SF youth rally followup

I have a picture of worshippers at the San Francisco youth ministry event. Unlike the comment of Mark Leno, Assemblyman, San Francisco (D), "they're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting and they should get out of San Francisco," these kids appear to be what everyone talks about but nobody actually sees. Multicultural teens and 20’s coming together to improve their lives and make a difference by serving others.

Next time you want to say something illogical, do your homework. The bands and speakers of this event are about as moderate an evangelical as you are going to get. To call them “fundamentalist” simply means you have no idea what that term really means.

For publicity purposes, it is not lost on me that the organizers of the event staged a rally on the city hall steps of San Francisco which had advocated same sex marriages at an earlier date. While they were there, their message wasn’t about homosexuality, same sex marriage, or the like. Looking at their website, and hearing reports from their events, this is not even an emphasized agenda item.

I have to say, Battle Cry did this on purpose. I think they are right in getting their word out. I think they are wrong in knowingly providing opportunities for those who disagree with them to look foolish. Again, I go back to one of my favorite sayings, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be helpful?”

I think of Martin Luther’s explanation of the Eighth commandment.

We should fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.

You knew you were going to get a rise out of some fringe groups (no one could have predicted the Board of Supervisors off the wall response), so why did they do it? Saying this I realize these are teenagers and young adults and they have an edge to their methodology along with their strong, but gracious message.

A footnote: Mark Leno did recant a bit on his rhetoric.

On Monday, however, Leno struck a more reasoned tone, acknowledging that his rally cry was "not one of my prouder moments." He said the youth group was "welcome in San Francisco," even though he does worry that its religious rhetoric could "under a cloak of love" feed a "fearful world's appetite for hate."

I will address that last phrase tomorrow, but it is good to see Assemblyman Leno is being a little more careful.