Yet Another Unitarian*Universalist Day In Court In The Lovely Month Of May. . .
Earlier this morning I was in Montreal's Palais de Justice in order to determine a date for the next day of the court hearing and/or criminal trial that has resulted from Rev. Diane Rollert's deeply misguided and outrageously hypocritical, to say nothing of quite paranoid and cynical. . . decision to attempt to seek a restraining order against me on the dubious and highly questionable basis that she has "reasonable grounds" to fear that I will commit a "serious personal injury offence" against her or other members of the Unitarian Church of Montreal. I arrived promptly before the 9:30 am court session began and the prosecutor and judge showed up quite promptly too. Nobody else did, so my case was processed immediately and efficiently and I was out of the courthouse by 10 am or so. The next court date for the aforementioned hearing/trial has been set for May 30th, 2008 and it is scheduled to be a full day in court. Hopefully all will go relatively smoothly and efficiently and it will be the last day in court with respect to this case.
Although the sole purpose of today's brief court appearance was to find and set a date for the continuation of the hearing/trial the judge did bring up another matter that I believe it is best to keep to myself for now. It has to do with the validity, or lack thereof. . . of some of the evidence submitted by the police and/or Crown prosecutor. We will know soon enough what the judge's decision is regarding that matter and I will feel free to speak more openly about it once the judge has rendered a decision as to whether or not she will accept the prosecution evidence that is now in question. . . I do believe that I have repeatedly said that the criminal charges brought against me as a result of complaints filed with the Montreal police force by Montreal Unitarians, and the dubious "evidence" that Montreal Unitarians present to support those bogus criminal charges are "highly questionable". As it happens the Quebec Court judge who is presiding over this case is now questioning the validity and relevance of some of the prosecution evidence that members of the Unitarian Church of Montreal have presented against me.
I am very satisfied with the May 30th court date for the next phase of this hearing/trial since this not only gives me a full three months to prepare my defence against Rev. Diane Rollert's and other Montreal Unitarian U*Us' dubious allegations about me, but it allows me to continue in my "alternative spiritual practice" of peacefully protesting against the anti-religious intolerance and "pure religious bigotry" of Rev. Ray Drennan and rather too many other "like-minded" fundamentalist atheist "Humanist" U*Us, to say nothing of other U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy, for another three months. In fact, I will pretty much be able to celebrate the tenth anniversary of my peaceful public protest against U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy since my "alternative spiritual practice" was initiated in May of 1998, as Jacquie Charlton's original Montreal Mirror newspaper article about my public protest which, was quite appropriately titled, 'Spitting In God's Eye', tends to confirm since it was researched, written and published some weeks after my protest began.
I had been seriously considering unilaterally ending my peaceful public protest in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal after declaring moral victory upon observing and celebrating it's tenth anniversary in May or June of 2008, but Rev. Diane Rollert's very ill advised decision to seek a restraining order against me has caused me to reconsider that idea. My public protest certainly will not end until I know the result of the judgement in this case and, in the unlikely event that the restraining order is actually granted, I will make a point of reinitiating my public protest in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal as soon as it has expired in order to prove some points to Montreal Unitarians, and indeed hypocritical U*Us U*U World-wide. The main point being that successfully censoring and suppressing legitimate criticism and dissent, especially criticism which arises out of well-documented U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy, does absolutely nothing to bring resolution to conflicts that are caused by U*U failings including U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy. Far from bringing an end to this prolonged war of words the restraining order, if it is granted, will only serve to prolong this drawn-out conflict by as long as the restraining order is in effect and then some. . .
Having said that, it should be obvious from my many Emerson Avenger blog posts, numerous other internet posts, and my direct email communications with Rev. Diane Rollert and other leaders of the Unitarian Church of Montreal, as well as UUA administrators including UUA President William G. Sinkford aka Rev. Bill Sinkford, that the only way to bring some resolution to this prolonged war of words is for Unitarian*Universalists to finally get around to responsibly addressing and adequately redressing the injustices and abuses that I am protesting against. Montreal Unitarians, the UUA, and the greater U*U religious community, can only live up to their so far remarkably empty "covenant" whereby U*Us promise to affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations by finally providing some genuine justice, genuine equity, to say nothing of some real compassion in this matter. Justice and equity can only be achieved via a process that includes frank and open dialogue and fair and reasonable negotiation of a settlement of the dispute. I have always sought dialogue with Montreal Unitarians and appropriate UUA officials but they have always ignored and/or rejected my calls for dialogue. Indeed Rev. Diane Rollert's cynical and hypocritical attempt to seek a restraining order against me in order to make any and all communication, not just dialogue. . . all but completely impossible for up to a year is one of the most egregious examples of a Unitarian*Universalist "religious leader" abjectly failing and even obstinately refusing to engage in responsible dialogue with me.
Although I have never formally communicated such an offer to the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal it should be obvious that if Montreal Unitarians agreed to initiate viable conflict resolution procedures and engage in dialogue with me towards the end of resolving this prolonged conflict I would at least temporarily suspend my public protest activities in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal. Obviously such a temporary suspension of my protest would become a permanent one if it was possible to negotiate a genuinely just, equitable and compassionate resolution of this conflict. I have discussed formally making such an offer to the UCM's Board with one of the few members of the Unitarian Church of Montreal who has seen fit to engage in dialogue with me, and who even sought to promote more dialogue with me, but this person felt that the Board would almost certainly ignore such an offer or reject it out of hand. They thought that it would be a wasted effort that would only make the Board look bad. We both agreed that I really do not need any more material that makes the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal look bad, so I decided not to bother formally making the offer to suspend my protest if the Board agreed to enter into dialogue with me.
In that there is now a three month time period between today and the earliest date that Rev. Diane Rollert and the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal can hope to obtain the restraining order that they are seeking, and in that after Monday's court date they may have come to understand that they do not have strong evidence supporting Rev. Diane Rollert's claimed "reasonable grounds" to fear that I will commit a "serious personal injury offence" against her, or anyone else for that matter. . . I have decided that today is as good a day as any to openly make an offer to temporarily suspend my protest activities outside of the Unitarian Church of Montreal for up to two months if they agree to enter into dialogue with me towards the goal of arriving at a genuinely just, equitable and compassionate resolution of this conflict.
Simply put I will be making an offer to the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal to suspend my public protest until the end of April, and possibly longer, effective the minute that the Board actually enters into dialogue with me. No dialogue. No suspension. If however the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal does enter into dialogue with me, the temporary suspension of my public protest can be and will be extended until such a time as dialogue and negotiation prove to be a waste of my time, or a genuinely just, genuinely equitable, and genuinely compassionate resolution to this conflict is finally attained. The temporary suspension of my public protest can and will turn into a permanent one if and when Montreal Unitarians actually live up to their "covenant" to affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in their human relations with me, rather than repeatedly and continually making a total mockery of that effectively fraudulent "covenant" made by the congregation of the Unitarian Church of Montreal.
Even though I have not yet composed or sent an email to the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal that extends this offer, and may not do so immediately, this Emerson Avenger blog post may be considered to be an "open letter" to the Board and congegration of the Unitarian Church of Montreal. If this offer is ignored or rejected out of hand, as may well be the case. . . I will withdraw it after a month has passed and I will not necessarily immediately offer it again if and when the Unitarian Church of Montreal fails to obtain the restraining order that it is currently seeking against me in the guise of Rev. Diane Rollert's real or pretended, but far from reasonable and well grounded. . . fear that I will commit a "serious personal injury offence" against her. I will none-the-less make the same or similar offer some time after the Unitarian Church of Montreal fails to obtain the restraining order or, on the off chance that they actually manage to obtain it, after I have resumed yet another year of peaceful public protest against Unitarian*Universalist injustices, abuses and hypocrisy in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal after the restraining order has expired. . .
Although the sole purpose of today's brief court appearance was to find and set a date for the continuation of the hearing/trial the judge did bring up another matter that I believe it is best to keep to myself for now. It has to do with the validity, or lack thereof. . . of some of the evidence submitted by the police and/or Crown prosecutor. We will know soon enough what the judge's decision is regarding that matter and I will feel free to speak more openly about it once the judge has rendered a decision as to whether or not she will accept the prosecution evidence that is now in question. . . I do believe that I have repeatedly said that the criminal charges brought against me as a result of complaints filed with the Montreal police force by Montreal Unitarians, and the dubious "evidence" that Montreal Unitarians present to support those bogus criminal charges are "highly questionable". As it happens the Quebec Court judge who is presiding over this case is now questioning the validity and relevance of some of the prosecution evidence that members of the Unitarian Church of Montreal have presented against me.
I am very satisfied with the May 30th court date for the next phase of this hearing/trial since this not only gives me a full three months to prepare my defence against Rev. Diane Rollert's and other Montreal Unitarian U*Us' dubious allegations about me, but it allows me to continue in my "alternative spiritual practice" of peacefully protesting against the anti-religious intolerance and "pure religious bigotry" of Rev. Ray Drennan and rather too many other "like-minded" fundamentalist atheist "Humanist" U*Us, to say nothing of other U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy, for another three months. In fact, I will pretty much be able to celebrate the tenth anniversary of my peaceful public protest against U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy since my "alternative spiritual practice" was initiated in May of 1998, as Jacquie Charlton's original Montreal Mirror newspaper article about my public protest which, was quite appropriately titled, 'Spitting In God's Eye', tends to confirm since it was researched, written and published some weeks after my protest began.
I had been seriously considering unilaterally ending my peaceful public protest in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal after declaring moral victory upon observing and celebrating it's tenth anniversary in May or June of 2008, but Rev. Diane Rollert's very ill advised decision to seek a restraining order against me has caused me to reconsider that idea. My public protest certainly will not end until I know the result of the judgement in this case and, in the unlikely event that the restraining order is actually granted, I will make a point of reinitiating my public protest in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal as soon as it has expired in order to prove some points to Montreal Unitarians, and indeed hypocritical U*Us U*U World-wide. The main point being that successfully censoring and suppressing legitimate criticism and dissent, especially criticism which arises out of well-documented U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy, does absolutely nothing to bring resolution to conflicts that are caused by U*U failings including U*U injustices, abuses and hypocrisy. Far from bringing an end to this prolonged war of words the restraining order, if it is granted, will only serve to prolong this drawn-out conflict by as long as the restraining order is in effect and then some. . .
Having said that, it should be obvious from my many Emerson Avenger blog posts, numerous other internet posts, and my direct email communications with Rev. Diane Rollert and other leaders of the Unitarian Church of Montreal, as well as UUA administrators including UUA President William G. Sinkford aka Rev. Bill Sinkford, that the only way to bring some resolution to this prolonged war of words is for Unitarian*Universalists to finally get around to responsibly addressing and adequately redressing the injustices and abuses that I am protesting against. Montreal Unitarians, the UUA, and the greater U*U religious community, can only live up to their so far remarkably empty "covenant" whereby U*Us promise to affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations by finally providing some genuine justice, genuine equity, to say nothing of some real compassion in this matter. Justice and equity can only be achieved via a process that includes frank and open dialogue and fair and reasonable negotiation of a settlement of the dispute. I have always sought dialogue with Montreal Unitarians and appropriate UUA officials but they have always ignored and/or rejected my calls for dialogue. Indeed Rev. Diane Rollert's cynical and hypocritical attempt to seek a restraining order against me in order to make any and all communication, not just dialogue. . . all but completely impossible for up to a year is one of the most egregious examples of a Unitarian*Universalist "religious leader" abjectly failing and even obstinately refusing to engage in responsible dialogue with me.
Although I have never formally communicated such an offer to the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal it should be obvious that if Montreal Unitarians agreed to initiate viable conflict resolution procedures and engage in dialogue with me towards the end of resolving this prolonged conflict I would at least temporarily suspend my public protest activities in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal. Obviously such a temporary suspension of my protest would become a permanent one if it was possible to negotiate a genuinely just, equitable and compassionate resolution of this conflict. I have discussed formally making such an offer to the UCM's Board with one of the few members of the Unitarian Church of Montreal who has seen fit to engage in dialogue with me, and who even sought to promote more dialogue with me, but this person felt that the Board would almost certainly ignore such an offer or reject it out of hand. They thought that it would be a wasted effort that would only make the Board look bad. We both agreed that I really do not need any more material that makes the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal look bad, so I decided not to bother formally making the offer to suspend my protest if the Board agreed to enter into dialogue with me.
In that there is now a three month time period between today and the earliest date that Rev. Diane Rollert and the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal can hope to obtain the restraining order that they are seeking, and in that after Monday's court date they may have come to understand that they do not have strong evidence supporting Rev. Diane Rollert's claimed "reasonable grounds" to fear that I will commit a "serious personal injury offence" against her, or anyone else for that matter. . . I have decided that today is as good a day as any to openly make an offer to temporarily suspend my protest activities outside of the Unitarian Church of Montreal for up to two months if they agree to enter into dialogue with me towards the goal of arriving at a genuinely just, equitable and compassionate resolution of this conflict.
Simply put I will be making an offer to the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal to suspend my public protest until the end of April, and possibly longer, effective the minute that the Board actually enters into dialogue with me. No dialogue. No suspension. If however the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal does enter into dialogue with me, the temporary suspension of my public protest can be and will be extended until such a time as dialogue and negotiation prove to be a waste of my time, or a genuinely just, genuinely equitable, and genuinely compassionate resolution to this conflict is finally attained. The temporary suspension of my public protest can and will turn into a permanent one if and when Montreal Unitarians actually live up to their "covenant" to affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in their human relations with me, rather than repeatedly and continually making a total mockery of that effectively fraudulent "covenant" made by the congregation of the Unitarian Church of Montreal.
Even though I have not yet composed or sent an email to the Board of the Unitarian Church of Montreal that extends this offer, and may not do so immediately, this Emerson Avenger blog post may be considered to be an "open letter" to the Board and congegration of the Unitarian Church of Montreal. If this offer is ignored or rejected out of hand, as may well be the case. . . I will withdraw it after a month has passed and I will not necessarily immediately offer it again if and when the Unitarian Church of Montreal fails to obtain the restraining order that it is currently seeking against me in the guise of Rev. Diane Rollert's real or pretended, but far from reasonable and well grounded. . . fear that I will commit a "serious personal injury offence" against her. I will none-the-less make the same or similar offer some time after the Unitarian Church of Montreal fails to obtain the restraining order or, on the off chance that they actually manage to obtain it, after I have resumed yet another year of peaceful public protest against Unitarian*Universalist injustices, abuses and hypocrisy in front of the Unitarian Church of Montreal after the restraining order has expired. . .
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