It won't be lions in amphitheaters and certainly won't be incense and the genius Caesaris. It will be more like the Human Rights Commission of Canada pulling Mark Steyn in for thought crime. Or Australian pastors getting dragged to court for saying unnice things about Islam.
We might well be on the way to "hate speech" laws in the US; we already have several "hate crimes" in federal and state legislation. But the devil and the world have all they need already to inflict persecution on the Church through bureaucratic busybodies and zoning laws.
Now, some will no doubt argue that this guy in Phoenix should have just kept the zoning laws; that's he's a jerk who's asking for it; that he obviously didn't get along with his neighbors; that we should obey the state in all things that don't directly conflict against the Word of God, etc. I'll remember you said that when the city closes down the ladies Bible study you hold at the parsonage, or the county closes down your school's hot lunch program, or the state fire marshal says you can't have a Christmas candle light service any more. . . . all of that unless, of course, you pay $XX,XXX for the needed permit/renovations/zoning exemption, etc.
All of us in the increasing bureaucratic West play along to get along as much as we can. We seek to live quiet, peaceable lives which means attempting to keep all the bureaucratic regulations for the sake of peace and good order. But when is it time for churchmen to say enough is enough? When is it time for the Church to speak up for the 7th Commandment and property rights seeing as how they directly affect the Church's ability to do her work? And if you think the time is not when Phoenix says you can't have 15 people over for a Bible Study in your own home, or 20 people in your backyard for a BBQ, would you please tell me when the time is?
+HRC
We finally saw the Pianist a few weeks ago. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/
ReplyDeleteAs I watched the occupying Nazis force the Jews in Warsaw to wear Stars of David on their arms before the Ghetto, I thought to myself, "If they did that to us we'd play along. We'd wear crosses as a badge of honor and pretend we were both good citizens and confessors. But we'd be wrong."
We live in perilous times.
I'd get my guns and my Gimli axe
ReplyDeleteWhile the potential punishment certainly does not seem to fit the alleged crime, it appears this guy was itching for a fight and he got one. They had decided to leave him alone, so he decided to build a "church" building on his residential property for the sole purpose of hosting these "services," apparently to get their attention once again. He succeeded. My church building is subject to inspection by the fire department, why not his?
ReplyDeleteAnd I'd say: Why is yours? The power to regulate is the power to destroy. We are all of us at the mercy of some bureaucrat somewhere. . .
Delete+HRC
The situation is a bit more complicated than you may have heard.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-01-17/news/michael-salman-wants-to-build-a-church-in-his-backyard-his-neighbors-aren-t-buying-it/
I read somewhere else that he was also trying to get exemptions and write-offs on his million $$$ home.
I have to agree with Pr. Anderson, it seems this guy has a pretty impressive track record for starting up fights and even impersonating police officers, all in the name of "ministry".
"The power to regulate is the power to destroy. We are all of us at the mercy of some bureaucrat somewhere. . ."
ReplyDeletePerhaps. Of course, my neighbor is also regulated by the stop-sign at the busy intersection, which theoretically destroys a powerful impulse to beat the clock and hit my car broadside.
A prediction was requested, above, as to future mischief. Here's mine: It is the shenanigans of Mammon-grasping "ministers," like unto slick Mr. Salman of Phoenix, which are most likely to fuel efforts to burden the legitimate Church further. To avoid wasting time dealing with the clowns, the paper shufflers may decide it expedient to shut down the high aerial acts; i.e., simply fold up the big-top, completely, and close the show. Most likely, the peeved regulators will eventually decide to forego any exceptions to taxes, say, whether the taxes are Congress imposed or Supreme Court defined. Mr. Salman, frankly, is no martyr to Ms. Liberty or, more narrowly but most fondly appreciated, the tenets of religious freedom.
Your (unworthy) servant,
Herr Doktor