Swingers Lose Round One In Court

Last January, I wrote a post about the Route 66 Swingers Club and how they were being harrassed by a very scary group of fundamentalist christians here in Amarillo. The fundie group is called Repent Amarillo (pictured above), and they are convinced they have the right to force all the people of Amarillo to live by their beliefs.

This group of douchbags think our Founding Fathers were mistaken when they established a free nation instead of a theistic dictatorship. Freedom means living your own life as you see fit as long as you're not hurting anyone else, but this group of Bible-thumpers certainly doesn't believe in that. They want to punish anyone who disagrees with them.

For over a year now, Repent Amarillo has been harassing the club whenever they meet, using bullhorns and other agressive tactics. They have even made anonymous phone calls and threatened the lives of the owners of the building where the club meets. They have also called the workplaces of club members and actually gotten some of them fired from their jobs.

The Amarillo Independent, the best paper in Amarillo, reports that Oren and Monica Mead (owners of the building where the club meets) went to court to try and get a peace bond on Repent Amarillo. That would have made the fundie group curb their harassment by forcing them to post money with the court that would be forfeited if the group violated the terms of the bond. Both of the Meads testified that they felt their lives were in danger.

But the bond was not granted. Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Debbie Horn said, "At this time, I don't have grounds for a peace bond." But she went on to tell the fundie group, "I think you're walking a thin line. You're scaring them for their physical life. They're not scared for their afterlife." She then told the Meads they could return to court if there was further escalation by Repent Amarillo.

I think Repent Amarillo is way out of line, and I hope the Route 66 Swingers Club doesn't let these nuts force them to quit meeting. If that were to happen, there is no telling who the next target for these scary people would be -- but we can be sure there would be another target. These nuts are too self-righteous, and I'm sure they could find "sin" in every corner of this fair city.

Amarillo is now a fairly large city. It has around 200,000 people and is spread out over parts of two counties. There should be plenty enough room for people of all beliefs to live their lives as they want without harassment.

Panhandle Swingers - Who Knew ?

I've only lived in Amarillo for two years now and I thought I'd gotten to know this city pretty well, but it looks like I've still got a lot to learn. I had no idea that Amarillo had a group of "swingers" who have their own club -- the Route 66 Swingers Club. That's pretty amazing for a city that seems to have a church on every street corner.

How do I know this? Well, a group of ultra-fundamentalists (pictured above) spent their New Year's Eve picketing the group, instead of partying with their family and friends like normal people do. The fundies were a group called Repent Amarillo. This group was joined in their picketing by another group from the Arena of Life Cowboy Church (I swear I'm not making that up -- that's the church's real name).

It seems the Route 66 Swingers Club had rented a building in downtown Amarillo so their members could get together for a BYOB New Year's Eve party. According to the Potter County Sheriff's office, the group was not breaking any law, and had gotten all the necessary licenses and inspections. They are not investigating the group for anything at all, saying, "We have no indication of any criminal violation at this point."

The party's organizer said, "Anybody can rent a building and have a BYOB dance. We're doing everything by law. What else could be happening? There's no place to (have sex there). That's not going to happen." She went on to say if some of the participants wanted to go to a hotel and have sex after the party, then that is their personal business.

Personally, I don't know what all the fuss is about. This group is very low-key (I doubt if 99% of Amarilloans even knew they existed), and they are not breaking any laws. They should have the right to live their lives as they wish, without being harrassed by jealous fundamentalists.

Why do these fundie nuts think they have the right to run everyone else's life? It reminds me of a quote on a fellow blogger's masthead (Badtux, the Snarky Penguin) that says, "Religious fundamentalists are motivated by the sneaking suspicion that someone, somewhere, is having fun -- and that this must be stopped."

These people need to get a life of their own, and leave everyone else alone.