Bible Study in Home Violates Code, Says San Diego County
Was this in Viet Nam or China, or perhaps Ethiopia or Sudan?
No, it was right here in the United States!
In an interview with 10News (www.10news.com), attorney Dean Broyles from the Western Center For Law and Policy said that San Diego County officials appeared at the door of a couple - a pastor and his wife - who were having a Bible study, and told them that they were in violation of the county's code on religious assembly. They would have to stop having the Bible studies or get a special permit.
A few days later, the couple received written notice warning them that they were to cease with the Bible study unless they obtained a permit.
The permit costs tens of thousand dollars.
Whatever happened to the concept of freedom of religion? Whatever happened to the right of people to peaceably assemble?
People can gather in homes to watch football games; people can gather in homes to play bridge or other card games; people can gather in homes for Tupperware Parties; people can gather in homes for a book club, a garden club, or just about any other purpose. How could anyone even conceive of the idea of not allowing people to meet in a home to study the Bible?
I have no doubt that this decision will be overturned, but the fact that the question even came up in the first place says a lot about the current sad state of affairs and the direction that western society seems to be going, which is a rapid downhill spiral.
This reeks heavily of the societies painted by George Orwell (in "1984") and Ray Bradbury ("Fahrenheit 451"); it is only a heavy handed Big Brother government that would stoop to such measures.
David and Mary Jones, the San Diego, California couple charged with violating the county code of religious assembly, of course are going to fight this, as they should. It's sad - tragic even - that this whole issue even came up in the first place.
The news articles stated that the couple will send a letter to the county this week, arguing that by forcing them to stop the Bible study is a violation of First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of religion. If the county does not allow them to continue the Bible study, the couple is likely to proceed with a lawsuit.
In this day and age, when government is sticking its hands more and more into the lives of the people for whom it was intended to serve and protect, the citizens of the United States have to be alert to any attempts to undermine individual rights and vigilant in defending and protecting those rights.
If the ruling is upheld, where does one draw the line? If a friend comes over to the house for dinner, and you end up discussing religion, is that violating the religious assembly code? What if (good heavens) you actually open a Bible while visitors are in the house? What if you say a prayer, thanking God for providing the meal you are about to eat?
These certainly seem like farfetched scenarios, but so does a scenario that says a couple cannot hold a Bible study in their home.
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32 Comments
Post a CommentThere has got to be ore going on here than is being reported. Even California has not sunk to this level.
Hi Daniel, Thanks for the comments! You made a good point -- I think most people would agree that rights had been violated here.
One thing I wanted to add, after reading a large number of comments that somehow seem to put this on secularists or non-believers; I would venture that over 95% of atheists and non-religious people would agree that this is a gross miscarriage of justice. Not because it's persecuting Christians, but because it goes against two basic tenets of the Constitution and plain reason itself.
No one has the right to interfere with someone else's personal activities or beliefs, as long as they don't harm anyone else. Its that simple.
I'm halfway between agnostic and atheist and I find this repulsive. Nothing whatsoever about the meetings sound outside the law in any way, and the excuses the cops are giving are pathetic. Nor does "traffic congestion" make it better, unless they were consistently leaving cars hapazardly in the middle of the road.
So this is what we soldiers are fighting for. I cannot believe this Joel. Thank you very much for sharing this. I know that this took place a few months ago. Do you have any updates?
By the way I stumbled this. I think everyone needs to be aware of these types of things going on in our country.
I imagine with the implicationof such violation rules they are trying to secure against another Waco type disaster, yet when you think about it this type of control is exactly that!
That's bizarre. New persecution. Brian
This is scary. Just think, my ancestors came to this country just so they could worship in their homes.
I heard about this - Ditto John Smther's remark. As for Patricia's on the parking violation, the excuse the govn't gave was that "people emit too much carbon dioxide". Anyway, I think there was such a big fuss, the demand for a permit has been withdrawn. But it will soon happen again.
This is crazy! What will the government decide we cannot do next?