You have asked several questions, and I will answer all of them, however, I have to say that as someone who has never met me, I am at a loss as to how you arrived at certain assumptions concerning my issues with the neighbor.
Yes, I am absolutely sure that they are Santerian, as they have told us so. They have also claimed to be “Spanish Catholics,” which bothers me on several levels. There are so many misconceptions out there about our faith, and if they are presenting themselves to others as “Catholic,” it is hardly surprising that others have such erroneous beliefs about our faith.
Of course we have talked to them, as have several neighbors, the HOA, the Zoning commission, the USPS, and the police. They don’t care. They have been asked not to park all over the cul-de-sac and block our driveways and mailboxes. They do it anyway. They have parked - at the neighbor’s direction - in the driveway of a vacant home for sale. Would you be interested in living in a home if you can’t park there to see it? Not likely. I know that it is a “religious service,” because we can witness what takes place in the back yard and hear the chanting, not to mention the cries of the animals being slaughtered.
To be completely honest with you, Karen, I found your insinuations of racism/xenophobia on my part very upsetting. As it happens, they are Americans. Many who attend the services are white, many others are black. I don’t care what their beliefs are, except in the sense that I am concerned for their souls, of course. Additionally, I am bilingual, teach foreign languages at the HS and college level, and have lived abroad myself. Cultural differences do not threaten me, on the contrary. You have no right to sit in judgement on me or make assumptions about my charachter.
To continue, they are in violation of zoning ordinances. Because they are not a registered church, zoning cannot do anything regarding church services being held here. Short of witnessing them passing a collection plate and providing evidence of such, there doesn’t appear to be a way around that. They are in violation of ordinances regarding livestock as well, but continue to get away with it. They park illegally, yet the police never ticket them. When they finally leave (after 3-7 days), we generally have to pick up a great deal of trash from our yards. They dump blood and animal products into the drains and gutters on the street. The Health dept. says that the amount is not enough to warrant action but they’ve never investigated. The HOA continues to tell us that “something will be done,” but still we wait. Their chanting and screaming animals have woken my small children, one of whom has recently started screaming about hearing ghosts in his room. They are in violation of several covenants, which we have researched, and we have contacted zoning, the health dept., animal control, the local police, the HOA, and our state delegate. We are considering contacting the local media if the HOA does not act.
The fact is that this homeowner does not give a fig about anyone else, as proven by his actions and his lack of common courtesy. Because these people claim to be “Catholic” or to have a lot in common with Catholocism, my thought was to educate them somewhat in that regard. My question was if anyone was aware of tracts that might address some of the issues that they have misconstrued, i.e., the communion of saints, the existence of ONE God, or the final sacrifice of Our Lord. I didn’t realize that I was such a horrible person for wanting to give them a little piece of the Truth.
For you to sit in judgement of me is completely uncalled for. For your information, I HAVE received ugly tracts from fundamentalists, and I just move on. At the same time, I was not blocking their driveway, preventing the delivery of their mail, leaving trash in their yards, screaming late into the night, dumping animal remains in the gutter in front of their home, or anything else of this nature. Am I perfect? Of course not. But my mama raised me to be considerate of others; too bad their mamas didn’t do the same. Having seen those Chick tracts and the like, I don’t know why you would think that those are the kind of thing I am looking for. Although, quite frankly, I don’t really care if I upset any of them at this point, that is not my goal, but rather to educate them about what the Church DOES teach. Why would you assume otherwise?
You are not living in our situation, and I am frankly quite upset at the personal note of your message. When you do live in a home with a neighbor such as ours, whose actions are having a direct impact on your life, your property value, and the emotional well-being of your small children, how will you feel if someone tells you “It’s none of your business”?
I only just joined this group, and I was looking for help. Your message is making me rethink that decision.
,Worked with my children.
). There’s another one that states that animals not be bred on the property (I don’t know if they breed their own animals in your case). Check out what your HOA rules are, see if there’s anything that violates them, then, like a previous poster suggested, withhold dues until something is done.