The San Diego County has backed down from shutting down a home Bible study after receiving a flood of complaints from people concerned that the county is attempting to "muzzle religious expression."
"No one respects the right to free religious expression more than I do, and no one would find the infringement of such rights more abhorrent," said county Chief Administrative Officer Walt Ekard said in a statement Friday.
Ekard said dozens of e-mail and calls have come in to his office as media reports revealed that a county employee told a local couple they could not hold their weekly Bible study without a permit.
The employee labeled their Bible study a "religious assembly."
In a warning letter, Pastor David Jones and his wife, Mary, were ordered to "cease/stop religious assembly on parcel or obtain major use permit."
The Joneses, along with dozens of others, argue that their right to hold Bible studies is protected by the U.S. Constitution.
While many saw the county's attempt as an infringement upon their right to assemble peaceably and privately in their home, CAO Ekard stressed that the county "has never tried to stifle religious expression and never will."
"This is a land issue," Ekard stated, and not an issue of religious expression.
"I deeply regret that a routine code enforcement issue has transformed into a debate over religious freedom in San Diego County," he said.
The county had received complaints from a neighbor about traffic and parking issues resulting from the weekly Bible studies, Ekard noted.
Pastor Jones believes the complaint was prompted when a Bible study member hit the car belonging to a neighbor's visitor. Jones paid for the car damage.
Dean Broyles, president of the Western Center for Law and Policy, based in Escondido, Calif., which is representing the Joneses, believes the county's insistence that this is a parking issue is fabricated.
"Broyles told the Union-Tribune that the officer had asked the couple such questions as "Do you sing?" and "Do you say 'praise the Lord?'"
Ekard is reviewing the officer's actions and re-examining the policies and procedures the county uses "to deal with such complaints."
If the officer is found to have acted inappropriately, Ekard said he will take action immediately.
"[L]et me be clear: religious intolerance in any form is not, and never will be, allowed under any circumstance in San Diego County government," Ekard underscored.
Until the county finds a solution to the matter, the Joneses will be allowed to continue their Bible studies.
Source: Christian Post
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Human is earth's Choicemaker. Psalm 25:12 He is by
nature and nature's God a creature of Choice - and of
Criteria. Psalm 119:30,173 His unique and definitive
characteristic is, and of Right ought to be, the natural
foundation of his environments, institutions, and re-
spectful relations to his fellow-man. Thus, he is orien-
ted to a Freedom whose roots are in the Order of the
universe. selah
That human institution which is structured on the
principle, "...all men are endowed by their Creator with
...Liberty...," is a system with its roots in the natural
Order of the universe. The opponents of such a system are
necessarily engaged in a losing contest with nature and
nature's God. Biblical principles are still today the
foundation under Western Civilization and the American
way of life. To the advent of a new season we commend the
present generation and the "multitudes in the valley of
decision."
Let us proclaim it. Behold!
2009 AD: The Season of Generation-Choicemaker Joel 3:14 Psalm 25:12 KJV