San Francisco protests Christian Teen Concert Battle Cry

After hearing at church what the teens (and pre-teens) were exposed to just walking downtown in San Francisco, I thanked god my teenager didn't attend. I typed in Christian Concert San Francisco to get the link. This is cut and pasted

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Evangelical Christian concert draws 25,000
Teens flock to hear rock 'n' roll that eschews sex, drugs
Janine DeFao, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, March 26, 2006

More than 25,000 teens converged on San Francisco's AT&T Park on a windswept Saturday for a daylong rock concert -- with none of the sex and drugs that go hand in hand with rock 'n' roll.

Kids screamed and swooned while smoke poured from the stage and electric guitars screeched. But the lyrics could have been ripped from a hymnal, and one rocker actually took a break to read from the Bible.

It was part of "Battle Cry For A Generation," an event to encourage evangelical Christian youth to fight back against a pervasive popular culture they say promotes sex, violence, drugs and alcohol. While anything-goes San Francisco may seem an odd place for a Christian youth rally, organizers said they have a great deal of support in Northern California. Similar events drew 7,000 youth to the Cow Palace three years ago and 9,000 to Sacramento's Arco Arena last year.

"We're in the middle of a spiritual battle but also in the middle of a cultural war," BattleCry leader Ron Luce, a Concord native who runs the Texas-based Christian group Teen Mania, told the crowd. "Your generation is being pounded with sexual messages. ... All the messages being sent through the movies, the Internet, point-and-click pornography. It's literally destroying your generation."

Nathanael Ramos, a 14-year-old Roseville (Placer County) freshman, admitted he does watch MTV, which Luce's organization says features nine sexual scenes and almost as many "unbleeped" profanities each hour.

But Ramos vowed to stop.

"It really isn't helping me out," he said. "I'm going to start watching better stations He (God) would want me to watch."

Lacey Runik of Cameron Park (El Dorado County) said she was initially drawn to the event to see some of the top Christian rock and rap acts including tobyMac and Jeremy Camp. But being surrounded by Christian peers and hearing BattleCry's message caused her to have a revelation.

Dressed head to toe in black, with dark eyeliner and a studded belt, the 13-year-old seventh-grader said she even plans to change the way she dresses.

"This isn't me. This is the way people want me to be," Runik said. "I gave in to this look."

The teens were greeted Friday at a kick-off rally at City Hall by an official city condemnation and protesters who called them anti-gay, anti-choice and intolerant. Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, suggested they "get out of San Francisco."

While youth did travel from throughout the Western United States for the two-day event, which cost $55, Leno may have been surprised how many live in the Bay Area, and even in the city itself.

No protesters were on hand Saturday, and the vibe was not one of condemnation, but of celebrating the fact that it can be cool to be Christian.

Crystal Lee, 14, a freshman at San Francisco's School of the Arts, said she wanted to be surrounded by the "incredible energy" of like-minded believers.

She was especially buoyed by the abstinence message of Lakita Garth, a 36-year-old former Miss Black California, who lost her virginity only after she got married seven months ago.

"Do you know what I do means? It means I do you, you do me, and we don't do nobody else," Garth told the appreciative crowd, peppering her talk with scared-straight statistics on teen sex and warnings that condoms don't prevent all sexually transmitted diseases.

Lee, herself a virgin, said casual sex at her school is rampant, with girls trading oral sex for CD players or even car rides.

"Already, half our class has lost our virginity," she said. "It's scary."

She said some of her friends are influenced by "rap, hip-hop and the booty shakers on MTV."

MTV isn't BattleCry's only enemy. The group says teens see 14,000 sexual scenes and 10,000 violent ones on TV each year. Ninety percent of 8- to 16-year-olds have seen pornography online, and many are exposed to violence and sex in video games, they say.

While Saturday's event -- which will be repeated in Detroit and Philadelphia -- was largely preaching to a choir of already converted Christians, BattleCry, and the teens themselves, have plans to spread their message.

Saturday night, Luce unveiled a new battlecry.com, which he called "My Space with God in the middle." Teens and youth organizers also plan to return to BattleCry cities this summer for service and other activities.

In addition, some 2,500 teens answered Luce's call to go on missions this summer to spread Christianity. They circled the Giants' playing field while the crowd raised their arms to pray over them, and then plunked more than $90,000 into passed buckets, with the proceeds counted on the spot.

Patrick Himenes, 18, of Fremont, said he was willing to take a break from a summer of houseboating and hanging out to join the crusade.

"I want to make a difference," said Himenes, sporting a black T-shirt reading, "The devil's a pimp. Don't be his ho."

Later, Emilio Bustos, 18, swayed and sang along with Jeremy Camp, his arms raised and eyes closed.

"This is Generation Y -- why bother?" said the high school senior and youth leader from Iglesia De Dios in Hayward. "The desire I have is creating a youth that is no longer apathetic about life. The only way to do that is through God."

E-mail Janine DeFao at jdefao@sfchronicle.com.

 

Spend a week with a teen

I lock my teen in his room for days
to keep the teen girls away


Seriously, it has been going smoothly so far. He's 15 and we enjoy him.

 

Originally posted by Jannee:
After hearing at church what the teens (and pre-teens) were exposed to just walking downtown in San Francisco, I thanked god my teenager didn't attend.

DIP

I thanked God my teenager didn't attend after hearing at chruch what the teens (and pre-teens) were exposed to WALKING DOWNTOWN in San Francisco.

 

StefanM I wondered the same thing.

 

Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. By following God's word we can raise children who avoid evil and serve God faithfully.
Proverbs 13:4 The sluggard craves and gets nthing, but the desires of the diligent care fully satisfied
Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and whenhe is old, he will nto depart from it.

Yes, tt is a spiritual warefare, but that is in no way an excuse to expose children to it. I have given bible quotes and I will explain in secular terms the possible consequences. As adults, we have choices upon where we go and what to do. As Parents, we need to make those choices for our children.

There are laws in place to protect children from sexual abuse. I took classes for three months, we were foster parents. My father in law was a social worker for CPS, then in Adult protective services.
I called CPS once concerning a boy whose dad looked at porn on the computer with him in the room. Children who deliberately expose their children to sexual acts can have them taken away. Please don't walk that line, and certainly don't use the bible to justify you allowing your teen to attend this event in S.F.

Example: No I am not a Social worker but I do know the laws well and accoutability is the key.
If your child attended this event, and adults who were unclothed made sexual gestures using their gentials (sorry to be graphic) AT the kids, or even dancing naked, then you need to NOT let your child attend the following year. CPS can understand how you wouldn't expect that but once it does occur, and you choose to place your child in that unsafe enviornment again, you are now walking a line.

If it is ever confirmed you exposed your child deliberately a second time (by letting them attend Battlecry again the following yr KNOWING what they were exposed to prior) you could have your child taken away. Age makes a difference in their decision, and again, I am not a Social Worker. I only asked my father in law, who is in his eighties now so he's a bit slow but this was his advice. Tell your Pastor the second time you attend an event where the law is broken regarding sexual matters you need not to go back.

This is LIVE porn, and laws call it lewd and lisviguous acts. One of our foster kids was taken because the dad kept looking at Porn on the computer in front of the child. The neighbor turned them in. He was so addicted that he wouldn't stop.

I believe, and this is not verified by my relative but a father can also get in trouble by just LEAVING a playboy magazine around because the child could be exposed to it. Of course, after you reolize you left it out and put it back then you are forgiven in CPS eyes. Do it again, and you are accountable regarding CPS if it is proven. This was a story I heard while at CPS and many felt the child would have been better off to stay with the dad anyways. But the law and guidelines they follow dictate their decisions not their opinions.
Now imagine, your walking downtown and you could be exposed to that. LIve Porn.
I took a temp job at CPS, and even answered the phones for a while. I was surprised HOW EASY it is to get your child taken away. I used to run around without my clothes off in front of our son, from the bathroom to the bedroom after a bath. During our foster classes admitted that. They told me that was a form of sexual abuse (milder form) but they still allowed us to foster. We went thru alot of extra interviews and we learned so much.

My spelling is not correct in this but you get the point.

Churches should not be attending this event in S.F. PERIOD

If you do not believe me, you are welcome to call your department of social services and ask a social worker the above scinereo. I don't know the laws in your state but our's is California.
NEVER feel it is ok to RISK your childs innocence by encouraging them to attend an event in the most notorious Sin city in our Country. Pray for the children who live there.

There is a parade held each year by NAMBLA (North American Boy Love Assoc) in which the men, dressed in sexual torture devices, ride on parades naked promoting the sexual molestation of children. This takes place downtown S.F.

After hearing what our church teens and preteens were exposed to, I thanked god they weren't raped on the streets. This is very serious, and whatever teens were exposed to prior does not justify exposing them again. My two cents worth here....

 

tragic_pizza

Bringing many ADULT church services to S.F. is not a bad idea
A Revival

Maybe if tinytim played the ukilaley during the services, we can win some of the homosexuals for God

Tip toe...through the tulips....

 

tragic I can see why your name is tragic. Lighten up a bit will ya?

My computer will not make select words in bold. I need to fiddle with ms word defaults Sorry I can't use the bold on some words like you did.
Here's my answers to your response

1. "Homophobia isn't cute?" Whatever

2. "Teenagers are well aware of homosexuality, and likely have friends and acquaintances at school who are gay, bisexual, and/or transgendered."

You're probably right.

3. 'I fail to see how S.F. can hur these teenagers"

It doesn't hurt teenagers in itself. It is a city.

4. "They need to look into the face of persecution before it gets to their home town"
Bible quote please?

And all is not lost if it IS in our home town already. I don't go to S.F. yet I am still going to witness. I have a new bible study forming at the moment. One lady who is coming to my PDL study is a lesbian, she actually doesn't want to be. I am so looking forward to her attending.

5. "They need to see what it fels like to witness, and to witness to people who would never, ever set foot inside their church"
I agree

If God has convicted you to feel this way, then you should follow the holy spirit inside you. It is ok to hear all sides in the process.