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Proof that Christians are being persecuted; or------

kedo1981

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Proof that Christians are being persecuted;
or proof that they should stop acting like they are above the law just because they serve the Jesus flavored kool-aid (raspberry with a hint of cherry).
This from one of those “right of Fox news” web sights.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/chr...o-60-days-in-jail-over-az-home-bible-studies/

My godless take
It' a ongoing cat fight between the city and a “holier that thou” who thinks he can just build a church on his property with out complying with building codes and hold loud Jesus feists any time he wants in a residential neighborhood.
Course the real fun is reading the whack job commits that follow the story.
 
kedo1981 said:
Proof that Christians are being persecuted;
or proof that they should stop acting like they are above the law just because they serve the Jesus flavored kool-aid (raspberry with a hint of cherry).
This from one of those “right of Fox news” web sights.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/chr...o-60-days-in-jail-over-az-home-bible-studies/

My godless take
It' a ongoing cat fight between the city and a “holier that thou” who thinks he can just build a church on his property with out complying with building codes and hold loud Jesus feists any time he wants in a residential neighborhood.
Course the real fun is reading the whack job commits that follow the story.
Click to expand...

Silly xtians - they'll be prosecuted, not persecuted. Though there are some I do not at all mind persecuting - at least verbally.
 
He built a church in his backyard then lied to the city about what it would be used for.

When enough neighbors complained about cars parked in the street, they investigated and found he broke 67 different building codes, including a few fire codes.
 
Christians will complain they are oppressed even as they turn America into a theocracy where speaking ill of Jesus gets you a bullet to the head.
 
kedo1981 said:
Proof that Christians are being persecuted;
or proof that they should stop acting like they are above the law just because they serve the Jesus flavored kool-aid (raspberry with a hint of cherry).
This from one of those “right of Fox news” web sights.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/chr...o-60-days-in-jail-over-az-home-bible-studies/

My godless take
It' a ongoing cat fight between the city and a “holier that thou” who thinks he can just build a church on his property with out complying with building codes and hold loud Jesus feists any time he wants in a residential neighborhood.
Course the real fun is reading the whack job commits that follow the story.
Click to expand...

Assuming the article detailed is correct, and there isn't more to the story (both rather big assumptions) then your take involved speculation not in evidence. A Bilble study group is not the same as a church.

Would the city react the same way to someone hosting monday night football parties for 15-20 people every week? I doubt it.

I'd love to see the other regulations he was charged with. I'm pretty sure that if I was hosting poker games for 20 people in a shed out the back here, I wouldn't be expected to have exit and handicapped signs up.

Since the issue seems to, by the article, predate the building, I'd suspect that, assuming the article is correct, he's PO'ed someone in office somehow.
 
Salman is the owner of Mighty Mike’s Burgers — and he is also an ordained pastor. He and his wife have been hosting Bible studies on their 4.6-acre property since 2005. The gatherings were originally attended by as many as 15 people.

In 2007, they received a letter from the city informing them that the Bible studies were not permitted in their living room because it was in violation of the construction code.

A few months later, members of the Phoenix Fire Dept. broke up the family’s Good Friday fellowship. As many as 20 people were in their backyard eating a meal when firefighters threatened to call the police – unless their guests left the premises.
Click to expand...
I know Salman won't get any sympathy here but . . . . . unbelievable!
 
He's not being targeted because of faith, he's being targeted because he wants to thumb his nose at city and county government.

We had our share in the city and county, and a percentage of them wanted to play the god card.

Didn't work any better in California than it does in Arizona.
 
ehcks said:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-hosting-Bible-study-OWN-home-city-rules.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the further info. It'd be nice to know the definition of a "church" too. I would have thought that a building would have to be a public building to require handicapped parking and ramps, since there is no point in having those things unless someone coming to the building requires them, and if as stated in the article, those coming where merely family and friends, then the building was not open to the pubic.

I still suspect that he has managed to PO someone, possibly a neighbour with a friend on the council.
 
BStrong said:
He's not being targeted because of faith, he's being targeted because he wants to thumb his nose at city and county government.
Click to expand...
Yeah! Fancy thinking that you can have a private gathering in your own home without first getting the permission of the authorities.
 
psionl0 said:
Yeah! Fancy thinking that you can have a private gathering in your own home without first getting the permission of the authorities.
Click to expand...

I'd bet that there's more to the story than what is included in the link, but I don't gas enough to whip out the google fu.
 
Manopolus said:
The other part of the story...
Click to expand...

Hmmm, now that is interesting, and well worth the read. My final conclusion. They're all in the wrong. From this article it's clear we're not talking a small garage for bible study, he wants a church, and thus if it's to be a public building, which seems to be the case, he has to follow the rules. However, having said that, it's also clear that he's PO'ed the neighbours and that the actions the city has been taking against him have been a direct result of them not liking him, the way he practices religion, or his past, and quite frankly the city should not be acting like a bunch of bully boys for his neighbours.

Truely a rather sad situation all around.
 
Funny that, the guys family emigrated from Jordan and were Christians.
If he was Jordanian Muslim emigrant wanting to build a “church” in his back yard, how would that change Glen Becks perspective.
 
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I think the biggest question as to whether it's a "home Bible study" or a public church would have to do with whether he's taken money/donations from his little congregation, for the building or otherwise.

Next on my list of questions would be whether the general public was invited, by advertising or inference, or if it was invitation only.

Using someone else's metaphor: A gathering to watch Monday Night Football and drink beer every week would be by invitation only. If you take money for the beer, let anybody show up, and possibly even advertise in some way, you're running a sports bar and need a liquor license, proper zoning, etc.
 
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If you try to file a letter with the city government claiming that you have diplomatic immunity from all US law because you are an ambassador from Heaven, then it is appropriate to label you as a crackpot

If you impersonate a police officer to scare the boyfriend of a congregant's daughter, then you are a chucklehead as well.

But, even crackpots and chuckleheads have certain rights in this country. As it stands, the line is too blurry for me to say who is right and who is wrong.
 
This guy did something to SERIOUSLY cheese off the neighbors. There's a reason why zoning laws exist.
 
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