Posted on 10/21/2010 6:33:45 PM PDT by earlJam
No 'Christian' roommate for churchgoer Complaint filed with Fair Housing Center
Updated: Thursday, 21 Oct 2010, 5:51 PM EDT Published : Thursday, 21 Oct 2010, 5:51 PM EDT
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The Fair Housing Center of West Michigan filed a housing discrimination charge against a Grand Rapids woman who advertised for a Christian roommate on her church bulletin board.
The 31-year-old woman's attorney, who works for the Alliance Defense Fund , said this is a blatant violation of her First Amendment right to freely associate.
But Nancy Haynes of the Fair Housing Center told 24 Hour News 8 the woman has every right to seek and live with a Christian roommate -- but advertising for it publicly, even on a church bulletin board, violates federal law.
"She can be a Christian and she can even use that as a criteria for who she wants to rent to. She just can't state that. Because to state that is a violation of the Fair Housing Act," she said. "There are certain exceptions that apply. She can actually, in practice, not rent to a non-Christian. But she can't make the statement. The statement alone is a violation of the act. What she can do in practice she can't make a statement about."
Haynes said the Fair Housing Center began investigating after someone in the congregation, who was offended, filed a complaint.
The center then filed a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights , and the action is administrative, not criminal. The center asks for a response to try and negotiate a settlement. If they can't, it's possible that the Michigan Department of Civil Rights would determine if a violation happened and perhaps recommend a hearing.
The Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter seeking dismissal of this complaint to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, but there has not yet been a response.
"I found (the woman and her attorney's) response very offensive. We're not punishing her for being Christian at all. If you're in the business of renting, it's a business transaction that's held to a standard under federal, state and local law."
The state wants the woman to get training in federal law, and reimburse the Fair Housing Center $300 for the time it took them to investigate.
In other words, by forbidding certain 'statements' (statements = speech) the Fair Housing Act violates the freedom of speech clause of the First Amendment.
If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.
The original intent of the 1st Amend. was blown apart by the 14th Amend. and the “incorporation doctrine”. The thing is when people fight for the free exercise of religion publicly (Especially Christianity) in which the States violate the “incorporation doctrine” (Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296,), the ACLU, anti-Christians etc..., revert to the original intent, hmmm... Which is it? The current state of the 1st Amendment is a paradoxical mess (Designed of course by Statist).
“blatant violation of her First Amendment right to freely associate.”
I would agree if we still had the right to freely associate. I wonder if this Christian celebrated the banning of tobacco use on other private property. I don’t know either way, but I do know that many a FReeper celebrates that trampling of private property rights and the elimination of the right to freely assocaite.
I warned them that they would regret giving the tools to the nanny staters, now we get to see it in action.
“What she can do in practice she can’t make a statement about.”
Really? If this doesn’t violate the concept of “free speech” I can’t imagine what would. I hope this woman’s attorney absolutely skewers the opposition. AND I hope this gets the publicity it deserves.
what happened to freedom of association?
we are talking about a private home.
Thanks!
It not only sounds like gestapo tactics, it most certainly IS!
You know, I absolutely DO NOT care if a Muslim would like a Muslim roommate. Would you? How about a Jew? A woman wanting a female roommate? How about a wiccan?
An Australian friend of mine said, “I would go to war over something like this, it is such an invasion of privacy.”
And I believe it is....we need to strap on our boots and go to war over this. It can not stand.
I am guessing that the Fair Housing Center runs the training sessions, too. Nice way of drumming up business if you can get away with it.
A Christian was “offended” that someone wanted a Christian roommate? What a lie! Come on! If so, the church needs to follow Matthew 18 and bring that person in front of the whole congregation...
Thanks.
Christian and church goer are not necessarily equivalents. Not all church goers are Christians, some are there by orders of Satan.
And orders of the government...which was my point.
You even find lefty spies in Southern Bapist churches.
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.