When Lisa Jensen put up a wreath in the shape of the peace sign, she may not have anticipated the upset it would cause the president of her homeowners association in Pagosa Springs. Colo. But Bob Kearns hates the thing and wants it to come down.
Kearns fired a five-member neighborhood panel that refused to back him in the dispute, and Jensen now faces a $25-a-day fine until she removes the offending symbol. Jensen isn't backing down, according to the Associated Press.
Kearns is quoted saying that "The peace sign has a lot of negativity associated with it. It's also an anti-Christ sign. That's how it started."
Ah, right. Satan loves peace; Jesus Christ hates it.
What's next in Pagosa Springs -- book burning?
Is this an example of the "freedom" that some would claim our troops are fighting for?
Lisa should have known that putting things outside of her home is subject to the homeowners association rules.
It must have been in her contract.
Some associations go as far as stating that front lawn needs to be cross cut.
According to the article, the rules prohibit "signs, billboards or advertising." This was a Christmas wreath with no words. Whether it was shaped like a peace sign or not, it doesn't violate a plain reading of that rule.
All neighborhood and homeowners rules are subject to Constitutional limits. Our deed had an old requirement barring certain races from our property over half a century ago. Thanks goodness the courts ruled that homeowners didn't have the right to total freedom.
I think there is a serious First Amendment problem here: does one have the right to contend something political? Yet, the homeowners do have rights, too. Again displays demeaning the neighborhood. So a serious legal problem, but not clearcut for anyone. And mostly, why raise a hassle? And do the rules prohibit Christmas wreaths of the same size? if so, things tilt for the resident.
"negativaty associated with it"?really?not on my planet.
When I was growing up, I was taught (rightly or wrongly) that Americans were a peace-loving people who only went to war out of necessity. Has it now come to the point where even a general fondness for peace is construed as being a "negative" political message, or somehow un-American? What sort of nation are we becoming?