Christian Jailed for Hosting Home Bible Study

[Reynolds357]

You're pressing a point that goes nowhere. God commanded a safe dwelling and Jesus obeyed His own Law given through Moses perfecty. End of narrative.

You brought up safety in housing issues. Cutting, or in this case digging and breaking a hole in a roof and lowering a paralytic through the hole is not safe. You know that using a phrase such as "end of narrative," in a debate is conceding that you are defending a failing premise and you desire to move on before it crumbles under your feet?

[keck553]

You brought up safety in housing issues. Cutting, or in this case digging and breaking a hole in a roof and lowering a paralytic through the hole is not safe. You know that using a phrase such as "end of narrative," in a debate is conceding that you are defending a failing premise and you desire to move on before it crumbles under your feet?

Fine. You win. Now what? Should I not be comcerned about the safetymof my brethren?

[Robert_J_Garrison]

I dont see how having lighted exit signs and a handicap ramp would make things safer. People know where the exits are and dont need for a lighted sign but thats just imo

[keck553]

I dont see how having lighted exit signs and a handicap ramp would make things safer. People know where the exits are and dont need for a lighted sign but thats just imo

I think there is more to it than those two elements.

[chisel]

Devoting an entire thread to this issue seems to be a ridiculous waste. Clearly this is not a case of persecution and this guy is clearly no martyr.
Christians ought not to be like the homosexuals and atheists who cry "persecution" whenever things don't go their way.

[whitetiger]

I seen the story and all the threads. What this guy had was not a Bible Study but a small Church, I don't know of any home Bible study that looks like a Church with pews and a place to preach. This man violated the law and tried using Christianity as justification to do it

[Reynolds357]

Devoting an entire thread to this issue seems to be a ridiculous waste. Clearly this is not a case of persecution and this guy is clearly no martyr.
Christians ought not to be like the homosexuals and atheists who cry "persecution" whenever things don't go their way.

If we give an inch, we will lose ten miles. Tyrany must be cut off before it ever gains a foothold.

[doug3]

Originally Posted by chisel:
Devoting an entire thread to this issue seems to be a ridiculous waste. Clearly this is not a case of persecution and this guy is clearly no martyr.
Christians ought not to be like the homosexuals and atheists who cry "persecution" whenever things don't go their way.

If we give an inch, we will lose ten miles. Tyrany must be cut off before it ever gains a foothold.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the original case, I now realise the actions of the City of Phoenix are something to be concerned about. Please see http://bibleforums.org/forumdisplay....id=&order=desc

[awestruckchild]

Thanks for that Doug. I missed it in the news - probably because finals week was upon me.
This was my earlier point. That it wasn't going to just stop at that. The only way it would stop is if he would quit holding his bible studies and from the videos I watched of him, this man is NOT going to stop. And truthfully, it would only cause it to stop for him, it would go on with others, as this later story has shown. When a bully is able to shake down one kid for their lunch money, they become bolder and start to bully the other kids too.

Let me ask you a question please? How long have you been following persecutions in the news as you do? And if it has been for some time, do you see the numbers as being consistent, or do you see it increasing over that time?

Thank you for your threads, Doug.

[doug3]

Thanks for that Doug. I missed it in the news - probably because finals week was upon me.
This was my earlier point. That it wasn't going to just stop at that. The only way it would stop is if he would quit holding his bible studies and from the videos I watched of him, this man is NOT going to stop. And truthfully, it would only cause it to stop for him, it would go on with others, as this later story has shown. When a bully is able to shake down one kid for their lunch money, they become bolder and start to bully the other kids too.

Let me ask you a question please? How long have you been following persecutions in the news as you do? And if it has been for some time, do you see the numbers as being consistent, or do you see it increasing over that time?

Thank you for your threads, Doug.

Thank you for the question.

I only started regularly following the persecution of the church about 2 years ago, but during that time I have seen the persecution of Christians increase worldwide - though this is probably in part a reflection of my increasing awareness of the scale of the problem.

I am however becoming more and more concerned about the increasing marginalization of Christians in the West, especially over the last year or so, in the UK and in the US, and therefore keep any eye on what is reported. I do not want to be a scaremonger, but I think it is going to be increasingly tougher to live as a Christian in western societies.

I would like to believe that it will not get as bad as it is in the Middle-East, parts of Africa, and in Asia and the Far-East, but having heard of the recent shooting incident in Washington D.C at the Family Research Centre (http://global.christianpost.com/news...-center-80113/), I realise it is only a matter of time before some individual or group with a grudge do something more serious. Thankfully the shot guard is expected to make a full recovery.

In UK, there have not been armed attacks yet (that I know of), but again I think it is only a matter of time .

[Zaida]

No way is this persecution.

This man has arrogantly broken laws regarding building codes.

Oskarkipling, Fenris and others have stated all that needs saying.

If anyone wants to read about, and pray for, the real persecuted church we have a forum expressly for that. There you will find find posts indicating that real persecution of Christians is indeed increasing in the USA, and in other western nations such as UK. As well as read about the daily oppression - and almost weekly slaughter now - of our brother and sisters throughout the world.


Further Information

I think this article might give us a few clues to his motivation: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-...n-t-buying-it/

The real problem is that Salman is intent on building a church in his own backyard — and not just any church, but a 4,200-square-foot building that will sit only a few feet from his neighbor's property line.

4200 square feet is not a home bible study group. It's a small to medium sized church. And while this guy probably thinks it's okay to just throw up any old kind of building without regard to laws regarding zoning, parking, building codes, fire codes, and sanitation - he's wrong.

And there are a whole lot of people who don't want to sacrifice their property values to allow their neighbor the right to worship as he pleases — especially when his idea of worship involves amplifiers, several services each week, and carload after carload of congregants.

If I was a neighbor of this guy I would have the cops on speed dial.