Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Michigan town where only Christians are allowed to buy houses
The Guardian ^ | February 9, 2018 | Rose Hackman

Posted on 02/10/2018 10:37:21 PM PST by TBP

Tucked away in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, somewhere along the winding roads that hug Great Lakes shores, is an idyllic town named Bay View. For more than a century, generations of “Bay Viewers” have congregated here to share in summer activities.

What started out as a modest camping ground for Methodist families 140 years ago has quietly developed into a stunning vacation spot for people who can afford the upkeep of a second home. Streets named Moss, Fern and Maple are dotted with impeccably maintained century-old gingerbread cottages. Over the horizon, residents can watch lifelong friends sail their boats across the water.

But this paradise is not open to all.

In Bay View, only practicing Christians are allowed to buy houses, or even inherit them.

Prospective homeowners, according to a bylaw introduced in 1947 and strengthened in 1986, are required to produce evidence of their faith by providing among other things a letter from a Christian minister testifying to their active participation in a church.

Last summer, a dozen current and former resident members filed a federal lawsuit against the town, its ruling Bay View Association and a real estate company, claiming the Christian litmus test was illegal and unconstitutional.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: christian; methodism; methodists; michigan
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-100 next last
What is Bay View? A public entity or a religious community?
1 posted on 02/10/2018 10:37:21 PM PST by TBP
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: TBP

No Muslims allowed. Don’t tell the liberals, they’ll try to pack the town with Jihadists just out of spite.


2 posted on 02/10/2018 10:48:52 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TBP

Anf there is a gated community in Mountain View California where only Jews can buy homes.


3 posted on 02/10/2018 10:52:26 PM PST by heights
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: heights

ditto in many places in upstate NY


4 posted on 02/10/2018 10:59:16 PM PST by vooch (America First Drain the Swamp)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: heights

Where?


5 posted on 02/10/2018 11:00:06 PM PST by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me - https://www.youtube.cwom/watch?v=wH-pk2vZG2M5)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: TBP

I’d love to hear some crime stats.

I’ll bet crime is almost non-existent there.


6 posted on 02/10/2018 11:20:53 PM PST by DoughtyOne (01/26/18 DJIA 30 stocks $26,616.71 48.794% > open 11/07/16 215.71 from 50% increase 1.2183 yrs..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vendome

Bay View is located just outside the beautiful resort town of Petoskey, located on Little Traverse Bay, on northern Lake Michigan.U.S.31 passes through it on it’s way to Mackinaw City. I attended college in Petoskey 40 years ago. By the way; The actor Hal Smith, who played Otis Campbell on the Andy Griffith Show was born in Petoskey.


7 posted on 02/10/2018 11:22:15 PM PST by gigster (Cogito, Ergo, Ronaldus Magnus Conservatus)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: TBP

How is this different from a muslim only “no go zone”?


8 posted on 02/10/2018 11:31:06 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Ask a lib if Alger Hiss colluded with the Russians.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne

>>I’ll bet crime is almost non-existent there.

“As McGee and I make our way through the streets, the few, mostly retired residents who are still here after Labor Day shout out warm greetings.”

Few full time residents. Many people seem to use it as a second home seasonally.


9 posted on 02/10/2018 11:34:45 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Ask a lib if Alger Hiss colluded with the Russians.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: TBP
It's a paradise because it's not open to all. Sounds great.
10 posted on 02/10/2018 11:41:34 PM PST by OldNewYork (Operation Wetback II, now with computers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne

Can non-Amish buy into Amish farmlands without shunning?


11 posted on 02/10/2018 11:42:19 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Ask a lib if Alger Hiss colluded with the Russians.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: OldNewYork

It began as a Methodist campground.

A morality clause was stated.

Over time practicing religious affiliation was added.

One man who is part of the suit has a Jewish wife and children. He calls himself “culturally Christian”. What’s that, sounds like something Obama would use to dodge the matter in appealing to the masses. Sounds to me like an agnostic who isn’t being hounded to leave his home. Just a stipulation against who it is sold to. Is his wife’s name also on the deed (community property)?

While it is pitched as a Christian preserve, it doesn’t sound like that tradition is being adhered to anyhow.

Can the Knights of Columbus and Oddfellows lodges be next on the vanishing landscape? A graying membership and a waning tradition of faith and community in America.

The biggest looming “threat” to the old ways is if it becomes a muslim “preserve”. I wonder if the ACLU would be as interested in seeing it multicultural at that point.


12 posted on 02/10/2018 11:51:49 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Ask a lib if Alger Hiss colluded with the Russians.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

When was the last time a Amish landholder sold his land ?

LOL


13 posted on 02/10/2018 11:52:46 PM PST by vooch (America First Drain the Swamp)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: gigster

I meant the one in Mountain View..


14 posted on 02/10/2018 11:59:51 PM PST by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me - https://www.youtube.cwom/watch?v=wH-pk2vZG2M5)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

[[How is this different from a muslim only “no go zone”?]]

You weon’t be stabbed, blown up or shot or raped if you do go there=- That’s how it’s different


15 posted on 02/11/2018 12:14:07 AM PST by Bob434
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

What are the chances that law officers are afraid to go there compared to Muslim no-go zones?


16 posted on 02/11/2018 12:17:04 AM PST by skr (May God confound the enemy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: skr

law officers don’t go to “no go zones”. Globally they are noted as ceded territory.

We look at Afghanistan and how tribalism gave the Taliban and Al-Qaeda strongholds in some areas.

It’s happening in the West as well and the colonies are foreign funded. Saudis and others export hate.


17 posted on 02/11/2018 12:21:25 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Ask a lib if Alger Hiss colluded with the Russians.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Telepathic Intruder

Funny you would say that. If this can be, why not a community which would allow only rinos, pachyderms, or asses?


18 posted on 02/11/2018 12:36:15 AM PST by V K Lee (Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken. - Donald J. Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise
Can non-Amish buy into Amish farmlands without shunning?

If I recall correctly, shunning (in their dialect: Meidung) is reserved for Apostates (i.e., for those who were once Amish but - due to their worldly ways - have been excluded from the community).

However, people who never were Amish - so-called "Englische" - are treated hospitably.

Regards,

19 posted on 02/11/2018 12:58:18 AM PST by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: alexander_busek

What if you have women coming and going at all hours? :)


20 posted on 02/11/2018 1:17:02 AM PST by dp0622 (The Left should know saying Syrian rebels in anost back in Trump is kicked out of office, it is WAR!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-100 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson