About 30 people turned out Saturday afternoon at Batavia City Hall for a short protest against the ReAwaken America Tour coming to Batavia on Aug. 12 and 13.
Cornerstone Church, on Bank Street Road, will host the event.
Rev. Roula Alkhouri of First Presbyterian Church of Batavia, told the assembled group she objected to the event coming to Batavia because it mispresents the community, which she described as peaceful and neighborly, and misrepresents Christianity, replacing the gospel of love with a message of hate and violence.
"We're not accusing anybody of being hateful," Alkhouri said. "We’re just listening to their words. Listening to how they're speaking, how they’re expressing themselves."
She quoted one of the scheduled speakers, Scott Mckay, who reportedly told an interviewer:
"This is war. It’s gonna get bloody, and I’m going to get ugly too; no less ugly than any 1776 preacher that dropped his Bible on the lectern, grabbed his muzzleloader or musket, and went out and put balls and bullets inside people and watched blood flow on a battlefield. That’s what they had to do. That’s the name of Christ ...
"Any of the minions, including the doctors and nurses who were part of it—knowingly or unknowingly, that’s not for me to sort out—but they need to know what is coming next."
Alkhouri added, "this is not American. They do not stand for Christianity, but they are using the guise of religion, which really hurts us, people of faith who believe that faith is about expanding our horizons to love, and they’re using it to become more exclusive, using it to divide Americans."
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