Bible Study & Zoning Boards

Posted on | July 11, 2012 | No Comments

I’ve been trying to think of an appropriate parallel for the Phoenix Pastor Jailed for Home Bible Study story. Book club? Fantasy football league? Tupperware sales? None seemed quite right, until…

Home schooling

All across this country, families have made the choice to educate their children in their own homes. It is a private endeavor, the doors are not opened to the public. Even if a couple of families decide to pool their resources and school unrelated children together, it is still a private, personal endeavor. The family home does not suddenly become a school – even if they set up a room or the garage with blackboards and desks.

It *does*, however, become a school when and if the family goes to the trouble of registering it that way with the state. At that point, you can be darn sure the education department will have a say, and the zoning board can tell them how high to mount their toilets and sinks.

Bible Study

All across this country, families have made the choice to worship in their own homes. It is a private endeavor, the doors are not opened to the public. Even if a couple of families decide to pool their resources and study the Bible together, it is still a private, personal endeavor. The family home does not suddenly become a church – even if they set up a room or the garage with a pulpit and pews.

It *does*, however, become a church when and if the family goes to the trouble of registering it that way with the state. At that point, you can be darn sure the city will have a say, and the zoning board can tell them how many exit signs and handicapped parking spaces they are required to have.

As soon as Michael Salman decided to register his property as a church, it ceased being a private residence. As soon as Michael Salman decided to take advantage of the property tax breaks, he lost any credibility as a victim of government persecution.

The appropriate headline should be “Phoenix Pastor Jailed For Repeatedly Ignoring Building Codes“