Will I Be Breaking Any Laws?

smellsgood

I intend in the future (when I get a cam and can post all the hijinks online) to infiltrate a "meeting" of a certain religious organization which will remain anonymous (no guessing!).

Now, I need to know if there are any laws governing the er "interruption" of a religious gathering?

For example, if I ask a bunch of akward hard to answer questions at inappropriate times? Will this cause any cops to be called to keep the peace?

If I were to wear (under a jacket until the opportune moment) a shirt that was advertising contrary material to what was being preached from the pulpit would I be disciplined by law enforcement?

In other words, what laws are there, since I assume there is at least one or two, that restrict what a person can do/say/behave like at a religious gathering? I ask only because I don't want to put up with the hassle of paying fines, I would gladly be put in jail if that were all there was to it! But, they always want some scratch. Do the crime, pay the fine.

If anyone can illuminate me as to what I'm up against I would be much obliged. :)

Thanks!

Junction-Guy

I cant think of any specific laws you would be breaking, however if you create enough nuisance you could be arrested for disorderly conduct. They would more than likely ask you to leave before they were to call the police on you. Good luck, and keep us posted. Would this happen to be anywhere near Tennessee? I would love to go and watch.

monophonic

when you have a chance, watch the documentary 'kurt & courtney' and see how the director confronts courtney love as well as the part where he gets on stage where she's being honored and starts asking hard questions about accusations of kurts death...and the camera man has a panic attack. also, check out michael moore's films. 'roger & me' was pretty good. if they wanted to be hard asses about it, they could get you on trespassing....always remember to keep filming, even when they say to turn it off....pretend you've turned it off and turn it back on right away to get the action as best you can, especially if you're getting kicked out. and it depends your geographic location. if you're in a city, urban area, cops will probably be more lenient, or not even show up. if you're in a small town, they have less to do and might enjoy writing you up. good luck. oh, another idea, get a film permit to shoot outside the kh, just on the sidewalk, and let them know you won't block any street traffic, etc. film permits are really cheap if you tell them you're a film student and it's only a couple of people in the crew....just make sure they don't want to assign a police officer to the shoot. then plead innocent that you thought the permit was for inside use as well. if you haven't shot that much footage or have never been in a situation like that, i also suggest filming other things like political rallies, or protests, get in people's faces a bit so you get a feel for what works and what doesn't in situations that can become tense. oh, another one, watch 'da ali g show', it's borat's tv clips.

blondie

If you disturb a public meeting, most likely any group would call the police to have you removed for disturbing the peace, unless it was the policy to allow open questions during the meeting which I know is not true for JWs (they ask you to talk to someone after the meeting).

If you wish to help someone think differently about the WTS, you might try reading and applying the suggestions in Steven Hassan's 2 books about cult thinking.

Blondie

disturbing the peace
n. upsetting the quiet and good order particularly through loud noise, by fighting or other unsocial behavior which frightens or upsets people. It is a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or brief term in jail.

Junction-Guy

Here is my own personal experience with this. Back in the early 1990's I was attending a FreeWill Baptist church in a small Ohio town. Apparently the deacons there, especially one, was against the pastor. During one of the services there, this deacon and his family stood up and interrupted the services. They were being loud and pandemonium broke out. Someone called the police and when the police arrived they asked the offender to leave, and that was all.

This church was even on the news for the troubles they were going through, and my picture was shown on TV, but only showing my back. I still have this news story saved on a VCR tape somewhere in this apartment.

Junction-Guy

One point I would like to say is this. Even though the police were called, they were very reluctant to get involved due to the nature of the dissent. In other words, it was seen as internal church trouble, and they didnt want to get involved, so they gave every opportunity for the dissenters to leave peacefully.

If you are viewed as an outsider by the police, they may be more inclined to step in. You might want to try a little reverse theocratic warfare strategy here.

dawg

I want in on this... I hope you keep us posted.

tijkmo

disturbing the peace
n. upsetting the quiet and good order particularly through loud noise, by fighting or other unsocial behavior which frightens or upsets people. It is a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or brief term in jail.

and was used extensively by jws in the past in setting up the right to go house to house etc

blondie

I had non-JW relatives that "invaded" a KH and proceeded to give an unscheduled public talk uninvited. It did not convince any of the JWs there that they were in the wrong religion, actually the opposite, that they were in the right "persecuted" religion.

There are more effective ways of opening the eyes of people to WT lies.

Blondie

horrible life

or other unsocial behavior which frightens or upsets people.

So, if I were to stand in the middle, or back, of he KH, and stand, or sit, and hold my arms up to the Lord, I would be upsetting people. I could be kicked out. Even for not uttering a sound. I would be frightning the JW's.

Will I Be Breaking Any Laws?

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