Absurd Thing U.S. City Is Doing To Churches Is Compared To Soviet KGB

Sunday, March 8, 2015

For a country founded on religious liberty, the absurd things being done to Christian churches across the United States, leaves one to wonder what happened to the principles on which our nation is based. A recent move in Lake Worth, Florida is a perfect example of the failure to stand true to these values, and it’s caused a frighteningly accurate comparison to the Soviet KGB.

Reportedly, pastors and parishioners across Lake Worth are ready to stand up and fight an unconstitutional decision by the city. In a bold move, obviously against religious liberty, the city has begun forcing churches to secure permits or risk hefty fines and the possibility of being forced to close.
Several churches in the South Florida region have reported to Fox News that they’ve already come under attack from the decision, confirming that they’ve been ordered to obtain business permits or face fines and closures.

A worship service at Common Ground Church in Lake Worth, Florida (Courtesy Common Ground Church via Fox News)

In a Soviet-style code enforcement, city officials sent a code enforcement officer to at least one church, which met at a coffee-house, to gather information about the gathering by spying on the church. A portion of the officer’s report was released by Fox News and detailed what the officer witnessed.

“I walked back to the Coffee Bar and was able to visualize, in my opinion what appeared to be a ministry in progress … [and] people holding what appeared to be Bibles or religious books as one had a cross on it [and] what appeared to be a ministry in progress. I was approached by an unknown man with a cross around his neck.”

Reports confirm that local authorities returned to the church the following week and informed Pastor Mike Olive that his congregation would have to leave the premises within a week because of the absence of a permit. Olive thinks there is an ulterior motive, as he believes his church was specifically targeted by local legislator Andy Amoroso, who reportedly spread allegations that Olive’s sermons express an anti-homosexual bias.
According to Western Journalism, legal advocates working with Liberty Counsel have spoken out against the ordinance and its implementation, claiming churches should not be held to the same standards as for-profit businesses.

“Government employees are public servants and prohibited from inhibiting religious freedom,” explained the law firm’s founder, Mat Staver. “That is a far cry from sneaking around and into a church and acting like KGB agents.”

As Staver concluded, the issuance of such threats constitutes a violation of the First Amendment as well as other state and federal laws protecting religious liberty.

“Churches are not businesses,” he concluded, “and need not obtain such licenses.”

Our Constitution guarantees us certain freedoms, and I’m certainly tired of lawmakers feeling we should have to have a permit to exercise those rights, which have already been established. As they pluck away at the First and Second Amendments by demanding permits, it won’t be long until we find ourselves living in Communist America. If you aren’t willing to sit back and watch that happen, share this article and tell those in charge, “We have a permit, and it’s called the Constitution!”

[ most "churches' in the US have been convinced to become Corporations through the  501(c)3, putting them "one" with the state, as well as under the state's authority . . . so then I ask, is it now a Church that happens to be a corporation, or is it a Corporation that happens to be a church?  I would say that the church discussed above, if they are meeting at a coffee shop, has not submitted to the 501(c)3, but who knows? ]