:eyes:

[svan81]

79. Repugs are "girlie-men"!!

Seriously, in my frat days, there were these Repubs from Boca Raton. They acted all tough on Iraq, so I asked them why did my brother who was in the 3rd infantry division have to fight a war for them while they were back in the states drinking a beer at a bar.

After a few ad hominem attacks, one of them got into my face and actually swung a pool stick at my head. Unlucky for him, he did not know that I was a high school wrestler so I threw him to the ground and his face started twitching. It was actually kind of scary -- I am pretty sure he was a freeper.

Same old, same old -- all hat and no cattle.

[JSJ]

81. multiple felony charges not misdemeanors were in order

Had this been initiated by Democrats or leftists you could bet that the charges would be more serious. But, then, cops are a Bush constituency and one that is very loyal. Watch out.

[mahina]

85. CINOs should be reminded of the beatitudes....

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake

You feel me, W?

[obiwan]

87. I wonder if this "Christian" asked the vets to...

..."turn the other cheek"?

[snippy]

88. How very republican. n/t

[Tight_rope]

89. First one of them kicks someone and now this....damn violent repukes!

[NashVegas]

90. The Bible Says Nothing About Protected Free Speech

And that's something America needs to keep in mind.

[loudsue]

91. Republican Activists Only Hit Women!!!

That's how the headlines should read!

First the member of the young republicans kicked a young woman at the convention, and now this "Christian" protester hits a female vet in the mouth!!

Yep! Bullies...sissies.

People need to start a new meme with this...They only hit WOMEN!! Too scared to pick on someone who could take 'em out.

I'm surprised the other vets who were marching didn't rearrange this attacker's face.

:kick::kick::kick:

[BeHereNow]

92. This group is part of the Moon empire...

FamilyLife is a division of the Campus Crusade for Christ cult-
More wolves in sheeps clothing.
False teachers.
BHN

Do a search on Bill Bright and Rev. Moon...scary, scary.

Here is a who's who list of the Council for Nation Policy:
All of your favorite X-tian right wingers and government players:
http://watch.pair.com/database.html

[The Magistrate]

95. A Cold Prediction, Ladies And Gentlemen...

Before Halloween, some Bush supporter will shoot into a group of Sen. Kerry's supporters....

[coloradodem2005]

97. Unbelievable.

These people need to be stopped.