« Twin Rivers Redux | Main | 'Fox and Friends' Omits Key Facts in Phony Flag Flap »
February 5, 2007
Religion and Community Associations
In Florida this past week, a high-rise condominium association directed a resident to remove a mezuzah from their exterior door frame. The resident immediately shouted "discrimination" citing the earlier presence of Christmas wreaths on many doors throughout the building. There's a lot of issues built in to this one - the resident is a renter, not the owner; Christmas wreaths are temporary, seasonal and removable - mezuzah's are supposed to be permanent; it was placed on a common area, not a limited or owner-controlled area; no request for the alteration was ever submitted. For your information, mezuzah refers to one of the 613 commandments in Judaism, which requires that a small parchment (klaf) inscribed with two sections from the Torah's Book of Deuteronomy (6:4-9 and 11:13-21) be affixed to each doorpost and gate in a Jewish home and business (from Wikipedia).
This is very similar to a situation in Illinois a few years ago, that resulted in legislation forbidding condo or HOA associations from prohibiting this display. It is likely that you'll see the same thing in Florida soon. In addition, a number of other states have had incidents involving religious displays that were contrary to association rules or guidelines. Most associations have worked out the seasonal display issues, most notably Christmas displays, although the size, duration and lighting of these still create periodic news stories. But these are never going to go away. Why, because the communal part of community association relies to some degree on conformity and uniformity, as well as civil obedience, and where religion is concerned, one may not always assume a resident agrees that the rulings in some document have a priority to their religion.
Eventually, the states will adopt legislation allowing religious displays, but also allowing the association some degree of control when they involve common or limited common areas, and some control over size and duration, similar to the "Right to Fly the American Flag" Act. So why not put that into the CC&R's now, and avoid the rush. You can't possibly address every religion and its specific requirements, but you could allow for small items to be attached to door frames that would be removed when the resident moves and restored to original form (condo); for exterior displays to be allowed for a 30 day period with lighting that goes off at 10:00pm; etc. This is a good area to include in any survey that you might be considering regarding the interaction of the owners and the association.
Religion, like the flag, is a "no-win" argument. Even if the board has to enforce the rules, and does so with an even and fair hand, they're still going to come off looking like they're discriminating against someone or their religion. They US is becoing more diverse in the religious beliefs of its citizens, and the association should reflect these changes.
Posted by joewest at February 5, 2007 11:16 AM