Say Anything Blog

I’m not really sure how I would react to this, but I’m fairly certain I would have made a bad situation worse if something like this were to happen in my home:

A San Diego pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a county official and warned they will face escalating fines if they continue to hold Bible studies in their home.

The couple, whose names are being withheld until a demand letter can be filed on their behalf, told their attorney a county government employee knocked on their door on Good Friday, asking a litany of questions about their Tuesday night Bible studies, which are attended by approximately 15 people.

Questions? You want to knock on my door and ask me questions about what I do in the privacy of my own home, who I have over and what is said?  Wait, though. Let’s calm down. What kind of questions? Maybe they were just some sort of survey or something. But it just wasn’t that innocuous. It was downright intrusive - and then turned threatening:

“Do you have a regular weekly meeting in your home? Do you sing? Do you say ‘amen’?” the official reportedly asked. “Do you say, ‘Praise the Lord’?”

The pastor’s wife answered yes.

She says she was then told, however, that she must stop holding “religious assemblies” until she and her husband obtain a Major Use Permit from the county, a permit that often involves traffic and environmental studies, compliance with parking and sidewalk regulations and costs that top tens of thousands of dollars.

And if they fail to pay for the MUP, the county official reportedly warned, the couple will be charged escalating fines beginning at $100, then $200, $500, $1000, “and then it will get ugly.”

Ugly? Partner, when someone comes to my home to tell me that I can’t have a gathering of whoever I want, for whatever reason I want, and say what I damn well please in my own house, well, it’s already gotten ugly and the chances are it would get a whole lot uglier real quick. Like I said, I would very possibly, for the first time in my life, face a criminal charge for putting my foot right where it belongs. 

This infuriates me. And I’m wondering just what that officious little county clown would have had to say if there had been a weekly gathering at that home that involved candles and a pentagram with chanting and animal sacrifice. Let me guess - nothing. Why? Because Christianity is the target here, not permits.

I’m not a very religious person but this isn’t about religion. It’s about the obvious arrogance and smug superiority of the left. Yeah, well, here’s a message for them that I’m sure most Americans will agree with:

Don’t push it too far, peanut. Right now the far left is viewed with some bemusement by main stream America. When they go all Janeane Garofalo on us we just shake our heads and say to ourselves and each other, just what the hell was that all about? Push it too far and that bemusement can and probably will turn to anger. Your childish antics won’t be funny any more and in fact are starting to wear just a bit thin right now.

Anyway, Happy Memorial Day weekend. It’s Sunday, and I hope you and your families have a great day but if you happen to pray over that barbeque before you eat this afternoon be careful. You never know who could be listening.

You may end up having to get a permit.

Thanks to Zip for this one.