Thursday, September 22, 2005

UUs Threatened for SSM Sign

In suburban Chicago, the DuPage UU church got a threatening note after hanging a banner that reads, "Civil Marriage is a Civil Right." Some yahoo left a note in a youth teepee on the lawn saying that "if our sign did not come down by 9:30 p.m. on Sunday that the sign and the church would both come down", according to the minister, Emma Lou Belcher.

Someone phoned in a tip to the sheriff's office, whose deputy found the threat. Police dogs didn't find any bombs on Sunday. However, the church was evacuated and held its service in a field across the street.

"We pondered it for a few minutes and during the service I said, I don't want to take down the sign, and the congregation burst into applause," Belcher said.

The police say they have a suspect, the now infamous person of interest. At the moment, they are not treating it as a hate crime and there is speculation that it may be a former parishioner who opposes same-sex marriage.

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