Fair Housing and Live Camels...mutually exclusive concepts?

[jmowreader]

Before we go any farther, read:
http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_4e33bfcc-963b-5c71-bde6-7bc90255c95c.html#user-comment-area

Synopsis: one of Kootenai County's Best Christians is planning to hold a MASSIVE Christian-themed Christmas display in his front yard the five days before Christmas. Unfortunately for him, he lives in a neighborhood with a homeowner's association, and their CC&Rs prohibit him from setting up a display containing...

a couple hundred thousand lights (he did a Christmas display last year in a rental he got evicted from with around 125,000 lights, and this one's going to be bigger)
a choir singing Christmas carols
a human Santa Claus
a live camel (yes!)
a guy passing out free cotton candy
and on, and on, and on...oh, and one of our local militias intends to deploy armed guards to protect the display against Attacks on Christianity because, as we all know, Christmas isn't Christmas without combat patrols.

He bought the house he lives in now in the early months of 2015, and started getting into it with the HOA over this display. Finally, they sent him this letter:

http://media.spokesman.com/documents/2015/11/Letter_to_Morris_102615.pdf

Bottom line: If he doesn't get what he wants - and what he wants is to disturb the entire neighborhood; last year the people in his old neighborhood were not pleased about strangers clogging the roads and traipsing across their lawns to get to the Jesus Circus - he intends to file a federal civil rights suit on Fair Housing Act grounds because he claims their keeping him from Celebrating The Birth Of Jesus with a real camel is an attack on Christianity and an act of Housing Discrimination. (For what it's worth, Hayden is about 96 percent Christian and they trend Fundamentalist.)

So...question for our legal minds: Does being told you can't create a public nuisance even if it is about Jesus qualify as a Fair Housing Act violation? As far as I can tell FHA is almost exclusively oriented toward preventing discrimination in the home sale process.

[Warpy]

1. Somebody needs to mention a few things to him

like Jesus was most likely born in March and the church dictated a December festival to co opt all the pagan solstice festivals and most of the stuff he's doing comes from the purely pagan stuff and what the hell is a good Xtian doing with all those lights and a Santa Claus? And a camel? Those weren't used in the region, they used donkeys to get around on unless they were Romans with horses and chariots.

Screwball needs to spend the holiday in church praying for forgiveness for his hubris and pagan celebrations of years past. His 96% fundy Xtian neighbors would likely agree.

I don't think the FHA was ever meant to protect assholes.

[jmowreader]

3. If this year is like last, Jesus is going to spend his birthday alone again

Last year Christmas was on Thursday and all the area churches were closed that day. This year it's on Friday. They threw their big Jesus Birthday Party the Sunday before Christmas. I guess he could spend his holiday in the parking lot praying for forgiveness.

[Kalidurga]

2. His neighbors have some thinking to do

If they really believe god is or should be the center of their life and someone is going all out putting god at the center of their life what is their objection? I think he is wrong on just about every level mind you, but he is as fervent as many xians say they should be.

[jmowreader]

4. Is he really doing this for God?

My feeling is, he's not saying "I love God!" so much as he's saying "look at me!"

[Kalidurga]

5. I think that anyone who is overly pious or thumps the bible so loudly

is saying look at me. But, on the other hand I had heard over and over again god should be the center of everyone's life. So, if that is the case then this kind of display for god should be welcomed. Or they should have a bible study with him to show him the error of his ways. Trying to solve this with the law is heavy handed I think.

[1939]

6. Whose ox is being gored.

Normally DU automatically takes the side of anybody at odds with a homeowners association.

[PufPuf23]

7. "One of our local militias intends to deploy armed guards to protect the display against Attacks

on Christianity because, as we all know, Christmas isn't Christmas without combat patrols."

Sweet.

Isn't that special.

[LWolf]

8. My brain is all over the place with this.

First it jumps to "Candy Cane Lane," a neighborhood full of elaborate displays in the SF Valley in CA that I grew up in, with cars slowly touring the neighborhood, bumper to bumper, every night. It's a neighborhood and community effort.

I don't see anything wrong with that.

I do see, though, that there are legal issues with the HOA. Frankly, I wouldn't buy a house in a neighborhood with them, because I don't like being told what is "acceptable" to do with my own home, and what isn't. But that's me. I think the HOA will win this one, and if the guy wants his special display, he ought to have bought a place without the restrictions. Or bought into a community that was okay with it.

Another part of me would like the HOA to back down, and to see some equally large and bright pagan displays on either side of him.

Finally, while I've always loved light displays, I'm increasingly uncomfortable with them because of the power they consume. Maybe until the planet is operating on clean, sustainable energy supplies, conspicuous consumption of energy should not be happening at all.