Thursday, May 22, 2014 6:02 PM PST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
DOGMA DEBATE CREW KICKED OUT OF
BAPTIST CHURCH IN COMPTON, CA
Dogma Debate with David Smalley (www.dogmadebate.com) was to begin its Southern
California Tour tonight at the Zion Hill Baptist Church at 7860 Tenth Avenue in LA (Compton).
Tonight was to be a showing of My Week In Atheism a film by Christian filmmaker John Christy
followed by a Q&A afterwards of the principals of the movie John Christy and David Smalley
along with Dr Ryan Bell (A Year Without God) a former Seventh Day Adventist Minister and the
church's Pastor Seth Pickens. Dogma Debate Volunteer Cesar Morales was at the church helping
John Christy and Pastor Pickens set up the projector and laptop for the event. As they were
finishing, some church members showed up and told the crew they "had no business there" and
they were instructed to leave immediately in an “intimidating fashion” described one crew
member. Cesar Morales described their demeanor as "belligerent” as he recalled: "They were
angry and they wanted us out of the church immediately."
Cesar Morales and John Christy found themselves on the sidewalk standing in front of the Zion
Hill Baptist Church with their equipment, with no explanation and certainly no immediate
apology. Twenty minutes later, President and CEO of Dogma Debate, LLC and co-star of My
Week In Atheism, David Smalley arrived and walked into the church, requesting that Pastor
Pickens provide an explanation. Five minutes later Seth Pickens invited the crew inside and
informed them all that the 'old guard' of the church would not let them screen the movie for
their congregation. Dogma Debate's publicist John Karpf (john@dogmadebate.com) stated he
"worked for months" with the Pastor Seth Pickens and Dr Ryan Bell to setup the screening of
what is ostensibly a Christian movie with the hope of getting the message of tolerance and
friendship in front of a Christian group before beginning the rest of the Tour to 4 Secular
Organizations on Friday Saturday and Sunday. Karpf said he was "shocked" at how his crew was
treated and said; "No secular or humanist organization on the planet would be this rude."
David Smalley afterwards noted: "Pastor Seth was very respectful and apparently went to battle
for us, but lost the battle with the elders that govern the church. As I explained to Seth and his
wife after his apology, this is exactly why we're doing this; to overcome intolerance and
welcome equality. The pastor and his wife agreed, so we invited them to the rest of the tour,
and we left."
David Smalley, Dr. Ryan Bell, and John Christy are scheduled to appear in Orange County,
Riverside, San Diego and Los Angeles between now and Sunday 5/25. For details, visit
http://dogmadebate.com/schedule