Couple Could Be Evicted for Noisy Praying

Canada.com ^ | July 26, 2002

[JediGirl]

CORNWALL, Ont. (CP) - Two roommates facing eviction for allegedly praying too loudly in their apartment are trying to convince Ontario's rental- dispute agency to allow them to stay put.

Born-again Christians Teresa Tafawa and Derrick Mitchell, and the building's management are now waiting for a verdict after the case went before the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal following repeated complaints by other tenants. "They don't listen to any other authority, except perhaps the authority of God," the building's property manager Richard Pfinder said at the hearing. But Tafawa and Mitchell, who have lived at the apartment for six years, defended their praying and said they are only spreading the word of God.

"The only evidence we have is with the Lord our God," Tafawa said, wearing a shirt bearing the message Glory To God.

"When we go out to praise the Lord, we don't do it viciously. It's just to praise the Lord," she said.

Tenant Tabitha Higham said she was afraid of the couple after meeting them in building's laundry room last fall.

"They told me they were prophets. I was really scared," she said. "At first I thought it was kind of funny, but I haven't gone to the laundry room since."

Tafawa and Mitchell received the eviction notice in early May. The notice said their praying was excessively loud and disruptive to other tenants.

[Clara Lou]

Let's see... Jesus said, "And when you pray, be like a Pharisee and do it as loudly and rudely and self-indulgently as you can." Right?

[Dog Gone]

They sound like nutbags to me.

[Consort]

Shout Hallelujah come on get happy...

[Northpaw]

Born-again Christians Teresa Tafawa and Derrick Mitchell,.....

Male & Female roommates?

[templar]

the way I figure it, what someone does in their own home is their business and I have no say so. If they bring it into my home it is my business and I have the right to say no.

[Dog Gone]

the way I figure it, what someone does in their own home is their business and I have no say so.

Would your attitude be the same if you shared a thin common apartment wall with a muslim couple next door who was screaming in praise of Allah all the time?

[kitkat]

"Male & Female roommates?"

Exactly! Maybe their "born again" status should be "partially born again."

[mountaineer]

My first reaction, too! Maybe not all that noise is from celebrating the glory of God, if you know what I mean.

But Tafawa and Mitchell ... defended their praying and said they are only spreading the word of God.

They're not spreading the word all that far if they're doing all their praying and glorifying in their own apartment, amongst only themselves.

[crazykatz]

Maybe the "OH! GOD!!" screams are not really.... praying!!

@ ;^ )

[pgkdan]

the way I figure it, what someone does in their own home is their business and I have no say so. If they bring it into my home it is my business and I have the right to say no.

if I can hear it in my home then it's no longer private. There's no need to make a nuisance of yourself to pray to the Lord.

[F16Fighter]

"Male & Female roommates?"

Hard to believe but you may just find in possible that there exist two human beings (not dogs) out of 3 billion on planet Earth who are capable of sleeping in the same room without having to hump each other.

[Dog Gone]

Yeah, including a lot of married couples!

[shred]

I bet it's really bad for the downstairs neighbors, if these nutjobs are rolling around on the floor constantly.

[mhking]

"Here, hold muh beer so I can put on muh touque 'n pray...eh?"

[F16Fighter]

"Yeah, including a lot of married couples!"

OR especially "married couples"! ;-)

[ChicagoRepublican]

A lot of people on freerepublic have never had the chance to live in an apartment. If your neighbors to the side, or above, are loud IT IS YOUR BUSINESS. It is within your right to complain if they're having really loud parties at night, playing music really loudly or praying to loudly. I don't care if they're Christian, Jewish or Arab. If they're praying too loudly I'm complaining.

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Maybe their "born again" status should be "partially born again."

Or maybe "born again as long as it suits our lifestyle"?

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

Male & Female roommates?

I can imagine those folks looking for a liberal, fun diverse church-"like" setting wanting to know more about the type of "Christainaty" these two follow.