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| Witchvox Chapter: Wren's Nest News | Chapter Page Views: 56,548,637 |
 Fortuneteller Suing To Overturn Montgomery Ban Author: Kathleen Miller Source: The Examiner Title: FORTUNETELLER SUING TO OVERTURN MONTGOMERY BAN A fortuneteller is suing Montgomery County after he learned he would not be allowed to open a shop in Bethesda because the county bans the business of forecasting the future. Attorneys for Nick Nefedro, previously of Key West, Fla., say county officials violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and discriminated against his “Roma,” or Gypsy, culture when they refused to give him a business license. Montgomery code dating back to the early 1950s prohibits collecting cash for predicting the future. “The underlying purpose is to prevent people from being taken advantage of, because it’s a scam,” Clifford Royalty, a lawyer in the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, said. Submitted by and Thanks to: Ka | |
| Community Thoughts: There are 13 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Entertainment Purposes ONLY | Jul 24th. at 1:00:12 pm EDT |
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paganSubmissive (Merced, California) - Email Me In CA, if they want to tell the future or read the cards for another for profit, they have to have a disclaimer saying "for entertainment purposes only". I notice that the Church doesn't have that. . . but then again, THEY are considered NON-profit. Even though the preachers here in Merced are QUITE well off. . . |
| Apples & Oranges | Jul 24th. at 9:57:49 am EDT |
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Finn (San Marcos, Texas) - Email Me Churches don't charge. They take donations. Whatever prophecy they choose to spout doesn't require you to pay for it. That is entirely optional. Do not mix apples and oranges. This isn't a religious issue. The man wants to open a business. He wants to charge for services. This places him firmly under the regulatory power of the locals. If he wants to do this as a religion, nothing prevents him from starting a church and abiding by those guidelines. |
| ... | Jul 23rd. at 6:15:07 pm EDT |
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web Despite what some ill-informed cowans may think, divinatory techniques do work. Just because you can't break it down to its base components to study it or because it doesn't take batteries doesn't mean it doesn't work. And I'm not surprised that a Maryland county has this ordinance. I guess KKK policy isn't just limited to Rising Sun. |
| Say What? | Jul 23rd. at 4:44:33 pm EDT |
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Dana Corby (Anderson Island, Washington) - Email Me I read the Runestones, and I must take exception to the remark by one person who said that fortune telling does not work. It most certainly does - - not every time, but often enough to be well above statistical expectations. I could tell you stories that would make your hair stand on end. And I could also tell you ones that'd make you laugh your a$$ off. As someone else said, you have *at least* as good odds with a fortune-teller as you do with a financial advisor. The problem in this case is most likely not fortune-telling per se, but the fact that the fortune-teller in question is a Rom. Most ot the anti-fortune-telling laws in the U.S. were enacted between the 1920's and 1950's specifically to keep the Romany out of town. So he's quite right: it's racial profiling and discrimination, and he probably has a very good legal case. |
| In Case Anyone Else ... | Jul 23rd. at 12:07:29 pm EDT |
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Storm Summerhaven (Lanark County, Ontario) - Email Me ... misunderstood my previous post -- in re stock brokers and weather forecasters -- or missed its point, allow me to elucidate further: Stock brokers, or perhaps "stock analysts" would be more accurate, and weather forecasters, economists and marketing consultants who analyse future trends -- in fact, anyone who "predicts" probable future events -- is "prognosticating" or "foretelling" the future. If these people are paid for their forecasts -- based on NO CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE of what's going to happen in the future -- they are, strictly speaking, breaking this law. You're not allowed to foretell the future for money in Montgomery. I felt my point was made right there, in my previous comment, without getting long-winded about it, but I see that is not the case, so I will explain my implication: If one person, based on their knowledge, study and experience, can take money in exchange for their predictions, then ALL persons should be allowed to do so. I do not know the person mentioned in this article, whether he is an honourable man, whether his work is "for real" or whether he deserves the aspersions cast upon him, here, but I do know what justice and democracy are about -- we have them here in Canada, too [we also have a few arcane and archaic laws still on the books]. What is happening here is a "judgment" of one person's knowledge and experience over another's. Of one person's METHOD over another's. A "PRE-judgment," in fact [pre-judice]. With this law, the governing body -- as regard's 'psychic' predictions -- states, in effect: "We do not believe what you believe. We believe that what you believe in is not real, THEREFORE we are going step between you and those who wish to hire your services, and stop the process. We are going to prevent you from providing services to free citizens, who want those services, if you accept payment for your work. If you do so, you will be fined and/or jailed." Say what? This law, as I think we all know, has more to do with religious beliefs and Biblical admonitions, than about protecting the public from unethical practitioners. And I am not naive enough to believe that type does not exist -- they do. If they can be proved to be pretending to be something they're not, or be proved to be duping the public intentionally, then take appropriate legal action against them. But remember -- how many people, over the years, have lost all they had in trusting a stock broker who invested for them unwisely (though not fraudulently) ? How many of us, over the years, have left the house without an umbrella, because the weather forecaster said there was a sunny day ahead, only to find ourselves later soaked to the skin [though, I must say, satellites have helped a lot, in that regard!]? How many of these erroneous "predictors" have been fined or jailed? If truth be told, the future is, essentially, unpredictable: there are too many ever-changing variables. But a good prognosticator -- of whatever stripe -- can make a darned good educated guess, based on their studies, their experience, and their "gut." Why should one person be sanctioned and another condemned [literally] for committing the same act. Nor should any one person -- or group of people -- be allowed to say what is real or what is not, in this regard. As we have often seen, even here on this site, there are those who adamantly deny -- even seem to fear the idea of -- a connectedness among all things. Who would deny that it is possible to link in to this great all and sense its movement, to predict what will move away, and what will move toward. As in all things, religion chief among them, if you wish to believe one thing and deny another, that is your business, and your right -- just don't try to force your beliefs on me, or deny me the free exercise of mine. |
| It Doesn't Matter... | Jul 23rd. at 3:28:54 am EDT |
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Deni (Danville, Kentucky) - Email Me - Web Whether you believe its real or not, it is a part of some people's beliefs and other people's religious beliefs as well... as previously stated in this thread. If a pagan can't read tarot cards or do palm readings then the Christian Churches should also not be allowed to spout their prophecies at people either. But see, the thing is that we have freedom of religion in this country, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander. |
| Alabama | Jul 23rd. at 1:10:30 am EDT |
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Katmandu (elba, Alabama) - Email Me has a lot of weird laws on it's books. Cheeze, our state constitution is one of the longest and most revised in the US. So, to see that this is on the books surprises me not. However, since Montgomery County also houses our state capital, it looks bad on not only them but the rest of Alabama as well. |
| Fraud | Jul 22nd. at 11:12:07 pm EDT |
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David Eagan (Cleveland, Wisconsin) - Email Me This guy has a couple of Supreme Court precedents against him. Interestingly enough the one that forbids polygamy states that freedom of religion does not extend to activities that are otherwise illegal. That being said this guy isn't sticking up for freedom. Fortune telling does not work and claiming otherwise is deception, the closest thing is cold reading, which is just a stage magic trick. All the responses to the article and the comment of the plaintiff himself show a great willingness to point the finger at others before being self critical in any way. Fortune telling is based on nothing more than a simple trick whereas stock brokers and whether forecasters base their predictions on measurable occurrences happening in the real world, specialized education, and years of experience. If a stock broker were to come to his predictions by the same method a fortune teller does, he would be looking at a prison sentence. |
| Oh Sure. | Jul 22nd. at 10:59:18 pm EDT |
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me If fortunetelling is a scam, then Churches should pay. After all they make all their business on the prophets of others...... |
| So ... Lemme See, Now ... | Jul 22nd. at 10:16:41 pm EDT |
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Storm Summerhaven (Lanark County, Ontario) - Email Me ... stock brokers and weather forecasters [among others] are breaking the law in Montgomery?? |
| Hmm. . . | Jul 22nd. at 9:38:59 pm EDT |
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Dynnys Derwydd (Lubbock, Texas) - Email Me I try to be an open-minded individual, believing that there are many paths which are all viable. Yet if fortune telling is illegal then many churches should be shut down under that statute, because the Bible is full of prophecies that pastors, preachers and priests expound upon every Sunday, and sometimes Wednesdays! Sheesh, many fundamentalists and evangelicals go on so much about "The End Times" much of what is good in the Christian Gospels gets lost or just plain forgotten. Oh, and it seems that I can personally look forward to a very warm afterlife. Besides the intelligent will know when they're faced with a fraud, and I'm sure there has to be someway to protect the gullible, like a family member or friend complaining and an indepth investigation occuring. Fight with knowledge, not in ignorance. honi soit qui mal y pense, Dynnys Derwydd |
| Hoo Boy... | Jul 22nd. at 9:08:27 pm EDT |
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Singing Sea (Fort Smith, Arkansas) - Email Me "Taking advantage of people"? "Scamming"? Sounds a bit like what certain mainstream religions do on a daily basis. I have to agree with the guy who's suing, and I wish him luck. Calling one's religious practices a scam is.. just wow. How very ignorant and rude! One might not believe in it, but you can't take away one's rights to do it. Why some people think they can just amazes me. |
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