I was on the phone with my dad today and he told me that there is a group of Evangelical Christians in their community who want to hold church services in the community clubhouse.

A little background: my parents semi-retired to Chandler, a southern suburb of Phoenix, about two years ago. After 60 or so years of harsh New Jersey winters and working themselves ragged, they've earned some time off in a warmer clime. They moved into one of those cookie-cutter "older adult" communities that I loathe for their lack of character and iron gates. But my parents are happy there and have made many new friends, so I try my damndest to keep my fat mouth shut.

Anyway, my dad was telling me that at first the church group was trying to stick it in under the radar, but all hell broke loose (no pun intended) once word got out. Their community, like most retirement communities in the valley, has a healthy mix of Christians and Jews. The Jews naturally raised a stink. It's a community center, for every member of the community. Hanging a big ole crucifix on the wall would make it very uncomfortable for a sizeable segment of the community.

What surprised my dad was the fact that quite a few gentiles are also opposed to the idea of having a church inside those hallowed gates. Mostly Catholics, as my dad kept pointing out, were objecting to having any kind of organized religious congregation within the community. The Catholics and the Jews seem to be in agreement that the organized religion is just peachy in a church outside the community, but it doesn't belong in a multi-purpose clubhouse. There was also justifiable concern about the impact that would have on property values.

My dad thinks that they've averted disaster for now. At one point he said to me, "I mean whatever happened to the separation of church and state?" I patiently explained to him that his retirement community is not a state or state agency and that this is not a Constitutional issue. It's more of a small-c constitutional issue and what the community can stomach.

As with anything else when it comes to Evangelicals, it's a matter of respect and their utter lack of ability to show any to people who don't believe as they do. Even when they profess respect of differences, it's in such a condescending, passive-aggressive way that I'd rather they just keep their haughty judgements to themselves.

I should note that there are plenty of affinity groups in this community, including some bible study groups, that meet privately in people's homes. Neither my parents, nor I, nor their Jewish and Catholic neighbors have any problem with this whatsoever. What you do in the privacy of your own home is your own business, provided of course that you're not hurting anyone else. It's just when you bring aggressive religiosity into the public sphere, especially a public sphere that is intended to be safe and shared by people of diverse beliefs, that this becomes a problem.

So kudos, mom and dad, for leading the charge against these zealots who won't be happy until they control every aspect of our lives, public AND private.