You Can't Violate the Law in the Name of Jesus
"That's what we stand for and believe and what Christ has taught us to do," [Rev. Jack L. Wisor] said, invoking Matthew 25:31-46, a parable about helping those in need. ..."I personally think the work he does is wonderful," Mr. French said, "but we're not going to allow someone to violate the zoning laws because they do it in the name of Jesus Christ." ...
"I commend him for devoting his life to helping people, which is similar to what I do as an attorney, helping people," Mr. French said, "but I can't open a law practice in a residential district, and he can't have a residential facility in a commercial district. This is why we have zoning". ...
"I have said to Mr. Wisor, when he personally attacked me and told me I was going to go to hell for assisting the borough and making people homeless, that if he had done his homework he would have figured out the zoning district where this would be appropriate."
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Curiously, Jack Wisor seems to recognize that however strong his religious arguments may seem to religious believers in private, they will carry no weight whatsoever for the law because he isn't actually trying to use them in court. Instead, Wisor is trying to offer legitimate legal arguments and a legitimate legal defense:
For now, the borough has prevailed -- a district judge fined the Rev. Wisor $500 on Aug. 5 for violating the zoning code by allowing three homeless men to live in the parsonage of the 111-year-old church.
The Rev. Wisor has appealed to Jefferson County Common Pleas Court, contending the church should be allowed to provide shelter to "guests" in its parsonage because it is part of its ministry. A hearing is expected in November. "When we present the truth and all of the evidence is in order, we know that God is going to be victorious," said the Rev. Wisor, a minister for nine years who turns 45 today. "We should be permitted to have missionaries, guests or anyone to stay in the parsonage under our rights of religious belief.
"Our concern is, what gives them the right to come in and tell you who you can and cannot keep in your home?"
If the parsonage is a residence that can legally house a certain number of people, then he has at least a bit of a case. In such situations "guests" can't become permanent residents, so he has to be careful about how long they stay, but that shouldn't be too hard to deal with. Much less impressive is the claim that housing the homeless must be allowed because it is part of his "ministry" — that's too close to trying to argue that he should be able to do whatever he want simply because he's doing it in the name of Jesus Christ.
Imagine the consequence if we simply ignored the law and let people behave however they want if they claim they are acting in the name of Jesus — even if they are doing things which are generally accepted as good, generous, and positive. Should churches be allowed to open a homeless shelter, properly zoned, but without the structure meeting fire codes? Should churches be allowed to open soup kitchens that don't have to be inspected for health codes? Should churches be allowed to run free daycare centers for the working poor that don't have to meet legal standards that secular operations have to abide by?
Doing "good" isn't a justification for acting like you are above the law. If the laws in question really are legitimate, really serve an important purpose, and actually protect the public, then churches should have to abide by them in the same way that the rest of us have to. Part of "doing good" means being a good neighbor and this, in turn, means not pretending that you're so much better than everyone else that you don't have to follow the same standards, rules, laws, and regulations that you expect everyone else to follow.
Comments
People do tend to get really defensive when they’re trying to do a good thing, but didn’t know there was a regulation regarding what they’re doing. It’s usually as easy as simply coming back to the regulatory authority and saying, “Really sorry. Didn’t realize there was a regulation with regard to this. Here’s what I’m trying to do–how do I get approval, exemption, etc.?”
Nine times out of ten they’ll be very helpful–yes, even the government.
The reaction of “I’m not hurting anybody!” or “But I’m doing a good thing!” as a response to “Hey you need a permit for this activity” or other regulatory requirement–is just missing the point.
I was listening to a Christian radio show on Sunday in which the speaker’s weekly theme was about not being accountable to other humans because they didn’t create you. The idea being that only your (invisible and unverifiable) creator knows your purpose, so your only goal should be to make your creator happy. So, if every human is angry or offended by your actions, but your creator is happy, then you are ethically justified in your actions. (Yes, he said that.) As in this story, sometimes this only leads to zoning violations. But other times it leads to suicide bombings.
Eh… In this case, I support what the church is doing. In most other cases… not so much.