“You’re not welcome back.”

That’s the message the manager of Philadelphia cheesesteak joint Max’s Steaks had for Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick, after his campaign held an event outside the restaurant Friday that the eatery was told would be about autism awareness.

Mike Sfida—who agreed to hold the event because his niece and nephew have autism—was alarmed when he saw Donald Trump signs being hung outside the beloved North Philly spot on Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. McCormick arrived, gave a campaign stump address, and then handed out free sandwiches.

But the disaster didn’t end there.

After showing up at a cheesesteak restaurant to campaign under the auspice of an autism awareness event, McCormick went across the street to East Bethel Baptist Church, which happened to be holding an outdoor fundraiser for its food ministry.

The Rev. Thomas Edwards Jr., who leads the church, told his campaign to leave because he didn’t want the GOP candidate to use photos of his congregation for campaigning purposes.

“You can Photoshop,” he told the Inquirer. “You can make things seem like they aren’t. Maybe they’re going to post we’re eating dogs or eating cats, like in Ohio. Forgive me if I’m wrong. I don’t trust these people.”

  • @captainlezbian
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    43 months ago

    Pardon my Catholicism but aren’t all baptists evangelicals?

      • @captainlezbian
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        3 months ago

        Oh I’m aware, before beginning my path to atheism and ultimately paganism, I considered some denominations of the Anglican side of the Anglican-Catholic schism, and I’ve long been a fan of the Quakers. In general I mostly oppose the evangelicals, most modern baptists, and any denomination sufficiently close to Calvinism (though that’s partly because I think Calvinism is particularly horrifying theologically) as well as the fascistic side of the Catholic Church (but I’m always happy to stand beside and behind the Catholic workers)

        But yeah I bring up the baptists mostly because that’s the denomination of the preacher in the post. I recognize that the baptists weren’t always like they’re largely represented today, but while I know some of their history I mostly just know them as the people who can’t tell the difference between a bishop and a satanist.

    • themeatbridge
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      3 months ago

      Yeah, but not necessarily what you think of when you talk about “evangelical” Christians. Baptist churches are all autonomous, and while they all believe in evangelism on some level, that could mean inviting your neighbor to attend church on Sunday, or it could mean going on TV and blaming trans people for hurricanes.

      • @captainlezbian
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        23 months ago

        Ok so they’re evangelical in the sense that even Catholics are, but could take the hint that every American has heard of Jesus snd try to be chill about it unless asked.

        I guess the real problems are the religious right, christofascism, Christendom, and all related ideologies that reject the rights of the nonbelievers and those who believe differently to live peacefully among them.