Posted on 06/01/2009 4:30:39 PM PDT by ReformationFan
Recently, a California pastor and his wife were required by San Diego County officials to obtain a permit to hold a Bible study in their home.
"What?! Is this a joke?" I wondered as I heard the news for the first time. It was no joke. Rather it's a First Amendment nightmare and possibly a precedent of what's to come.
Are you prepared for a future in which you might someday hear the question, "Got your permit to study the Bible?"
On April 10 (Good Friday), a county code enforcement officer visited the home of David and Mary Jones after receiving a complaint about their Christian gatherings. The Jones' attorney Dean Broyles, president of The Western Center for Law & Policy, conveyed in disbelief, "The county asked [Mrs. Jones], 'Do you have a regular meeting in your home?' She said, 'Yes.' 'Do you say amen?' 'Yes.' 'Do you pray?' 'Yes.' 'Do you say praise the Lord?' 'Yes.'"
The officer then warned the family to "cease and desist" the "religious assemblies" or they would face fines up to $1,000 weekly (or more). Two days later, the county delivered a citation claiming that the Joneses were guilty of "unlawful use of land," mandating them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit."
At first I thought, "They must have a large congregation meeting in their home to warrant this type of citation and prompt this type of commotion," right? Actually, according to their lawyer, the Joneses have been hosting weekly Bible studies in their home for about five years with an average attendance of only about 15 people.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
It’s really scary that having friends to your house can get you a visit from the government and fines, if a Bible is involved in any way. I’m sure the Obama’s had many such social events at their house, much like the party thrown for Obama at the Ayers’ house. Since they probably read from a Koran, it’s okay. The U.S. is becoming a shell of the country it used to be. Like the frog in a boiling pot of water.
One wonders if Obama political gatherings also warranted similar visits and fines from government officials.
There was a time when they would take everything you owned if you were a Mormon. And that was in the United States.
This actually sounds fishy. This is because bureaucrats are usually focused on the letter of the law, especially when it is stupid and oppressive. Thus the following makes no sense, even if the bureaucrat is an avowed atheist.
“The county asked [Mrs. Jones], ‘Do you have a regular meeting in your home?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you say amen?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you pray?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you say praise the Lord?’ ‘Yes.’”
Instead, a bureaucrat would ask the first question: Do you have regular meetings in your house? Since the answer was ‘Yes’, it doesn’t matter *why* the meetings were held. What would matter would be if there are a bunch of cars parked out front, and most especially, if there was loud noise.
Cities and Counties regularly have to deal with noisy parties, and will clamp down on even one party if it is too noisy. Regular noisy parties are pretty much a no-go for noise ordinances. It doesn’t matter if the noise is loud music and singing or a loud religious service.
This leads me to suspect that the bureaucrats questions were, Do you SHOUT amen?’ ‘Do you LOUDLY pray?’ ‘Do you SHOUT praise the Lord?’
And while many religious people take great pride in “raising a joyful cry to heaven”, it may be less enjoyable if you live next door and are trying to sleep at that hour. Especially if it happens at least once a week.
So just like noise zoning, that prohibits church bells and minaret calls in a suburban neighborhood, this might be put down to, “Heaven enjoys your praise, but I am trying to sleep.”
When are they doing the next TV Movie? I gotta find out what happened to Alex Cahill... Did she die after being shot in the last TV Movie??
Sad. No matter how one feels about the Mormon faith, this is wrong.
What about the neighbors that turned them in? I hate neighbors, I guess that is why I live on 160 acres, no close neighbors!!!
My gut feeling is that the article is not telling the whole story, again my gut feeling is that there is more to this story then mets the eye.
And, there was a time when the U.S. government took Orthodox Christian children away from their parents and sent them to protestant boarding schools in Alaska. In fact, it only stopped in 1963 with the SCOTUS ruling that banned government sponored prayer in schools.
FENCES make great neighbors. Tall fences.
The lawyer for the pastor mentioned that it was not even a neighbor that complained about the bible study, but it was a guest who was visiting a neighbor of the pastor who complained. MYOB I say!
I also hate neighbors, and WISH I lived on 160 acres. We have some atheist neighbors that hate our guts because we have a Christian website. They like to torture us by leaving their dogs out to bark incessantly for hours on end. Had to have them fined several times before they decided it wasn’t worth it. They would be the first to complain if they thought they could get us in trouble for being Christian. So far, other than the dog stunt, they are only smart enough to sign up for our website’s newsletter over and over again, as if that really scares us or causes problems for us, and leave threatening letters on our cars. lol.
Many of us, including me, were not aware of the historical violations of the First Amendment. It was only recently that I learned of Woodrow Wilson’s political prisoners. I have a hard time imagining 150,000 Americans jailed for opposition.
ABSOLUTELY! America was founded on the principle of Free Exercise of Religion.
Yes, it was. We don’t have to agree, we just have to allow.
Wilson wasn't the first. Lincoln sent Federal troops to newspaper offices to shut them down.
Google up the Bonus Army March sometime, or the Battle of Athens, TN.
Not wishing to be rude, but you really ought to wake up your imagination. It can happen here. It HAS happened here. It's going to happen here AGAIN.
THAT is one thing I’m well aware of. History repeats itself.
Yeah. That is a much better idea than some of the protesters here on FR have.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.