Religious liberty under assault in AZ

The Gilbert, AZ government is catching a world of grief over a recent ruling by the city’s zoning board that a group of Christians may not legally gather for church services in their private residences.  Interpreting a section of the zoning code which states that “religious-assembly uses are not permitted in single-family residential structures,” officials issued a cease-and-desist order to a group of seven individuals who had started a home church called Oasis of Truth.

The Mayor and City Council have been in damage-control mode since this story broke, and the zoning board is not currently enforcing their order against the group, so it looks as if justice will prevail and Oasis of Truth Church will be allowed to conduct its activities unmolested by the city.  However, the happy outcome for this particular situation does not negate the serious implications of the fact that this situation arose in the first place.

Why on earth would zoning officials feel compelled to ban private citizens from gathering in their homes for religious purposes when we are free to gather for any number of other associative activities?  According to the story there was apparently a concern about cars parked on the street, but again, this does not pose an issue for other private gatherings so long as no parking laws are being violated.  On any given evening in Gilbert, it’s a certainty that seven or more individuals gather in private homes for any number of reasons.  They could be gathering to watch a sporting event, or Desperate Housewives, or Lost. . . a group of ladies might get together to buy and sell jewelry or Tupperware or lingerie, or a group of men for a game of poker and a good cigar.  None of these private residential “uses” offends the sensibilities of the zoning officials in Gilbert.  So long as parking rules are followed and there are no complaints from neighbors, everything is kosher in their eyes.  Interesting how their perspective changes when it’s a group coming together to worship God’s son and read His Word.

There is no rationale under the sun that could justify such a shameful misapplication of the law.  The question remains why a random group of public officials would harbor such animus towards religion.  You’d think there would be one sane board member among the group that would speak up for reason in this situation.