What would Jesus do if he stumbled across a crowd of people lighting up some marijuana publically in celebration of April 20 (that is, 420, not only the code police use to indicate illicit drug use is going on, but also a reefer holiday)? You get the sense that Jesus hung out with a bunch of prostitutes and drinkers and was not the bane of the parties he attended: at one point he even turned ordinary water into wine. Things look a little different in this video of and by Michael Marcavage, of the Philadelphia-based evangelical group Repent America, who harasses and cajoles some police officers to do something about a group of pot smokers who have gathered, with a permit, to celebrate 4/20.
“They’re smoking marijuana!” he explains in exasperation, and also demands the police do something about it. “I’m not going to tolerate the police doing nothing about this!”
The video has gone viral. The evangelist who said he was there to share “the gospel of Jesus Christ,” seemed instead like a narc and a killbuzz with his peevish bullying of the police, telling them how to do their job.
Talking to a supervising ranger, he was told that it was “an officer safety issue,” as some 700 people gathered, and that the police lacked the resources to do as Mascarvage demanded, that “you can disperse….revoke their permit.”
“Are you going to enforce the law!” he exclaims.
The Daily Chronic reported that the celebration ensued without incident and that a second “civil disobedience demonstration” was scheduled for May. Philadelphia has decriminalized small amounts of pot in 2010, and public use is still illegal. State Sen. Daylin Leach (D) has introduced a statewide legalization measure this year that is yet to be considered.
Laying the smack on peaceful demonstrators is the hell-bent aim of this evangelist, but the nation meanwhile is warming up to the idea of marijuana become legalized. Not bad for a prohibitionist nation that once constitutionally outlawed alcohol.