DAILY LOBO new mexico
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monday March 4, 2013
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Christians condemn ‘homos’ and ‘whores’
Religious protest by the Cornell Parking Structure not well received by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
Four men who claimed they were preaching the message of Jesus Christ in front of the Cornell Parking Structure Friday afternoon stirred outrage among students. One of the Christian preachers, who declined to give his real name and called himself “Joshua the Preacher,” said his group is following the word of Christ by preaching at UNM. He said the group decided to come to campus to encourage sinners to change their ways. “We believe in the Bible, and Jesus said to go into the world and preach,” he said. “We came to UNM to spread the message that Jesus Christ is true. We’re individuals preaching salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. Turn to Jesus Christ or you will burn in hell.” Joshua said the group preached against sins that are now common everywhere. “A person who understands justice understands that if you break God’s law, you are now guilty and punishable,” he said. “We want to deal with the sin of humanity: drinking, smoking, fornicating, masturbating, lies, theft, pornography and homosexuality. Without Jesus Christ you will go to the lake of fire.”
During the event, the men raised placards that they said affirmed Christianity, one of which displayed “Islam is a religion of blood and murder. The blood from Jesus is given as a ransom for all mankind.” Three of the men’s wives and their young children stood watching from a distance. The event went on for three hours. About 100 students came to the area in front of the Cornell Parking Structure to voice their opinions against the preachers, who yelled to students to repent and called them offensive names. One of the men called this reporter a “homo” and called the Daily Lobo’s photographer a “whore.” Student Benny Fuller said the men were disobeying Christianity’s teachings by calling students names. “Jesus specifically said don’t call your brother ‘raca,’ which basically means idiot,” he said. “The same thing applies with ‘fag,’ ‘homo’ and all that. Don’t go out causing strife. They’re leading people astray by spreading this message of hate.” Fuller said it is outrageous that the University allowed the men to preach their hateful message at UNM. “Christianity is supposed to be a religion about love, respect and doing unto others what you want them to do unto you,” he said. “Whatever the Bible says is irrel-
Rachel Toraño-Mark / Daily Lobo “Joshua the Preacher” screams at students while carrying a placard that he said preached Christianity. He was one of four men who gathered in front of the Cornell Parking Structure Friday afternoon to demand that people repent. Enraged students came to protest the preachers, who called the students offensive names. evant. It’s not a loving thing to go ahead and start yelling and berating people with it. They’re not here to spread a message of love. They’re just douche bags.” At least five UNMPD officers were present at the event. UNMPD Sgt. Gilbert Lujan said the police were on standby in case interactions between the preachers and students became violent. He said that although students demanded to have the preachers kicked out of the University, the police
could not do so because the men received a permit from the University to assemble. “They have this space this afternoon to do whatever it is that they’re discussing. I guess it’s religion,” Lujan said. Lujan said the preachers are exercising their freedom of speech. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion,” he said. “As long as it doesn’t get violent, then the police wouldn’t step in, but there’s just been a lot of shouting back and forth, and it’s pretty peaceful.”
Rodman to Obama: phone North Korea NBA star says Kim Jong Un wants call, not war by Michele Salcedo The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Call me? Maybe? North Korea’s young leader has riled the U.S. with recent nuclear tests, but Kim Jong Un doesn’t really want war with the superpower, just a call from President Barack Obama to chat about their shared love of basketball, according to ersatz diplomat Dennis Rodman, the ex-NBA star just back from an improbable visit to the reclusive communist country. “He loves basketball. … I said Obama loves basketball. Let’s start there” as a way to warm up relations between U.S. and North Korea, Rodman told ABC’s “This Week.” “He asked me to give Obama something to say and do one thing. He wants Obama to do one thing, call him,” said Rodman, who called the authoritarian leader an “awesome guy” during his trip. The State Department criticized North Korea last week for “wining and dining” Rodman while its own people go hungry. Rodman also said Kim told him, “I don’t want to do war. I
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don’t want to do war.” Yet in January, after the U.N. Security Council voted to condemn the North’s successful rocket launch in December and expand penalties against Kim’s government, his National Defense Commission said in a statement that “settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words.” The statement also promised “a new phase of the anti-U.S. struggle that has lasted century after century.” North Korea and the U.S. fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The foes technically remain at war. They never signed a peace treaty and do not have diplomatic relations. Rodman was the highest-profile American to meet Kim since Kim inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011. He traveled to the secretive state with the Harlem Globetrotters team for a new HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television. The visit took place amid rising tensions between the countries. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test two weeks ago, making clear the provocative act was a warning to the United States to drop what it considers a “hostile” policy toward the North. Rodman said he was aware of
Jason Mojica / VICE Media North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea on Thursday. Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with three members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team to shoot an episode on North Korea for a new weekly HBO series. North Korea’s human rights record, which the State Department has characterized as one of the worst in the world, but said he wasn’t apologizing for Kim. “He’s a good guy to me,” Rodman said, adding, that “as a person to person, he’s my friend. I don’t condone what he does.”
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Basketball is popular in North Korea, and Thursday’s exhibition game with two Americans playing on each team alongside North Koreans ended in a 110-110 tie. Following the game Kim threw an “epic feast” for the group, plying them with food and drinks and making round after round of toasts.
Rodman’s trip was the second attention-grabbing American visit this year to North Korea. Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, made a four-day trip in January, but did not meet Kim. Rodman said he planned to go back to North Korea to “find out more what’s really going on.”
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