Most Christians in America would likely have never imagined that holding a private Bible study in their home could ever be considered a criminal behavior in their lifetime, but apparently, that time has already come.
Over the last 10 years, Michael Salman and his wife have hosted friends and family (numbering from 15 to 20 people) for such activities as Bible study, prayer, food, and fellowship. Hopefully still to most Americans, these would be seen as the most innocent of all possible private activities. It seems, though, that these activities were viewed as ‘criminal’ by the City of Phoenix, and Mr. Salman has now been sentenced to 60 days in jail and $12,180 in fines.
According to several reports, Michael Salman has been plagued over this issue by the City of Phoenix for years since city code enforcement officials told him that holding worship gatherings on his property would be subject to commercial code regulations, as this would be considered an “occupancy.” Salman’s weekly home Bible study gathering is private and only comprised of invited guests. It’s not open to the public nor publicly advertised, and there is no “church” sign marking the front of his property. His guests do not violate street parking laws as they legally park all their vehicles at a local park about a half of a mile away from the property. In an attempt to comply with city regulations, Mr. Salman erected a building in his back yard, which is sitting on about an acre and a half of personal land with a buffer zone of 3.2 acres behind it. Upon completion of its construction, the building became the new meeting place for the Salmans and their guests. The building was officially designated as an accessory structure to their home that would be used for recreational purposes and was found to be compliant with all relevant city codes.
According to Michael Salman himself, the city then amended their parking codes with consideration toward his structure and weekly gatherings (even though his guests did not park on or near the property) and insisted that the property must feature a designated parking area that included spaces for handicapped parking. He questioned why this was the case when he had previously complied with the then existing codes and when none of his guests were handicapped nor required such parking considerations. Salman indicated that the decision to construct the building was made after firefighters were sent to his home in an attempt to disperse the meetings in 2008, before he ordered them to leave his property. Then in June of 2009, police officers with a search warrant and additional city inspectors raided his home before citing him for 67 code violations.
When Mr. Salman pressed the city for a more specific explanation for their actions, they only stated that having “too many people” was a “safety concern.” When the Salmans then asked them how many people could be hosted in their home according to the city’s regulations, the officials’ response was “two.”
Michael Salman reported for his assigned court hearing on June 28, 2012, where the Judge re-sentenced him to 60 days in jail. He was to start serving his time on July 9, 2012 at 10:00 A.M. The Phoenix City Prosecutor, Aaron J. Carreon-Ainsa, decided to hide behind his Assistant City Prosecutor (John Tutelman) on this matter, authorizing him to file a petition with the 9th Circuit Court to revoke Salman’s probation and turn it into a two-and-a-half-year jail term because he refused to stop worshipping on his property. Tutelman considers Salman to be a “rebel” because of his failure to comply on this matter. Salman will now be filing his appeal in the 9th Circuit Court.
If you might be wondering how this all started in the first place, well, according to Salman, it all began as the result of the complaint of one neighbor to the city that the Salmans were hosting a weekly Bible study in their home that was originally conducted in the family’s living room.
Based on all available information on this matter, the Salman family’s assemblies have been private and peaceful ones in which religious or spiritual practices were among the activities exercised on their own private property. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution clearly permits all these exercises as protected freedoms under all applicable laws of the United States. Prior to this incident, if someone had posed the question of what city would be the first in the U.S. to violate an American’s First Amendment rights, personally, Phoenix, Arizona would not have even made it to the top ten cities that would have first come to mind. Now, though, this incident serves as a “teachable moment” that the most authentically constitutional regions of the American landscape appear as vast, untouched opportunity to the liberal explorers of destruction to the traditional American way of life. Their evil intentions toward our nation’s founding and freedoms can now be found everywhere throughout the nation. They have now placed a peaceful Christian husband and father of five children in jail for their cause, and he has submitted to their punishment for his.
For those whose ideology aligns with the City of Phoenix in believing that all Christians deserve such punishment, you should realize that we are only now discussing the very first and basic Amendment to the Constitution. There are still many others left to violate, just as the complete Bill of Rights has been violated for years. You should remember the news from about a year ago of the “chicken man” from Georgia who simply wanted to retain the right to lawfully use his property as he wished and, after a years’ long fight for his constitutional rights, was driven to suicide.
As for fellow Christians, you should remember that the fiery sermons of childhood, based on the book of Revelation among others, were not simply penned for those living thousands of years ago but were predictions of the future that we are now beginning to see unfolding before our eyes. We should also realize that these infringements of rights are only made possible by the standards put in place by the most powerful forces in our nation’s federal government that then trickle down to the state and local levels. Finally, we should realize that the impending forces of evil will not be satisfied by violating the rights of individual citizens. Incidents such as this provide precedent for the inevitable prohibition of the free practice of faith in various churches across the country. My advice is to know what you believe, believe what’s right, and be willing to pay any price necessary to defend these beliefs.
If you’d like to lawfully and politely express your opinion of the Salman family’s treatment by the City of Phoenix, Arizona to its city officials, please see the contact information provided below:
Mayor’s Office: 602-262-7111
City Councilman Venezuela’s Office: 602-262-7446
City Prosecutor’s Office: 602-262-6461
City Prosecutor’s Office Address:
Phoenix Municipal Courthouse
300 West Washington Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85003
Photo Credit: knowhimonline (Creative Commons)
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This has been predicted; that Christians would be arrested and imprisoned just for exercising their God-given right to assemble, peaceably, and worship. Christians First Amendment Rights have been under attack for decades in this country. I’m not surprised at what happened. This can happen any where. Never think that it can’t happen here. Again, God is testing we Christians. He’s allowing this to happen because there’s too many good people who do nothing. God doesn’t like apathy or complancency. We are headed for severe persecution against true Christians. Wake up, America!! This has been predicted a long time ago. See website: http://www.haasstrep68.com
So you thought you were living in America? Think again, welcome to RED CHINA! Are we now going to have to resort to ‘underground churches’ as the Chinese do? I am so ashamed of my government and can’t wait to throw them out on their ears. No pay, no benefits, and no retirement!
This is just the beginning of persecutions that Christians are going to be enduring in the near future and end times. As secularism and evil continues to overtake this country, Christianity will be the target of their hate because they know it is the only religion of power and Jesus Christ. They don’t care about all the other religions, just Christianity. That should tell you something. Christians need to stand strong and fight back and not be intimidated. Unfortunately, that’s why so much as been taken away already.
But the mooslums can shut the streets down in these big cities, to do their “praying” to their god. And you can have a big blow out at your house, and have booze and drugs and thats ok.
Can’t complain obummer promised change. No one asked him what kind.
That Muslim half breed Barack Hussein Obama, has spat on my Bible once too often now. He’s got to go!
How can an innocent Christian man be sent to prison in a Christian country for reading the Holy Bible to a few friends. These half breeds need to be tracked down and disposed of. We can’t tell if they are Americans or not. So we will NEVER trust them.
Faith of Our Forefathers!
http://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/faith-of-our-forefathers/
“Food For Thought”
Semper Fi!
This sounds like an excellent case for the American Civil Liberties Union. The city of Phoenix needs to be sued like there is no tomorrow and Michael Salman needs to be compensated for unlawful imprisonment.
Excuse me, but has there been some violent transformation within the ACLU http://tinyurl.com/c9m3osv ? Take a peek at their views of “Religious Expression Issues”
It would be nice to see them do a 180, but the better choice to date would be this team: http://aclj.org/
OK lets ready to rumble. After the next elections, there should be an explicit rule that says ONLY plain old simple CHRISTIANS are allowed to be President of the United States of America – No EXCEPTIONS ALLOWED into perpetuity. No freaks, no cults, no part-cults, no wacky group seeking ‘acceptance’. Do the Mormons hear me?
Here-here! And the Father saw our train coming from afar with this same vigilance, didn’t He? To emerge from conversion to engrain the fabric of public service, and preference of servant who would attend to those good and perfect Christian principles (or directives) without fear of compromising with abuses while in power of any sort (Romans 13), saying, the Govt’ is to be only a fear to those who are “evildoers”, not evil in nature. But, I’m sure you are aware He included the intention for us to co-exist in one more place too, (Rm. 12:18) saying, as much as the Lord has blessed an individual to full maturity, he/she is advised to “live peaceably with all men”, “if possible”.
What’s the end of that? Look again, “if possible”. There is God’s prescription for govt’ so many write off as theocracy, yet there in it lies fully harmless and without abuse. Blindness I tell-ya, blindness. Well, you do know back in the day of the founders, a person could easily land himself in jail for something as simple as slandering the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, it’s documented. George Washington didn’t even permit cussing in his Continental Army either. That would mean if he didn’t allow it, it had punishable ramifications.
So what then, if they were faced with let’s say using your mention of the LDS, would the Founders consider things such as 1. Adding to the Bible which is explicitly condemned with a Christian curse, and at one time a threat to the general public peace?
a. The Book of Mormon
b. Doctrines and Covenants
c. The pearl of Great Price
And I haven’t even started on:
2. Mormonism is polytheistic in its core (gods)
3. The trinity is three gods born in different times and places; the Father begot the Son and Holy Ghost through a goddess wife in heaven.
4. Humankind holds the potential for exaltation to Godhood.
5. Exaltation to godhood, must be earned
Well, the founders being Christian, and sensitive to it as many were clergymen, and the remaining bulk laymen of vigilance in the word and highly esteemed examples to the nation as individuals the public could concentrate their highest amount of trust. And as Christian they were obliged to follow the Lord’s precepts without preference. When it says, “let him be accursed” for presenting extra-biblical teachings, I ask, isn’t (Proverbs 14:34) “reproach to any people” reintroduced? Probably not anymore.
Regardless, it still beckons up the need to start where it always should have, given by a loving God who showed us, “judgment must first start at the house of God” (I Pet 4:17). To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t feel the founders seized Romans 13 as they should have for fear of the repeat of abuse the King had proved to be. No, it should have continued (“house of God”) based on all the admonitions concerning / relating to Romans 13. Because look at what happened some 50 years later:
For instance, Pennsylvania’s decision in favor of Christianity, 1824, a trial on an indictment for blasphemy, founded on an act of assembly passed in 1700.The remarks of the Supreme Court begin with:
“The court said that, even if Christianity was not part of the law of the land, it is the popular religion of the country, an insult on which would be indictable as directly tending to disturb the public peace. . .”
Far from an isolated recording, this is repeated throughout our longstanding history by preferring Christians to office. But that is precisely my point. In gaining independence from the throne of England, our founders were stirred in the faith and rose to stand and speak, but to what? No more than public unrest? So at least half of His will was accomplished. But would George’s standard of “Army” speech have stood for such an offense? Not likely. What was missing from their documented provisions? Really, hardly nothing missing in “the free exercise thereof”, for God is a “God of the living”, “not of the dead”. So the letter was intended to be energized by the living Christians, but in this case in time (1824), they were also infiltrated.
This is how far and fully we have been “enlightened” in America today. Eclipse all constraints of boring (spiritual death) religiosities, and ‘go secular man, that’s where it’s at’.
God Bless.