Repent Amarillo also known as "God and Country" or "Last Front Evangelist" is a small

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

-based group which advocated for the

spiritual mapping Spiritual warfare is the Christian concept of fighting against the work of preternatural evil forces. It is based on the biblical belief in evil spirits, or demons, that are said to intervene in human affairs in various ways. Although spiri ...

and targeting of specific local areas and venues in order to exorcise demons from those areas. Because of the group's alleged tactics and targeting of perceivably-vulnerable minorities, the group has gained infamy from many critics who label the organization as a "

hate group A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race (human classification), race, Ethnic group, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any o ...

" or a "Christian" analogy for the Lebanese militant group

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

(lit. " Army of God"). The group was led by former Department of Energy security guard David Grisham.

Activities

Among the number of notable actions and campaigns taken by the group include protests against supposed swingers, LGBT people, abortion clinics, Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and a myriad of other groups.

Boycott against Houston, Texas

In January 2010, the group launched a boycott campaign against the city of

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, due to the election of openly gay mayor

Annise Parker Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller fro ...

and the construction of an abortion clinic in the city.

Theological controversy

The group is a source of debate, within Christian circles, whom disagree or reject the doctrine of spiritual mapping and

territorial spirit Territorial spirits are national angels, or demons, who rule over certain geographical areas in the world, a concept accepted within the Charismatic movement, Pentecostal traditions, and Kingdom Now theology. This belief has been popularized by t ...

s, among other doctrinal issues.

Amarillo Citizens against Repent Amarillo

Amarillo Citizens against Repent Amarillo also known by the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

ACARA is the counter-movement to Repent Amarillo. They are protesters made up of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and atheists who gathered at Sam Houston Park in order to challenge the plan of David Grisham of activist group Repent Amarillo, to burn the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

on a grill (the book had been doused with kerosene). While Grisham was arguing with a group of women that placed their hands on the grill asking if he'd burn them too, it was when Grisham lit his lighter anyway that a 23-year-old skateboarding member named Jacob Isom snuck up from behind him, grabbed the Quran from Grisham's hands, and ran off after saying, "Dude, you have no Quran"; afterwards, Isom handed the book to a religious leader from the Islamic Center of Amarillo. Isom was presented with a "Medal of Reasonableness" at the

Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear was a gathering that took place on October 30, 2010, at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The rally was led by Jon Stewart, host of the satirical news program ''The Daily Show'', and Stephen Colbert ...

for his action. He immediately threw the medal into the crowd. Of notable mention is the wide range of classes ACARA has within its ranks. Two well known members ran for Mayor of Amarillo, contesting David Grisham every step of the way. Cory "Grady" Traves is the head of ACARA's Peace Keepers detail, responsible for keeping the peace at the David Grisham for Mayor Rally.

Westgate Mall incident

In December 2016, David Grisham accosted a group of children and their parents who were waiting to see

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

at Westgate Mall.

References

{{coord missing, Texas Evangelical churches in Texas Organizations based in Amarillo, Texas