Communists harass Christian-owned café; protesters hold signs reading 'God is a f—'
A recently opened Christian ministry coffee shop in Colorado has been the subject of protests and vandalism due to the parent organization's biblical stance on sexual sin.
Since its opening in June The Drip Café, a Christian-owned coffee shop ministry in Denver, has been targeted by protesters over its belief that homosexuality is sinful.
Owner Jamie Sanchez believes the Denver Communists and other LGBT protesters were triggered by Scripture on the website of his coffee shop's parent nonprofit Recycle God's Love, which ministers to the local homeless population.
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According to the group's "What We Hold To Be True" page, the "homosexual lifestyle is contrary to God's Word and purpose for humanity and is sin." It cites 1 Timothy 1:10 and 1 Corinthians 6:9 as justification.
"Moreover, this organization is instructed to Love those living such lifestyles," the page reads. "We believe that showing hate towards people in these communities is not the way Jesus would respond. [Therefore], although disagreeing with the lifestyle, we must show love."
Sanchez told CP he suspects that someone from Denver Communists saw the Recycle God's Love "beliefs" page.
"It was never stated by me or anyone else, for any reason over the last 11 years of ministry in Denver," he said via email Tuesday. "In fact, plenty of [LGBT-identified] members that struggle with homelessness are served at our outreach events."
"We believe Jesus calls us to serve all, just as He did."
According to Sanchez, the protests started on June 2, the cafe's opening day, just outside the front of the store. The following Monday, he said, "we found graffiti on our building and damaged windows from rocks."
Last Friday, the protesters returned to the Drip in what Sanchez called a "hateful" showing.
"They harassed customers, and even were harassing our visually impaired Christian friend who was hosting his radio show in front of our building," he said.
A July 9 post on the group's Facebook page called the Drip a "hate café" and predicted the protests would ultimately force the Drip out of business before conceding that the coffee shop "runs on volunteer labor, donations, and purchases from ideologically-motivated church members, so we've got a fight ahead of us."
In that post, the group also shared of protesters holding anti-Christian signs, including one man wearing makeup holding a sign that read "God is a f–" and quoting Matthew 5:32. Another protester had a sign reading, "Enough Christian dictatorship."
Calling the Drip Café "bigots," the Denver Communists' event page for the protest described Christian churches as "key incubators of the homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny that underpin the current assault on [LGBT] rights."
The Communist group previously claimed that by calling homosexuality a "sin that leads to death," a statement found in 1 John 5, the Drip Café is "advocating for violence."
Following the acts of vandalism, Sanchez said he reached out to the police but was told: "they can't do anything because of [the protest group's] free speech."
A Denver police spokesperson told CP that officers responded to the café twice since the start of June: once for a graffiti call on June 3 and once for a reported broken window on June 12.
No arrests have been made, but both cases are under investigation, according to police.
As for the protests, the spokesman said, "people are allowed to protest and exercise free speech as long as they are on public property, such as a public sidewalk."
Following the response from the Communists, Sanchez said the Recycle God's Love website was updated because "it was being taken out of context by the opposing group."
He said because of the use of Scripture by "extremists who actually hate gay people and call themselves 'Christian,'" he could see how the Bible verse could be misunderstood without context.
"We continue to stand by our belief on the scripture, though," he added.
Above all, said Sanchez, he wants the Drip Café to be known for loving the community and serving others as Christ did.
"I want the world to know the love of Jesus Christ through our love. The Drip Café has a purpose to help people who live on the fringes of society and who have been outcast," he said. "We have not shown any hate towards anyone, although this group has been showing hate to us."
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post and the author of BACKWARDS DAD: a children's book for grownups. He can be reached at: [email protected].
