Religious persecution, or overbearing regulations?

Richard said

I have always thought a parking or traffic problem was at the root of whatever complaint the county received. The county has every right to address those issues, but the warning was for holding a religious assembly without a permit. And, assuming the report is accurate, surely there is a more direct way of determining whether people are having a religious assembly without asking the questions they were asked, like asking them if they are holding a religious assembly. Asking if they say amen or praise the Lord or pray seems a little more invasive than asking the simple question.

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But again, you don't know what the overall line of questioning may have been. Were they being uncooperative? If I ask you what your meetings were for, and you say "they were religious"...and I ask what religion or what were you doing---and then you refuse to answer...there's just too many different directions this could have taken. To pull a couple of questions out of context as proof that you were being harassed is unfair.

And I'll repeat what I said earlier--if their story was true, I find it extremely hard to believe that they would have run afoul of either their neighbors, or the county. The county has better things to do with their time. There may be laws on the books requiring them to get a permit, but that would never, ever be enforced if it hadn't been brought to the county's attention.

I also find it hard to believe that there would be a traffic or parking problem if, as they say, the meetings usually had about 15 people.

I think they are lying, or they became so uncooperative and arrogant towards their neighbors, that people finally just got fed up with them. The persecution angle sounds like a complete smokescreen.