Please discuss the proposed Article II changes in this thread. You can read more about them here: https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/article-ii-study-commission/final-proposed-revision-article-ii

Anti-LGBTQ YouTubers trolled a progressive Plano church. It was firebombed weeks later No connection has been established between the attack and the church’s appearance in the video, and Plano police are still investigating whether the bombing is a hate crime. Weeks before the Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Plano was damaged in a firebomb attack early Sunday, members of the church welcomed four strangers — one of them carrying a camera — with hugs, smiles and the promise of a judgment-free fellowship. They didn’t immediately know they were being trolled and baited by a group of influencers who frequently take videos of themselves pranking progressives and liberals. The video, titled “We acted LGBT at LGBT Church,” has garnered nearly 200,000 views since it was posted to YouTube on July 12. No connection has been established between the posting of the video and the firebombing of the church, which resulted in damage to the building’s doors, but no deaths or injuries. A spokesperson for the Plano Police Department, which is investigating the arson, said in a statement Sunday the department “cannot confirm this as a hate crime at the time.”

But in a statement on Facebook about the attack, the church alluded to its appearance in the video, which it says was filmed during and after its Sunday service on June 25. The church called the YouTubers a “hate group” and said it has been “reviewing building security and working with the Plano Police Department since the intrusion.”

While a motive behind the Plano attack has not been discerned, the Anti-Defamation League and GLAAD tracked more than 350 incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault motivated by anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in an 11-month span beginning last June. Texas saw the third-highest number of anti-LGBTQ incidents in the country.

In North Texas, gatherings frequented by members of the LGBTQ community, such as drag shows and pride events, often draw armed protesters, including members of extremist groups.

The video begins with two men, Cassady Campbell and Bo Alford, standing in the church parking lot, acting out stereotypical caricatures of gay men — both use pronounced lisps and limp their wrists — and vowing to “expose” what they described as the church’s false teachings. The pair say they are in front of a Unitarian Universalist church, but don’t specify it’s in Plano.

Inside, they are greeted by several congregants who welcome them with handshakes and hugs.

“I’m glad you guys are here,” one of the church members says with a smile. The church member briefly describes part of the Unitarian Universalist ideology — there is no heaven and no hell and what happens to one person after death happens to all people.

“The essential point is, the bad things you do are not so infinitely, eternally bad that there’s an eternal damnation for it,” the member explains. Different Unitarian Universalist members are welcome to their own interpretation of the afterlife. The YouTubers are encouraged to take a hymnal, read about the church’s teachings and enjoy food with other members.

Another church member, who described herself as a lesbian who was once married to a man, explains that she came to the congregation “sad and broken and disillusioned, and this community put me back together and gave me strength.”

“Were you turned on to your husband at all, like were you into him, or did you just kind of do it?” Campbell asks the woman. She responds the question was inappropriate.

The pair is told they’re not allowed to record a sermon but do so anyway — interrupting it with shouts of “Yas b----!” and “Slay queen!” Eventually, both men drop the act and explain they’re in the church to “plant the seed” of what they describe as they Bible’s true teachings. After the reveal, church members tell them they’re lovely and polite and thank them for visiting.

Alford has published several videos of him antagonizing people at pride events, including LGBTQ-friendly churches. In one video, a congregant forcibly removes him from a church.

Campbell frequently posts videos of himself harassing women in public places, including gyms, shopping malls and grocery stores. In one recent video, he walks behind a woman at a gym and starts exercising with a weight while breathing deeply in her ear. “Daddy’s so pumped up right now,” he says. The woman tells Campbell not to talk to her and he laughs while walking away. In another video, he hits on women shopping in a Wal-Mart and then calls them ugly after being rejected.

In a phone call Monday, Alford said he was “shocked” to learn of the bombing.

“That church, I thought we had a very good connection. I have no hostile feelings toward any of them,” he said. “They were all very open and willing to talk. Nothing but good words to say for them.”

Alford said he didn’t regret any part of the video.

Campbell did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Monday.

Jodie Zoeller-Bloom, the past president of the church who is currently leading the congregation while its current president is out of town, said the church would not comment aside from its statement posted to Facebook.

Sunday wasn’t the first time the church has made headlines. In 2017, somebody stole a pride flag that was flying outside the church and replaced it with an American flag, leaving a note saying there are only two genders.

A pastor encouraged the thief to “have a conversation” with members of the church.

Source: Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/07/24/anti-lgbtq-youtubers-trolled-a-progressive-plano-church-it-was-firebombed-weeks-later/