4588686 Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/world/europe/gay-rights-rally-is-attacked-in-georgia.html?_r=0 MOSCOW — A throng of thousands led by priests in black robes surged through police cordons in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday and attacked a group of about 50 gay rights demonstrators. Carrying banners reading “No to mental genocide†and “No to gays,†the masses of mostly young men began by hurling rocks and eggs at the gay rights demonstrators. The police pushed most of the demonstrators onto yellow minibuses to evacuate them from the scene, but, the attackers swarmed the buses, trying to break the windows with metal gratings, trash cans, rocks and even fists. At least 12 people were reported hospitalized, including three police officers and eight or nine of the gay rights marchers. “They wanted to kill all of us,†said Irakli Vacharadze, the head of Identoba, the Tbilisi-based gay rights advocacy group that organized the rally. Nino Bolkvadze, 35, a lawyer for the group who was among the marchers, said that if they had not been close to the buses when the violence began, “we would all have been corpses.†Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili of Georgia condemned the violence in a news release Friday evening, as the police urged the mobs to leave the city’s central avenue. The attack comes amid an increase in antigay talk in Russia and Georgia, whose Orthodox churches are gaining political influence. In a statement Wednesday, the leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, compared homosexuals to drug addicts and called the rally a “violation of the rights of the majority†of Georgians. Conservative-minded Georgians traveled from other cities to condemn the gay rights demonstrators, and one told a television station that she had come to “treat their illness.†“We are trying to protect our orthodoxy, not to let anyone to wipe their feet on our faith,†said Manana Okhanashvili, in a head scarf and long skirt. “We must not allow them to have a gay demonstration here.†In a telephone interview, Mr. Vacharadze of Identoba said that priests from the Georgian Orthodox Church had led the charge that broke through a heavy police corridor. “The priests entered, the priests broke the fences and the police didn’t stop them, because the priests are above the law in Georgia,†he said. Ms. Bolkvadze, the lawyer with Identoba, speaking by telephone from a safe house in the city, said that despite promises from the police that there would be “unprecedented†protection for the rally, the riot police were unprepared. “They didn’t have helmets,†she said. “They didn’t have the right equipment.†Olesya Vartanyan contributed reporting from Tbilisi, Georgia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 It is absolutely terrible the level of hate and violence people can hold against each other. :( This behavior is unacceptable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisa Marie Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Sounds like Circumcellions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Not cool. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4588686 Posted May 21, 2013 Author Share Posted May 21, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-WyPghtbJI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouisvilleFan Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Live by the sword... die by the sword. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cappie Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 There are an awful lot of Christians whose main job seems to be to make themselves—and, by association, other Christians—look bad. This includes loonies of all stripes, as well as those who are merely so self-righteous that they redefine "Christian" to exclude everyone but themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestertonian Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Is this region of the world your area of study? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4588686 Posted May 22, 2013 Author Share Posted May 22, 2013 Is this region of the world your area of study? Just curious. Not really. I did some some work for an undergraduate thesis on conflict in Chechnya. So I had to read up on the general region. But the weight of it was on Russia. It was on how the Russian constitutional system has been adapted to the war in Chechnya an how that adaptation has allowed Putin to consolidate power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestertonian Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Sounds interesting. Did you major in history? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4588686 Posted May 22, 2013 Author Share Posted May 22, 2013 (edited) Sounds interesting. Did you major in history? Political Science. #howgeneric If you think it sounds interesting then you should check out The Shield of Achilles by Phillip Bobbitt. It's an amazing work of military/constitutional history and all I was doing was trying to extend his work to one specific instance. http://www.amazon.com/The-Shield-Achilles-Course-History/dp/B0006BD89S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369195131&sr=8-1&keywords=the+shield+of+achilles Edited May 22, 2013 by Hasan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestertonian Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Political Science. #howgeneric :p That's cool. Just noticed you'd mentioned that region a couple of times and was curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 :P That's cool. Just noticed you'd mentioned that region a couple of times and was curious. Did you know that Hasan went to Bosnia? :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestertonian Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Political Science. #howgeneric If you think it sounds interesting then you should check out The Shield of Achilles by Phillip Bobbitt. It's an amazing work of military/constitutional history and all I was doing was trying to extend his work to one specific instance. http://www.amazon.com/The-Shield-Achilles-Course-History/dp/B0006BD89S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369195131&sr=8-1&keywords=the+shield+of+achilles Cool. Thanks, I will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4588686 Posted May 22, 2013 Author Share Posted May 22, 2013 Did you know that Hasan went to Bosnia? :| I don't know what you're talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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