Any cause worthy of the name draws its strength from people of diverse backgrounds, who may not agree on anything save who the enemy is. Think of the forces allied against Hitler before the US got involved: communists, anarchists, loyalists, royalists. The only thing they had in common was a love of freedom and a shared sense that the Nazis were out to exterminate them all.

At a rally today for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, a few diverse communities got a glimpse of each other and resolved that the common enemy — Bruce Ratner and his Cleveland-based development group, that wants to choke downtown with skyscrapers — was more important than their differences. From the beginning, Ratner and his henchmen have sought to make this a racial issue, portraying those objecting to the development as rich white homeowners (mostly in Ft. Greene and Clinton Hill) while those who would benefit would be working class black families (from Prospect Heights and Bed-Stuy). As blacks and whites together wised up to Ratner’s tactics — and the fact that the jobs and affordable housing he is holding out as a carrot are not, in fact, guaranteed — the front has grown more unified, even if they’re not always reading from the same hymn book.

At a Rally Against Ratner today held in Prospect Park, about 500 sweltering opponents to the Atlantic Yards project were entertained by the Reverend Billy and his Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, practitioners of the sort of political theater that was the staple of most San Francisco rallies and protests: not funny enough to classify as entertainment, but not as strident as your usual rabble rouser. The Rev. Billy is a performance artist of sorts who has made a career of sorts fighting Wal Mart and other developers; though not a preacher, he does a fair impression of a third-tier Jimmy Swaggert type, getting a little epileptic as he reached his pitch. His choir, while robed, had not been picked for their voices, making them unlike any church choir I’ve heard.

He came, he camped, he left — and the following three speakers took issue with his satire. “I come from the real church community,” said Assemblyman James Brennan, and went on to imply that some of these white hipsters need to tread lightly when making fun of church. Brooklyn activist (and former Black Panther) Bob Law said much the same thing and the one real man of the cloth on the dais today, the Reverend Dennis Dillon, had his second speak for him. Was this the sign of some great divide? No, just a reminder that you best be careful when messing with Jesus.