Church of Universal Love and Music
PITTSBURGH - A man who says that rock, funk and jazz concerts held on his property are religious services has taken his case to federal court, claiming that county zoning officials violated his constitutional religious freedoms.
William Pritts says the concerts are an integral part of his Church of Universal Love and Music. He has been battling Fayette County's zoning board over the concerts he began holding in 2002 on his 147-acre spread in Bullskin Township, about 35 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
In 2004, the state Commonwealth Court ruled that the county could fine Pritts for holding the concerts in violation of county zoning rules.
Last year, a county judge crafted a compromise that let Pritts hold two concerts in defiance of the 2004 ruling. But the judge also fined Pritts $2,500 for holding two other concerts and issued a moratorium on future concerts, which Pritts has since followed.
Pritts filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on Friday in which he said that the zoning board is violating his freedoms of religion and association by denying a special-use permit for the concerts.
"A core belief of the Church of Universal Love and Music is that religious inspiration and community are advanced by the celebration of live music," Pritts said in the lawsuit.
County officials counter that Pritts never claimed to have a church until after they rejected his application for a permit to operate as a commercial recreation facility years ago.
Church use is permitted on Pritts' land, but the zoning officials rejected Pritts' application saying his activities were not those of a church or religious organization.
The concerts were held up to eight times each summer and some featured nationally known acts like funk star George Clinton. Pritts charged admission to hundreds of people who attended some of the multi-day events, though he said church members or other sponsors picked up the bill at some later concerts.
Neighbors complained of noise and traffic and officials worried about illegal drug use among concert-goers.
Dennis Nurkiewicz, a former zoning board member named in the lawsuit, said the board sought evidence of "dogma, religious practices and charitable" acts by Pritts group, but found none.
While it is apparent that this guy is gaming the system seeking evidence of dogma in modern Church will affect the zoning of lots of liberal churches.
Known as 
Church of Universal Love and Music?
LMAO!
I'm ignorant on commercial zoning versus religious celebration permit issues and why they're done, but off the top of my head I should think this fellow should want to be honestly compliant for his own protection. When someone gets hurt at one of his "religious celebrations," how does that lawsuit go down? Against his home owner's insurance?
I am a member of the Church of Universal Love and Music, and I can reassure all those who do not believe in our practices, that we practice love, peace and tranquility. That is our religion. Uniting a community in Music Festivals is a way of practicing for us all. I think everyone should try and do the same, and perhaps the world will slowly start to become a better place. Love to all!
I live close to this place, and let me just say this... I've never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no "religious activities", just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the "spring-fests" and "fall-fests" held at the adelaide campground called "River's Edge". Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The "workers" at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
I live close to this place, and let me just say this... I've never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no "religious activities", just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the "spring-fests" and "fall-fests" held at the adelaide campground called "River's Edge". Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The "workers" at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
I live close to this place, and let me just say this... I've never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no "religious activities", just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the "spring-fests" and "fall-fests" held at the adelaide campground called "River's Edge". Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The "workers" at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
I live close to this place, and let me just say this... I've never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no "religious activities", just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the "spring-fests" and "fall-fests" held at the adelaide campground called "River's Edge". Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The "workers" at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
I live close to this place, and let me just say this... I've never been there. I know quite a few people who have went to the concerts and all this place exists for is a place to peddle and use illegal drugs. There is no God. There are no "religious activities", just lazy hippies sitting around smoking weed and eating mushrooms, lsd, and other psychodelic drugs. Its a money making scheme. Everyone in the back alley wins when they allow concerts to happen up there. The dealers get numerous new connections, the users use, Mr. Pritts lines his pockets with the admission money, and the performers collect.
Locally its lumped into the same category as the "spring-fests" and "fall-fests" held at the adelaide campground called "River's Edge". Its for young people to go out into the woods, listen to terrible music, and get high all night and run around. I have alot of friends who used to attend these as well and they would come home with Opium to smoke, mushrooms and LSD to eat, and alot of weed to smoke. Its just a drug convention. The "workers" at the various stands where refreshments were sold were also selling the Opium, weed and psychodelics.
Its crazy that in this day and age people continue to get away with drug conventions like this, and people wonder why this area is so backwards..
This Church of Love and Musice is more like the Church of Drugs. I have personally attended on of these so called services at this "church" and can assure everyone that there is no worship services or worship of anything but LSD and drugs happening anywhere from what i've seen. I've seen little kids no more than 3 or 4 running around 3:00AM all by themselves with no supervision and hundreds of drunk and "tripping" people everywhere, parents no where to be found...That's sad. I beg that all people petition against this "Church" This place is nothing more than a drug convention full of mushrooms, LSD, and every other kind of drug you can imagine. It's congregations like this one that pollute our young children. For them to claim they are praising God and operate as a "church" is a discrace to God and the Bible. We must shut places like this down for the safety and well being of our children. Please help the efforts by writing to you local rep expressing the need to close the doors on drug communes like this.
Well, speaking as someone not interested in church this or that, but on spirituality, ya'll are in need of some assesment.
"There is no god."- If this were true, there would not be a you, or a me, or anything for that fact. We are all one.
"There is no god" - Ever hear john lennon's "imagine"? Do you see where the world is today? People hate and fight and use religion to bomb towers, highjack planes, kill the infidels... etc.
Maybe if there was no school fights on "my god is better" bullshit, we might all get along just a bit better. God is Love. You are Love. No matter what religion, we all believe in love. In almost any written scripture of any sort you can find the passage "love your nieghbor". That's what it's about. so, there is no god. and there are reasons why there is no god.
As far as drugs go, I suggest watching some of the videos on divinecosmos.com and get a grip. really. Your body is a receptor to spirit, a temple, and in the chakra system, your "higher self" is located in the pineal gland. Lsd, mushrooms, psychedelics, etc tend to open this gland, so that you can see inside yourself. (well, as a side note, hallucinagens don't make you visualize. More so like you are looking at the mist that raises off of blacktop or a grill or car on a steamy hot summer day. you've seen that mist right? maybe you were doing drugs then, cause that's all they really do.)
Sometimes, that isn't fun, it's a learning experience on how to free your mind. There are a ton of tribal religions that do drugs to celebrate thier spirit. Salvia, Mushrooms, etc, came from native american religions, OUR OWN AMERICAN SOIL.
And how did the white man show them appreciation? By using them, taking thier land, killing them,throwing up steel buildings, car exhaust, shootings, creating horrid chemicals that are causing diseases in babies, ruin our o zone layer, (need I go on?)
For what? people to "go green"? Go back to nature, that's what god gave you, is it not good enough?
Do you stand higher than god? higher than love?
Maybe that's why you are so scared of these drugs.
"oh but they are illegal" (i can hear you say it while you read this)
They are illegal because they can't regulate them and sometimes, money hungry people lace them with killer ingredients.
that or, america wanted mexicans out of the country during the great depression, so they outlawed pot to have a reason to arrest and deport the migrant workers and take thier jobs.
marijuana was VERY legal before hand.
If you fall for everyones smear tactics, your dumb, and not following your higher self.
I'm not defended drugs, just how ridiculous it is to say you need to "protect your children" and "outlaw this church"
pretty much, you are scared of shit you don't know, so why even talk?
This life is not about "what would jesus do"
it's about "what would love do? what would love make? what does love know?
God gave you free will to show you perfect love.
the most loving, godly thing you could do, is accept differences and move on.
oh, and if you looked at the website for this particular church, you'd see that drugs will not be tolerated, and that it will result in expulsion from the grounds.
If i was a smart addict, i'd just stay home, rather than pay over 100 bucks to go to a concert where my ass would just get booted.
think about it.
I think that the concerts will boost some of the economy of that county/ area. More people buying gas, food, drinks, camping supplies, everything.
But kicking something out that might help you stay in your home is a great idea, just go for it.
and keep going...
and going....
and
going...
because that church is legal and will be having services this weekend.
So instead of spewing hate and degrading a place for it's differences, lay aside your standards for love, maybe check the place out, talk to someone, or get away from your computer where you are just looking to make a bad name for someone.
Music, wierdly enough, is embedded into you. you have a vibration level, so does music.
Music can actually HEAL a person, but I guess miracles aren't allowed to happen to backwood hippies who are trying to celebrate life, be jubilant, joyous, happy, and grateful.
well, i hope i got you angry, or at least irritated enough to go do some research on religion. look past your own beliefs for a minute.
educate yourself, it will be the best thing a parent can do to hand off to thier children.
Love is our only defense.
oh, and next time you go on a message board, don't post something 10 times. it won't help your message be heard, only laughed at, or ignored.
oh, and just one more point: there are a lot of young adults and teens that have been cast out from society, looked down upon, and that church brought them in, and gave them something they could relate to, to bring them back to religion, and believing in themselves. That church housed the homeless, took in the drug addicts, and helped them bump habits like heroin and crack.
that church has gave life back to people by showing them unconditional, non demoninational, totally universal love.
Can your church do that? or are you too concerned on what the people are wearing? the pitch of thier voice during song? how fast they gobble up communion? (I've seen it all)
peace be with you brother,
i can tell you need it.
Love.