Freedom is never free. And neither is accepting a government hand out.
The High Point Enterprise has a scoop illustrating that truism.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has swooped down and told grandma that she can?t participate in religious services in the commons areas of her apartment building.
The reason? The retirement community in question, Elm Towers in High Point, receives HUD funds. And HUD bans residents from publicly participating in ?inherently religious activities? in facilities that it subsidizes.
From the Enterprise story:
Elm Towers residents had been gathering for years on Sunday mornings and sometimes Wednesday evenings for Christian worship services led by a local minister in a common room on the first floor of the high-rise apartment building on S. Elm Street, according to tenants.
The housing authority learned of the services after other Elm Towers residents complained last month. The agency then put a stop to the services.
“To me, it’s stepping on our constitutional rights. You’re supposed to be able to worship like you want,” said Howard Embler, an Elm Towers resident who sometimes attended the services. “We’ve got a lot of elderly people here who can’t get out on their own to church.”
…
“We’re not telling residents they cannot have religious activities in their homes, but they cannot hold things in common areas. We understand they would like to do this, but we have to go by regulations,” said Rachael Matthews, a spokeswoman for the authority. “We’re not saying churches can’t come and pick them up and take them to worship or religious services. We don’t want to restrict them.”
You don?t want to restrict them? Well, skippy, sounds like you just did.
It boggles the mind that residents can?t meet in a public area to discuss the Bible or pray together without eliciting HUD?s wrath. Just goes to show that federal money or ?freebies? never come without strings attached. A good lesson to remember in the health care debate, too.
