Home Bible Study Group Illegal?

[JohnRich 4]

News:

County Trying To Stop Home Bible Studies

A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold bible studies in their home.

Attorney Dean Broylesy was shocked with what happened to the pastor and his wife. Broyles said, "The county asked, '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 county employee notified the couple that the small bible study, with an average of 15 people attending, was in violation of county regulations, according to Broyles.

Broyles said a few days later the couple received a written warning that listed "unlawful use of land" and told them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit" -- a process that could cost tens of thousands of dollars.

"If the county thinks they can shut down groups of 10 or 15 Christians meeting in a home, what about people who meet regularly at home for poker night? What about people who meet for Tupperware parties? What about people who are meeting to watch baseball games on a regular basis and support the Chargers?" said Broyles...

Source: http://www.10news.com/news/19562217/detail.html

[billvon 2,400]

They should be able to have Bible studies meetings (unless anyone in the meeting is gay, of course.)

[BikerBabe 0]

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They should be able to have Bible studies meetings (unless anyone in the meeting is gay, of course.)

LMAO

you just made me spray pomegranate juice on my keyboard! thanks!



Seriously though, i guess superbowl parties and birthday parties need permits, too, since those are "regularly scheduled" meetings in homes. right?

This is completely ridiculous, i don't care what religion you are or aren't, if anyone votes no in this poll...well, i won't invoke Godwin's law just yet

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[downwardspiral 0]

CA needs money bad apparently.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[shropshire 0]

>

No that IS gay

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[shropshire 0]

WTF? Who are they hurting?

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[downwardspiral 0]

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WTF? Who are they hurting?

The coffers are hurting.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[BikerBabe 0]

hrm...i had no idea drinking pom juice made me a lesbian....hot!

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[wmw999 2,123]

It's ridiculous.

It's also likely there is more to the story. It sounds like someone reported them to the county as being a "church" in a noncommercial building. San Diego might have some sort of definition of "church" that's not compatible with that. Sounds like some serious hair-splitting is going on.

It's ridiculous.

And he might have pissed off one of his neighbors (could one of the guests have parked in front of the local asshole's house?).

But I don't really think it's Christian-specific persecution.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[shropshire 0]

Depends on the Pom

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[TomAiello 25]

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They should be able to have Bible studies meetings (unless anyone in the meeting is gay, of course.)

Gay naked bible study groups are the best!

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[quade 3]

And now for the rest of the story;
http://www.10news.com/video/19585521/index.html

Lemme cut to the chase on it.

It has nothing to do with what is going on inside the house.

Apparently one of the members of the group had a car accident with a visitor of one of the neighbors. The guy seems to have gotten a bit lawsuit happy and called code enforcement about the number of cars that the bible study group has parked and blocks the street with.

The pastor's lawyer is who is blowing this even further out of proportion to make it a city vs Christian thing.

I think that's shitty.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[BikerBabe 0]

So why would the guy who's car was hit call the county code enforcers and not the people who usually handle car accidents...you know...the POLICE.

And if it's a simple code thing, why were the county code people asking things like "do you pray here?" "do you say amen?"

I know many people here are strongly anti-Christian, but this is very obviously a case of the county waaaaay overstepping its bounds.

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[quade 3]

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So why would the guy who's car was hit call the county code enforcers and not the people who usually handle car accidents...you know...the POLICE.

Because he obviously has a burr up his ass and wants to cause as much grief as possible.

Assholes exist, but don't ask me to explain them.

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And if it's a simple code thing, why were the county code people asking things like "do you pray here?" "do you say amen?"

On that we only have one side of the story. Consider it possible that over the course of a regular boring interview about the situation, the code enforcement officer wanted to know what was causing so many people to come to the house and asked a few generic questions. Once he learned about the bible study group he simply wanted clarity and the pastor took it the wrong way. People can be overly sensitive sometimes.

No matter what, we simply haven't heard the code enforcement officer's side of the story yet so I'd cut him some slack.

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I know many people here are strongly anti-Christian, but this is very obviously a case of the county waaaaay overstepping its bounds.

I don't think you can be too sure about that at this stage. I think there's a lot of overstepping on the lawyer's side at this point by making such a spectacle out of it.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[DJL 232]

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The guy seems to have gotten a bit lawsuit happy and called code enforcement

That was my first thought. There CAN be a gray area if this guy is filling his house and yard to capacity and conducting sermons but I doubt that's the case. This is more like a coach having his team over for soda and burgers so they can watch a game tape.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[kelpdiver 2]

There are potential zoning issues with someone using their residence as a church. Just as there are with people running retail businesses out out of their homes.

It's not the same as a person having a superbowl party or 20 of their relatives over at Thanksgiving.

The pastor's church may be the more appropriate location for weekly activity.

[Channman 2]

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There are potential zoning issues with someone using their residence as a church. Just as there are with people running retail businesses out out of their homes.

It's not the same as a person having a superbowl party or 20 of their relatives over at Thanksgiving.

The pastor's church may be the more appropriate location for weekly activity.

I would only add that the Ball Park/Stadium maybe more appropriate for weekly sporting activity.

Would the Pastor be allowed to have family and friends over for Thanksgiving if they were to pray over their meal or would that activity only be appropriate at the church?

[BikerBabe 0]

out of curiosity, of the 4 people who voted that they shouldn't be allowed to have a home bible study, how many of you voted in the poll about the law requiring guns to be locked up in homes, and how did you vote?

Just curious....

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[kelpdiver 2]

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out of curiosity, of the 4 people who voted that they shouldn't be allowed to have a home bible study, how many of you voted in the poll about the law requiring guns to be locked up in homes, and how did you vote?

Just curious....

how are they related?

Didn't vote in either. Insufficient information on this one.

[BikerBabe 0]

just the whole "government telling us what we can and can't do in the privacy of our homes" thing is all....

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[rushmc 18]

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just the whole "government telling us what we can and can't do in the privacy of our homes" thing is all....

?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[DJL 232]

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out of curiosity, of the 4 people who voted that they shouldn't be allowed to have a home bible study, how many of you voted in the poll about the law requiring guns to be locked up in homes, and how did you vote?

Just curious....

how are they related?

Didn't vote in either. Insufficient information on this one.

You have to also gauge that polls on this website are usually off quite a bit because of people fucking around.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[nanook 1]

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So why would the guy who's car was hit call the county code enforcers and not the people who usually handle car accidents...you know...the POLICE.

And if it's a simple code thing, why were the county code people asking things like "do you pray here?" "do you say amen?"

I know many people here are strongly anti-Christian, but this is very obviously a case of the county waaaaay overstepping its bounds.

Is the street private property? If it is and it's owned by some HOA or something similar, the police may not have jurisdiction to write fines or enforce codes like an accident in a the parking lot. But then, they could have gotten in touch with the company. Maybe.

_____________________________

"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never know if they are genuine" - Abraham Lincoln

[Frenchy68 0]

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What about people who are meeting to watch baseball games on a regular basis and support the Chargers?"

Anyone who meets on a regular basis to watch the Chargers play baseball is an imbecile.

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[BikerBabe 0]

marc, don't pick an argument where none exists. i have a feeling you and i actually agree on this.

Sorry, but guns or a bible study, if it's done in the home, then the government can get the fuck out. I was just curious if some of the same people who voted that they shouldn't be able to have a bible study in their home also voted that the SF law about guns locked up at home was unjust. Which would be highly hypocritical.

Now my disclaimer: I am biased in this case, for 3 reasons. 1) I live in San Diego County, 2) I am a follower of Jesus and 3) I have attended weekly bible studies in homes in San Diego County.

From a religious perspective, weekly small groups are more common than you probably think, and many many many of them aren't sponsored by any one church. There is a movement afoot among followers of Jesus to get back to the way things were before "THE CHURCH" took over...which was small groups of believers meeting in homes.

So yes, this affects me personally, if peripherally.

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!