Protesters say BattleCry has poisoned young children
Group's founder says he wants to combat messages about casual sex, violence, drug use

Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, March 9, 2007
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(03-09) 15:04 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A few dozen people gathered in front of San Francisco's City Hall today to protest "BattleCry," a weekend gathering of 22,000 evangelical Christian teens.

Holding signs that read "War Mongers for Jesus" and "Imagine No Religion," protesters said "BattleCry" had "poisoned" and "preyed upon" the minds of young children, who have been "indoctrinated" with hatred for gays and abortion rights. Many said they believe that BattleCry is part of a larger effort to establish a theocracy in America.

"I see this as a movement of intolerance," said Joel Cook, 47, an Alameda resident, who was walking around with a bullhorn and said he'd never talked to a BattleCry participant before today. "These groups come to San Francisco because it does draw attention to their cause."

The two-day BattleCry is the largest public event of Teen Mania, a group founded by Ron Luce, who believes that youth are being "assaulted" by incessant messages about casual sex, violence and drug use. In addition to three BattleCry events around the country, Teen Mania also puts on 35 smaller "Acquire the Fire" events.

All of the events are intended to teach and minister to Christian youth about how to stand up to the immorality of popular culture. BattleCry's 3 p.m. rally today is scheduled to have graffiti artists and "hip-hop evangelists" who say they will demonstrate a Christian alternative to mainstream culture.

"Teenagers are the victims at the behest of people who are making a lot of money," Luce said in an interview earlier this week. He said BattleCry intended to "bring some awareness and give some answers: Let's re-create (culture) with our own creativity."

Today's protesters said Luce had more sinister intentions.

"Ron Luce is here convincing the kids of San Francisco that they are lost and he is the way to salvation," said Michael Dean, 53, a Colma resident who said he had belonged to an evangelical church in Southern California for 20 years. "He's telling them that they need to control the actions of San Francisco legislatively. That's why they're coming here, to oppose the immorality of San Francisco. It's hate speech."

Luce said BattleCry is staged in San Francisco because it needs a large venue, which AT&T Park offers.

Some BattleCry participants had come early to the city, and stood on the fringes of the noon to 2 p.m. protest. They said BattleCry's critics were hypocritical.

"They don't want to be judged for what they believe in," said Alexis Jauregui, 31, a youth leader at New Harvest, a Sacramento church. "But they want to judge Christians for what we believe in -- the love of God."

E-mail Matthai Chakko Kuruvila at mkuruvila@sfchronicle.com.