One for the Watchtower Society and their foresight to see the future.
"Man Arrested For Holding Home Bible Study" Why the Org stopped it.
by Bubblegum Apotheosis 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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JeffT
"Phoenix City Prosecutor Vicki Hill said in a statement: “It came down to zoning and proper permitting. Anytime you are holding a gathering of people continuously as he does, we have concerns about people being able to exit the facility properly in case there is a fire, and that’s really all this comes down to.”
So does that mean you have to have a permit if you're going to invite a few friends over every Sunday for a couple of beers and a ball game? Does that make your house a sports bar? If you invite ten Democrats over to talk polictics on Wednesday night are you holding a politcal convention? What an absurd law, I hope he fights it and hard.
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Diest
It does not say how many people he had, but I think I read another article that it was 30 or so. At some point the city has the right to regulate how many people can congregate there based on public safety concerns. If he took a collection or it was open to the public then it is definately a church and not just some guys home.
Jeff if you charged your friends for a profit, you would be a sports bar.
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blondie
Actually, there were other cases of this a few years ago in California. A search on JWN might find it. Just before we left there were several run-ins with neighbors next to home book studies because the jws dominated the street parking on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The neighbors finally called the police and the parking signage was changed so only people living on that street could park there. That meant parking 3 blocks away and walking for the jws. That book study group was transferred to the KH on Monday nights. Also it was getting harder and harder to find "qualified" jws willing to allow the book study in their home because of the rudness, nosiness, and thefts by some that attended.
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NewChapter
No. He had a lot of people in on a regular basis, posted a sign on his gate identifying the home as a church, and is pretty much using the house as a church. It is being reported by FOX that he is arrested for having a bible study at his house. He pushed the boundaries knowing he could cry persecution and make the city look bad.
He is just using religion to try to break the law. It is common for religious people and organizations to cry the law does not apply to them.
Here are two reports on the story. The neutral report gives the details. The spun report has everyone running around with their hair on fire.
NC
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wasblind
Hello there Blondie,
The first thing I thought of was about the book study I used to attend
at an elders house. I often wondered how his neighbors felt havin'
8 to twelve cars line on one side of a narrow road. On goodie nite
there were more cars than that. Some would leave after other book studies
and come join in
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JeffT
You're right, that's a church not a home bible study.
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blondie
Oh, the sign was a bad idea. Years ago, the WTS had congregations (small) meet in homes. But no signs outside. There are laws about that. There were several KHs built in residential areas where I live that had signs and parking lots but were legal according to prevailing code. Not popular with the neighbors though because it affected property values.
http://www.californiality.com/2011/09/home-bible-study-illegal-without-permit.html
There was a case like this in San Diego in 2009.
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witnomore
All of this brings back the memory of my mom's neighbor going to the police telling them my mom was running a house of ill repute on Monday nights in the guise of a "bible study", LOL!