Aw, fuck me, that’s 50 miles from where I live. I love NC , but there are some backwards motherfuckers here.

I used to be a practicing Pagan, was co-leader of a group, Appalachian Pagan Alliance. We held most events outdoors, in public parks, in Buncombe County. That’s in western NC, the mountains, where the most liberal city in the state is located: Asheville.
This one pastor and his church decided we were of the devil, and began picketing, praying, singing, filming us...plus calling the local media. Other churches jumped on board, to claim how oppressed they all felt by us(about 14 at a gathering). Our point to the media was that we had nothing to hide, and we didn’t disturb THEIR services. We respected freedom of/from religion.
The worst time was a rally we held in a high school stadium to protest the open Xtian prayers led by coaches before football games. Pagans were coming from all over the state, and a few from further away. It was just speeches and a quiet lighting of candles.

Well. After we got our permit, they got THEIR permits. We had to hire off-duty cops at overtime rates for security. My co-leader received death threats and her children were harassed at school(they lived locally). The ACLU got involved and helped us pay for security , which was wonderful.

The night of the event, we had to cross through the picketers to take our places in the bleachers. About ten Xtian men stood along the top bleacher; they were dressed alike and held similar bibles in front of them. I guess they thought they were intimidating.
Fortunately, the event went well. We ignored the protesters. After that night, they were less and less a nuisance.

Now when I hear xtians cry oppression, I tell them about this. If they haven’t crossed a picket line to enter church, they can STFU.

Hard to get over a hundred countries to work together on a hoax.