Originally published in The Christian Post
No, this is not satire. An Ohio judge decided that a Catholic man had to pay his debt to society in the most ecclesiastical way possible — by attending worship at a Baptist church.
Judge William Mallory of the Hamilton County Courthouse in Cincinnati sentenced 23-year-old Jake Strotman to attend worship at a Baptist church for 12 consecutive Sundays.
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According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Mallory sentenced Strotman to this peculiar sentence due to his offence stemming from a fight with some Baptist street preachers.
“Strotman would be sentenced to attend 12 consecutive Sunday services at Morning Star Baptist Church. He was ordered to attend each entire 90-minute service, and is required to get the weekly program signed by the minister,” reported the Enquirer.
“That’s 18 hours of solid Baptist teaching. He also paid $480 (R7 500) in court fines and a $2 800 (R44 000) lawyer bill.”
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Strotman appears to be accepting of the sentence, preferring it over jail time. So maybe it is not a fate worse than death after all.
Love it…
The question begs as to the infringement on a persons religious right.What would be the “love” of it should a Baptist be sentenced to attend a Mosque or a Hindu Temple against their will, and what would be the reaction should any person of any religious persuasion be forced to attend the Catholic Mass? Granted, we don’t have the full story here, but never the less, somebody’s human rights have been violated. Peter Throp ( Value Life)
Firstly, it is clear that he attacked someone. It is also clear that this act of violence could have landed him some jail time. Secondly he has accepted this sentence in preference of jail time. Lastly, Baptist preaching is based on love which is contradictory to violence and which is also not found in jail. Love is also not the foundation of the Islamic faith….read the Quran and you will realise this….and neither is it the foundation of the Hindu religion…..read up on all the many Hindu gods for clarity….You seem to be concerned about human rights to the detriment of the particular human involved which leaves me to ask you a question…Is your opinion founded on love or is it simply Christian bashing….bearing in mind that Catholicism and Baptism serve the same God whereas Islam and Hinduism do not and it is unclear as whether you serve a god of any kind. Allow me to repeat myself with more clarity…..Love it…I love a sentence for a violent act that reflects love in return with the hope of the perpetrator realising that forgiveness and love go hand in hand and the benefits of living a life such as this far outweigh the benefits of a violent lifestyle as well as self absorbed lifestyle which focuses on individual rights as opposed to the rights of others first before those of oneself…at this stage I believe you know where Im coming from so I ll sign off with a traditional love gesture….Blessings….
@Terry. Let’s take it from the top. When Strotman attacked the victims, he was seriously violating their human rights. In that action he removed himself from the same protection (rights) he violated. Therefor I submit the order is sound and good (and a damn sight better than sitting in jail), and he is experiencing consequences for his actions. Or, if you would like it differently, he is being taught tolerance for different views.
If another religious faith is imposed on someone then that person is the victim. The court has crossed a line and set a very dangerous precedent.
I sign my name PETER Throp.
Let us not accuse one of bashing any ones faith. Love must never be seen as gloating over another’s short comings where there is fire you will find fuel. I have witnessed intolerance between different religions. And a lot of offence against Catholics, Religion should not have been brought into the sentencing. It can be offensive to others in that faith. My Question is along the lines of can a christian who is intolerant/offense to Islam be told to attend mosque…
Time will tell on this question my brothers & sisters in Christ.
God bless. Peter Throp.