Editorial: the Federal Government and the Construction of Religious Centers

May 5, 2003

Source: Oregon Live

http://www.oregonlive.com/public_commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1052049473241131.xml

On May 5, 2003 Oregon Live printed an editorial by Patrick Korten stating that "sadly, local governments throughout the United States have gotten into the habit of using just about any excuse to prevent the construction, remodeling or expansion of churches, synagogues and other religious buildings... Sometimes the excuses are just silly, as when the Town of Bedford, New York, turned down a zoning permit request from a tiny Buddhist temple on grounds that the silent meditation of the dozen or so members of Pine Hill Zendo might be too 'noisy...' Sometimes the excuses involve crass financial interest, as when the city of Cypress, California tried to use eminent domain to take the property of the Cottonwood Christian Center so that it could turn around and resell it to Costco."