Bible study
leader Michael Salman is sitting in jail today after his home was raided
earlier this week by more than a dozen Phoenix ,
Ariz. police officers and city
officials. His offense? The city says people aren't allowed to hold private
Bible studies on their own property.
Salman was
sentenced to 60 days in jail, three years probation and received a $12,180 fine
for "the crime."
His wife
Suzanne spoke with Fox and Friends to express her shock and
disbelief at the entire situation. According to Suzanne, the city told her that
her husband was essentially arrested because the Bible study was at a private
house .. and that essentially, it's a church. Since they weren't zoned for
church, they were told they were breaking the rules.
"It
defies logic, honestly. I don't understand ... that something so small got so
large like this," Suzanne said. "People do it all over the United States
all the time."
John
Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute believes the family is being
discriminated against because of their faith. "The key is -- the
Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of religion ... the right to
assemble and talk to each other wherever you want to be - in public or in your
home," he said. "The thing that I think is so shocking is that you
might expect this in Iran or
[some place] around the world ... but happening in the United States ,
this is so shocking it's beyond belief."
Phoenix
City Prosecutor Vicki Hill said in a statement: "It came down to zoning
and proper permitting. Anytime you are holding a gathering of people
continuously as he does, we have concerns about people being able to exit the
facility properly in case there is a fire, and that's really all this comes
down to."
What do you
make of this case? As Suzanne says in the below interview, is this different
than a regularly meeting Tupperware group or the like? And if so, how and why?
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