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The Neighbors Side Of The Story Regarding The Phoenix Pastors Church Meetings At His Home
Phoenis Times ^ | 1-17-2008 | Sarah Fenske

Posted on 07/08/2012 8:33:47 AM PDT by trailhkr1

Actually this is an old story that has been going on for some time. Turns out the neighbors, not the city was the ones who had the beef with Michael Salman.

Guy really ticked off his neighbors who all sided against him.

From the story: But then Salman announced that he was planning to build a church right there in his backyard. He talked about not just Sunday services, but weeknight Bible studies, a workout room and basketball court, even a Christian day care center.

"He gave us a lecture on the fact that all of us were going to make money on our property, and if we were true Christians, we ought to be willing to sacrifice a little bit," Woods recalls. "You can imagine, a few guys in the audience were all over him for that.

"That meeting is where the real animosity started. He made no effort at being conciliatory or cooperative. That really united the neighbors against him," Woods says. "He was his own worst enemy."

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


TOPICS: Religion
KEYWORDS: church; neighbors; propertyrights
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In 1994, Salman had filed paperwork claiming that he belonged to the Embassy of God. That meant, the document claimed, that he didn't need to follow United States law...... In his thinking, they shouldn't face so much as a traffic ticket if they were caught speeding. Just as ambassadors from other countries have diplomatic immunity, so should "ambassadors" from Heaven.

A real winner here who makes Christians look like loons.

1 posted on 07/08/2012 8:33:50 AM PDT by trailhkr1
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To: trailhkr1

A real winner here who makes Christians look like loons.

****

It can get ugly when people confuse being persecuted for their beliefs and being persecuted for acting like a complete and total jackass.


2 posted on 07/08/2012 9:04:19 AM PDT by gzzimlich
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To: trailhkr1

A real winner here who makes Christians look like loons.

****

It can get ugly when people confuse being persecuted for their beliefs with being persecuted for acting like a complete and total jackass.


3 posted on 07/08/2012 9:04:33 AM PDT by gzzimlich
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To: trailhkr1

That is all gossip and heresay of a mob who now need to justify themselves for getting a Christian man put in jail for having Bible studies. The man was sent to jail for having Bible meetings in his home. He was not sent to jail for all the gossip nonsense and would have been if he really did refuse to obey all laws as this pack of hyenas claim.

They know what they did has pissed off the country and now they are trying to justify their mob action witch hunt against a Christian man by demonizing him. In truth, we don’t know what happened and who he is.


4 posted on 07/08/2012 9:04:50 AM PDT by SaraJohnson
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To: SaraJohnson
They know what they did has pissed off the country and now they are trying to justify their mob action witch hunt against a Christian man by demonizing him. In truth, we don’t know what happened and who he is.

Sure we do...over 60+ neighbors are all wrong?? Face it, this guy brought everything on himself. As the neighbors mentioned in the article, he was his own worst enemy as he was unwilling to be reasonable about anything.

Face it SJ, a person who thinks he is exempt from traffic tickets because he has "diplomatic immunity" from God is not dealing with a full deck.

5 posted on 07/08/2012 9:11:47 AM PDT by trailhkr1 (That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence - Christopher Hitchen)
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To: trailhkr1
A real winner here who makes Christians look like loons.

Thanks for the followup, always good to get as much info as available to put a story into perspective. I haven't time to read the whole thing at the moment. Interested in hearing the other side.

But.....whatever this man does is not automatically a blanket statement on "Christians". Although this sort of thing is usually presented that way.

6 posted on 07/08/2012 9:13:53 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s....you weren't really there)
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To: trailhkr1

Oh, good grief.
I have seen a church break up because they argued about what color carpet to put in the sanctuary, and whether to go from organ to piano.
About fifty people walked out because the pastor replaced the organ with a piano, and went with the majority opinion on the carpet color.
My sister says quite frequently there would be more Christians if it weren’t for Christians.


7 posted on 07/08/2012 9:16:20 AM PDT by svcw (If one living cell on another planet is life, why isn't it life in the womb?)
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To: SaraJohnson

What is one to do when their exercise of their property rights severely affects the property rights of their neighbors? Freedom of religion seems secondary to property rights in this instance. The religious freedom of this guy is a problem only when he violates zoning laws and inconveniences his neighbors. What if the Muslim next door to you sounds the call to prayer five times daily and has prayers at his house in a residential neighborhood with residential zoning?


8 posted on 07/08/2012 9:17:09 AM PDT by JimSEA
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To: All

The gov’t and the neighbors should have gone in and burned the whole place down with everybody in it just like Waco.


9 posted on 07/08/2012 9:19:58 AM PDT by AlmaKing
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To: ChildOfThe60s
But.....whatever this man does is not automatically a blanket statement on "Christians".

I agree 100%

Although this sort of thing is usually presented that way.

I also agree 100%. That being said, there will be a certain amount of Christians who will stick up for him no matter what, even if he is wrong. That is just as sad.

10 posted on 07/08/2012 9:24:50 AM PDT by trailhkr1 (That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence - Christopher Hitchen)
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To: SaraJohnson
In truth, we don’t know what happened and who he is.

You might try going to the article and reading all of it.


11 posted on 07/08/2012 9:27:43 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
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To: trailhkr1

Guy’s a punk.


12 posted on 07/08/2012 9:27:51 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live thnrough it anyway)
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To: trailhkr1

Good Sunday morning.

Yes, there are those magic christians who, in order to fulfill the need to be persecuted in order to be validated, go out of their way to be obnoxious and make spectacles of themselves.

There are warped nuts in every cause.


13 posted on 07/08/2012 9:28:48 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (You've been screwed by your government.)
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To: SaraJohnson

I have had to stand my ground many times in giving out gospel tracts in public, but this sounds too much like Ken Hovind’s unreasonable insistence that he was exempt from building codes, etc.

And maybe it will help to repeat what i said in the original thread on this,

From what I read the man want to have public meetings three times a week in a 2,000 square foot building, which has a pulpit and chairs for as many as 40 people, which he built after obtaining a a permit to convert a garage into a game room.

The city of Phoenix forbids any other occupancy or use, which can be sticky (what if they played Bible games), but the man apparently could have a church there if he complied with the normal requirements for such.

The question is whether the state has a legit interest is not only insuring homes are safely built, but that meeting houses of a certain size can require more safety features.

And at what size or frequency does having regular meetings for any purpose at your house require these extra requirements.

These are legit questions as i see them, and both sides need to be reasonable, with tolerance but not compromise, which can be a grey area.


14 posted on 07/08/2012 9:35:58 AM PDT by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a damned+morally destitute sinner,+trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)
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To: trailhkr1
A real winner here who makes Christians look like loons.

Your touting group identity and collective guilt on a forum dedicated to individual and religious freedom makes newbies look like loons, lol.

15 posted on 07/08/2012 9:36:36 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: RegulatorCountry

I admit I could have worded it better..


16 posted on 07/08/2012 9:38:42 AM PDT by trailhkr1 (That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence - Christopher Hitchen)
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To: Vendome

Yup. Everything he’s done since his “ordination” would indicate a convicted felon and practicing con man cloaked in the mantel of religion. Why not? Worked for Jim Jones.


17 posted on 07/08/2012 9:51:59 AM PDT by PowderMonkey (WILL WORK FOR AMMO)
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To: JimSEA

What if the Muslim next door to you sounds the call to prayer five times daily and has prayers at his house in a residential neighborhood with residential zoning?


So we should not permit Christians the religious freedom of having Bible studies because Muslims might have Koran studies....

We should not permit Americans to have the second amendment because Muslims and Black might get guns an murder people.

This case was over a man having Bible studies in his house - a legal activity under the first amendment. After massive harassment by his witchey neighbors, he was raided by the State and told it was unsafe to have people in his living room. So he moved it outside. Then they banned him from having it outside because he built an overhang to protect his friends from the weather. They were harassing the nig-er, er, I mean Christian.


18 posted on 07/08/2012 9:57:37 AM PDT by SaraJohnson
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To: SaraJohnson
I don't believe a word of that.
A jackass is a jackass.
When "christians start" behaving like muslims, and making up their own rules, they deserve every grief possible.
19 posted on 07/08/2012 9:59:19 AM PDT by publius911 (Formerly Publius 6961, formerly jennsdad)
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To: SaraJohnson
Folks who do the "home church' thing probably ought to prepare ahead of time for the crowd ~ and select locations where their neighbors won't be particularly disturbed.

Moving into an existing residentially zoned community and starting up a church ~ that attracts strangers, not all of whom can be assumed to be honest ~ may well create the appearance of endangering the neighbors.

They have a right of self-defense. God gave it to them.

20 posted on 07/08/2012 10:00:26 AM PDT by muawiyah
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