PASTOR FINED FOR HARRASSING WOMAN AT NUDE BEACH

MR FAMILY SHOULD BE CAREFUL WHO HE CALLS NAMES!!!


Members of the Fundamentalist Christian Christ the King Church regularly frequent the parking lot of the state-run Mazomanie nude beach. According to a Wisconsin Christians United press release, a regular beach-goer, Nancy J Erikson:
"who delights in mocking Christians doing ministry in the beach parking lot, got out of her car and began to loudly direct obscene language toward Nicolas Bergum, a young Christian man who had offered her a gospel tract. When Pastor Ovadal walked over to the scene, the woman then faced him and engaged in a lewd dance with her tongue hanging out. At that point, Pastor Ovadal preached for several minutes to her and also several minutes to Department of Natural Resources wardens.
To the wardens, he allegedly said:
"How many young men are corrupted by whores who act like this? How many children are destroyed? How many young boys get their start on a path of slavery because of this sort of woman? ...Why don't you tell her she's acting like a whore? Why don't you be a real man? Do you care about the little children? Do you care about the young men? How many young men will be corrupted by the likes of this?...All the poor young men that will be caught up in this woman's trap - Their minds destroyed; their bodies used up.
The wardens insisted that he not use the word "whore" in his preaching." Ovadal was later charged with criminal disorderly conduct, found guilty, and fined $1,000 and court costs. Erickson had asked also that he be given a jail sentence of ninety days. The judge declined, saying that it would be too expensive to administer and it would probably not change pastor Ovadal's behavior. During the sentencing hearing, the judge said to Pastor Ovadal:
"I think you and I have different thoughts on what is preaching...Yes, I called your conduct cruel, savage, truculent...it wasn't preaching....By relying on terms such as 'whore,' 'harlot,' and 'jezebel' to describe Erickson, the Defendant exited the protective confines of the First Amendment and exposed himself to state prosecution."
Ovadal apparently links the nude beach to the sexual abuse of children. He responded:
"I preached the whole counsel of God's Word to Nancy Jo Erickson. I did it for her sake; I did it for the sake of the young men on the beach; I did it for the sake of the children of Mazo beach and the children of the rest of the state, including my new grandson who was just born last week; and most importantly, I did it out of my duty as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I will not apologize for my preaching, because it would be wrong to apologize for doing right."
Afterwards, Pastor Ovadal and his supporters went to the head office of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources -- the group who administers the nude beach. They picketed and distributed a flyer titled "Is the Department of Natural Resources a Protector of Perverts and Child Abusers?" 8
2003-OCT-7: WI: Pastor's harassment conviction upheld: The state appeals court upheld Ovadal's conviction. He acknowledged that his street preaching and sidewalk evangelizing, was loud and boisterous. But he claimed that it was protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The appeals court decided that resorting to "epithets or personal abuse" is not protected speech. It ruled that: "Ovadal's statements had nothing to do with an exposition of ideas. Instead, they were abusive fighting words and are not protected by the First Amendment."