Apparently, it is now illegal to advertise for a Christian roommate.
Our country has seriously gone off the deep end. Is this for real? Are government officials really doing this?Â
I have never, to this point, called the extreme leftist ‘progressives’ names or made accusations, no matter how many times they have ridiculed us. And I don’t think I am now…because I mean what I am about to say in all seriousness. I have begun to believe that extreme liberalism is a dangerous mental illness. It’s the only explanation I can think of for this insane behavior.
A civil rights complaint has been filed against a 31-year-old Michigan woman who posted an advertisement on a bulletin board in her church seeking a Christian roommate. Someone had seen the ad – in the church – with the words “Christian roommate wanted” (horrors) and contacted the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan, a private group.
The case had been turned over to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. According to the ‘Fair Housing’ Center, the ad “expresses an illegal preference for a Christian roommate, thus excluding people of other faiths.â€
Excuse me? Well of course it expressed a preference that excluded people! That’s what everyone does when they have the opportunity to choose a roommate: they look for someone that they can be compatible with and exclude the others! And what of it? This is the woman’s personal living space – why is it suddenly illegal to choose who you want to live with?? Isn’t this America, land of the free?
I don’t know what doctrine the woman in question lives by, but if she is expressing a Christian preference, I can take at least a semi-accurate guess. Is she seriously expected to share her personal, smoke-free, daily devotion-sharing, praise-song-playing, clean-video-only, pray-over-food, alcohol-free, immoral-sex-free, foul-language-free living space with an atheist, wiccan or even someone who simply likes to party? Are you kidding me?
And doesn’t the mention of Christianity in the home give any non-Christian fair warning that it might not be a living environment they themselves want to put up with? Not to mention that this “complainer†found it on a Christian bulletin board, in a Christian church, where one goes when seeking like-minded Christian people.
Who was this “anonymous†complaint filer, anyway? Probably not a visitor in there for the sole purpose of humble worship. Was it an invited guest who decided to stab his/her host in the back by filing a complaint? A liberal activist who deliberately went into the church looking for something to find fault with? (and could find nothing more than an innocuous note on a bulletin board?)
Or was it a member of Hayne’s staff? Who in their right mind would complain about such a silly thing?
Personally, I have lived with non-Christians before – and I’d ‘prefer’ not to do it again. If I ever have to get a roommate – I will openly express my preference for praying and worshiping with those I live with. That should scare away anyone uncomfortable with my preferences – hopefully including all mentally-ill liberal activists.
But FHCWM Executive Director Nancy Haynes told Todd Starnes of Fox News that “It’s a violation to make, print or publish a discriminatory statement. There are no exemptions to that.”
Haynes also said this woman could face several hundreds of dollars in fines and “fair housing training so it doesn’t happen again.â€
Again – are you kidding me? What is this training – a quasi-reeducation camp? Or simply a lesson in not putting into print anything that a mentally ill liberal bureaucrat could find offensive?
Harold Core, director of public affairs with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, appears to agree with this crazy Executive Director. While noting there are exemptions in law for gender (but not sexual preference?) when there is a shared living space, he told the Grand Rapids Press that the Fair Housing Act forbids people from publishing ads stating a preference of religion, race or handicap with respect to sale or rental of a dwelling.
Wow. How long ago was that law written? It’s not really difficult to figure out that the authors of the legislation were referring to the sale or rent of an unoccupied dwelling – NOT the personal living space of an individual looking for a roommate. No one in their right mind would have thought that would be a problem.
But interestingly, we now find out that although (according to the mentally ill) conservatives have no right to legislate what happens between two people in the privacy of their own bedroom or in the privacy of their own womb, liberals can dictate who conservative Christians live with.
It’s not the first time that self-righteous bureaucrats have twisted the words of well-meaning legislators to fit their own agendas.
And it’s not the only venue in which liberals are currently trying to force compliant living arrangements on people of incompatible life styles. They are currently doing it to our soldiers, as well.
Fortunately, the Alliance Defense Fund is representing this woman free of charge. Describing the case as “outrageous,” her attorney said, Having already sent a letter to the state asking the authorities to dismiss the case as groundless, he went on to say, There go those nasty Christians again, trying to drag that old Constitution thingee into it!
“Christians shouldn’t live in fear of being punished by the government for being Christians. It is completely absurd to try to penalize a single Christian woman for privately seeking a Christian roommate at church — an obviously legal and constitutionally protected activity.”
“The First Amendment guarantees us Freedom of Religion and we have the right to live with someone of the same faith. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights is denying her rights by pursuing this complaint.”
Haynes, on the other hand, compassionately asks,
“If you read it and you were not Christian, would you not feel welcome to rent there?”
Seriously?  Is this Haynes woman any relation to Nancy Pelosi?  She sure sounds just as light-headed.
Of course, Ms. Haynes, I would not feel welcome to rent there…and so what? The better question is this: If I were to read an ad that preferred a Muslim roommate, would I not feel welcome to rent there?
Umm…Duh! Of course I would understand I wasn’t welcome to apply. Again, so what?
Knowing it was a Muslim home is good information. My home needs to be a place where I can relax, and preferring to play my worship music at blasting volume, I wouldn’t be able to relax in a Muslim household.
So why should it bother me – or anyone, for that matter – if people describe the nature of their home and look for roommates with similar living habits? If I saw an ad for Muslim roommates only, I’d be grateful that they were up front and saved me the time and effort that would have been spent vetting the possibility. It’s “ok†to be different. It’s called diversity, and we’re all supposed to embrace it.
Yet, Haynes states, had the ad not included the word “Christian,” it would not have been illegal.
Right. So it’s all about “expressing†our preferences? Isn’t that why Juan Williams was fired? Never mind that all he did was say what the majority of Americans feel – (at least momentarily) – when they see a Muslim on their flight. (And hey – believe it or not, the first tell-tale sign that someone might be a Muslim is their clothing)
How many people don’t think of 911 for even a fleeting second when a man with a turban or woman with a burqa boards the plane with them? And how many Muslims have a passing thought about 911 while preparing for a morning flight? Get real! All Juan did was speak out in words what most people themselves are thinking. Most sane people, at any rate.
Speaking of which – Dearborn is in Michigan, isn’t it? Is the Michigan Department of Civil Rights prepared to press charges on Muslims that prefer to live with Muslims? Can anyone seriously expect that an extended Muslim family would be happy about an adult daughter rooming with a Christian woman? Heaven knows – a Bible might get accidently forgotten on the coffee table, or a Christian radio station might be heard through the bedroom door.
This is further evidence that liberalism is a mental illness – for I am fairly certain that Michigan would never take a Muslim to court for a similar transgression, whether or not they wrote their preference on a note.
Haynes said officials plan on pursuing the matter because “We want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
But I firmly believe these particular bureaucrats have only one group they plan to monitor and persecute – I mean prosecute – on this issue.
The real intent here is intimidation, and, in essence, religious persecution – albeit persecution ‘lite.’ The point is they’ve found a token victim to harass, and in doing so, they are able to goad the entire Church while pursuing case law that will support their twisted interpretation of statute.
Make me puke.
13 users commented in " Illegal to advertise for a Christian roommate? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThis has got to be a hoax. It’s too over-the-top to be real. It would be an insane violation of her rights. It sure makes the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan look like a bunch of authoritarian, politically-correct, leftist, Orwellian, anti-Christian loons. This is America, and we don’t go into people’s homes and churches to tell them who they must or mustn’t associate with.
With what’s happened to the reputation of Vivian Schiller and NPR in the last few days because of hyper-PC, It’s going to be interesting to see what happens here.
I think that saying she can’t ask for a christian room mate is like saying that if you ask for a specific gendered room mate would be gender discrimination, it is just insane and unfair.
Civil Rights laws makes it unlawful to discriminate in housing on race and creed alike; the Fair Housing Act dates back to 1968. In the eyes of civil rights law, discrimination by religion is treated as being just as wrong as discrimination by race. So, it’s just as unlawful as if she had put “NO BLACKS” instead.
The exact law in question would appear (to my non-lawyer eyes) to be federal 42 USC 3604(c), making it unlawful “To make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.”
Also, it’s not just stating the preference that can be a problem; it just means you’ve provided undeniable prima facie evidence of the discrimination. It’s possible to show a pattern of discrimination by other means and violation of parts (a) and (b), although this is unlikely under most circumstances.
As for the claim “Michigan would never take a Muslim to court for a similar transgression”, firstly, the main reason a Muslim would be much less likely to be taken to court over such an issue is that they are only about 1% of the US population (source: GSS, post-2000 years); therefore, even if Muslims were individually ten times as bigoted as the 80% of the US that are Christians (ibid), about eight out of nine incidents would still involve the comparatively rarer Christian bigots.
And secondly… it’s not just Michigan. There may be additional Michigan civil rights law, but the governing statute is Federal, not State. While enforcement is usually delegated, if any prospective complainer wants and Michigan does not take up the matter, they literally could make a Federal Case out of this.
The above posting does not make the content of the article any less ludicrous. Whats next , checking the personal ads for someone looking for a Christian non smoking companion and turning them in too? In my opinion if this was just a note in a church intended for people in said church it should not fall under such laws unlike if it had been in the newspaper ads.
OBVIOUSLY commenter “abb3w” is a Muslim, and will try to defend his “belief”
BUT the FACT remains, that she did not “post” this to the “PUBLIC” , but to her own “family” of believers; i.e. (if you know what that means; an elite post…..the posting was not in a local newspaper AD……
YOUR “OPINION” doesn’t work here, my “FRIEND”
It doesn’t make me feel welcome to go to work if I get fired either but the employer has every right to terminate my employment. Laws are now based on feelings? Where are we going?…I want to get off!
I just did a google search on “Muslim roommate wanted.” There are hundreds or even thousands of such advertisements. Why aren’t they going after them too……Oops, that’s not politically correct.
I urge every Christian to put up adds in their churches looking for “Christian” roommates. Lets see what the government will do with millions of adds like that.
By the way, look at other adds on the internet: “Looking for male roommate,” “Looking for non smoker roommate,” and for:
-non-drinker, single person, couple, no kids, elderly, young person.
How about woman seeking woman, man seeking man, seeking gay person, etc,
How about looking for “student, or working person, or retired person, or single mom?”
What a ridiculous case. And why are tax payers going to be billed for this crazy case? The person bringing this case forward should be held liable for all cost (including the defendant) of this case.
I think the law excludes when the owner lives within the premises being rented out.
From this website: http://www.justice.gov/crt/housing/title8.php
it states that certain times are exempt from the law:
(b)Nothing in section 804 of this title (other than subsection (c)) shall apply to–
(2)rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one of such living quarters as his residence.
Just argue that living with another Christian is a health issue. They can’t prevent you from asking for a roommate without cats if you are allergic to them, can they? How can they argue against trying to prevent damage to your immortal soul? What’s next: monks and nuns have to allow anyone to live in their monasteries and convents?
I an SO glad this happened before election day !
It is these wake-up calls that will turn the country away from the dark side and back to prosperity and individual freedom !
If someone has a home or apartment and is looking for a roommate (as long as it’s THEIR home and/or that’s allowed by management) they should be able to have a preference for a roomie.
AND should let potential roomies know about their preference so the poor soul doesn’t end up rooming with someone who’s going to judge them all the time (and perhaps be unpleasant about it).
What I have a problem with, Lisa (author of this article) is that you seem to imply that no Christian, no member of this church could possibly be the person who turned her in and contacted the Fair Housing Bureau.
I believe everyone has the right to worship as they want but I have to put the brakes on (or the ear plugs in) when I’m faced with holier than thou (especially) church-goers. You know perfectly well that many many so-called “Christian churches” are more like high schools – hotbeds of rumor, gossip, filled with cliques and clubs, rivalries, jealousies (a bit of old Peyton Place thrown in sometimes) and can be full of bossy, hurtful, power-hungry bullies.
So if you want to get real, let’s start there.
More than likely it was someone from that church who had a beef with the woman looking for a roomie or maybe just a nasty streak.
And that’s got nothing to do with what I regard as Christianity at all. imo
chatstu, I’d agree that it’s ridiculous; however, it’s also what the law says. If you don’t like it, contact your congresscritter and suggest it should be changed. Of course, you might also care to consider that the demographics in this country are shifting; change the law allow Christians to discriminate on religion, and the same law will allow others to discriminate against Christians.
“One of Christ’s own” is mistaken (and probably not serious); I’m not Muslim, but Catholic – which, of course, is even worse in the eyes of many Protestants.
Remi, feel free to file complaints against the Muslims. The law applies to them as well.
tradewithme15022, in the section you quoted you missed the import of “other than subsection (c)” – that’s the one on advertising.
@abb3w: no matter how you define “discrimination”, state has no right to tell you who you shall or shall not accomondate in your private property. Because you know what? That is communism. Absolute contempt of private property.
50 years ago, when commies ruled my country, they came to a house and said to it’s owner – “OK, your house is big enough, you don’t need it whole, we’re gonna accomondate another family there. Move to the basement.”
Now, the state comes and says “OK, you don’t need to select your roommate, we’ll select him/her for you”. And I ask, WHERE THE HELL IS THE DIFFERENCE? In principle, the state denies you the right to operate your property. It’s tragic-comicall: fighting communism for 40 years just to became communist country of it’s own.
And as for the “discrimination” thingie – if some company advertised a job, intended “for satanists only” – would you take a legal action to force them to give you, a catholic, the job? Not if you’re sane. Sane person would think something like “wow, good to know; i certainly don’t wanna get stuck between such guys”. Mentally ill person would try to force them via law, just to make sure that it can force it’s will upon others.
Social ingeneering in practice. And neo-marxism, too – all that “PC” and “collective, historic guilt of the bad white man” stuff was “invented” by Frankfurt school neomarxist like Marcouse and so on. And you guys are seriously eating it.
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