Wilson Fauber has been a well-respected real estate agent and seller in the Staunton, Virginia, place for 44 times, with no specialized concerns previously filed against him. That is until 2024, following an aggressive effort by a democratic opposition party that wants to defame Fauber by criticizing his Christian values.
” In 2015, I posted Biblical comments on my personal Twitter page”, Fauber said. ” Around the same day, Rev. Franklin Graham had created a blog and I re-posted with some changes for emphasis”, said Fauber, who is also an appointed secretary. ” The article thread contained Bible recommendations and theories from a president’s viewpoint”.
The rates, which were posted on Fauber’s private Facebook page for Arise International Ministries, stressed the bible definition of marriage. They were made well before the National Association of Realtors ( NAR ) changed its ethics code language regarding hate speech and before the Supreme Court had decided or heard oral arguments regarding same-sex marriage in 2015, which meant that marriage was between a man and a woman at the time.
Up until 2023, when Fauber made his decision to work for Staunton City Council, he was aware of no issues or allegations of offense against him. Coining Fauber” the Hater”, an antagonism party targeted his scriptural ideas. The NAR, of which Fauber is a lifelong part, became aware of the team’s slander.
A New Amendment to Code of Ethics
In 2020, the NAR adopted a new act to its code of ethics. Standard of Practice 10-5 compels brokers to minimize the use of “harassing talk, hate speech, obscenities, or insults based on race, color, religion, sex, illness, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity”. Suddenly, Fauber’s 2015 comments about marriage in the Bible, reiterated in a 2023 interview, became fair game for an ethics complaint.
” There were those who do n’t like freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and they looked through my Facebook accounts and discovered a post from 2015, and a local reporter approached me to ask if I still believed in the scripture I had posted,” Fauber said.  ,
Fauber provided proof that he did. The front-page story, which revealed that Fauber made related comments more recently than in 2015, was referenced by those who filed the NAR board of ethics complaints.
No Longer a Free America
The claim was filed in February 2024 and Fauber was notified in May, via email, not a certified letter, a short time before the scheduled hearing in June, he said.
” I had just days once I received an email through]my primary inbox ]”, Fauber said. ” I had days to find an attorney”.
The board will decide whether Fauber broke the NAR code of ethics on December 4 by rescheduling the hearing due to some ongoing health issues. If the allegations are proven, Fauber could lose access to the crucial multiple listing service ( MLS ) and face suspension for his membership.
Without the MLS, Fauber claimed,” It’s pretty much impossible to do the real estate business.” ” The MLS does more than allow a realtor to find a property, it includes when it’s sold, how many days it’s been on the market and other information, documents and restrictions”.
Loss of MLS access is direct job loss in the real estate business, said Victoria Cobb, president of Family Foundation of Virginia, who also oversees the Founding Freedoms Law Center ( FFLC ) supporting Fauber’s case.
” When somebody brought him up on ethics charges, the board could have chosen to dismiss them, but they did not”, Cobb said. We do n’t live in a free America, so everyone should be worried about that because we’re really in a situation where someone’s personal faith posted on their personal Facebook speech can turn out to be hate speech in the minds of an employer or organization.
” Wilson never injected this into his campaign”, said Michael Sylvester, FFLC litigation counsel. He must keep reiterating his desire to serve all people.
Prior to the adoption of the hate speech clause in November 2020, the code of ethics contained information on how real estate agents and affiliates communicated with clients, according to Fauber. Now that has changed.  ,
According to Fauber,” the NAR has now granted themselves permission to police real estate agents 24/7.” It’s deeply troubling that no one would even need to be present to lodge a complaint about me despite the fact that an organization like the NAR can control my life and allow me to be sued for reading a passage of scripture, even at church. That’s far reaching” . ,
Not an Isolated Event
Following the arrest and suspension of local pastor and realtor Brandon Huber, the NAR has also been accused of anti-Christian behavior in the past. In Montana this past February, Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, sponsored legislation to allow Christian members of the NAR to freely express their beliefs.
In Virginia, phone calls of cases like Fauber’s come pouring in daily, Cobb said, regarding someone who has lost a job or suffered significant harm due to their faith.
The FFLC was founded in response to the state’s liberal legislature that was passing “blatantly unconstitutional” laws like the Virginia Values Act, Cobb said.  ,
We were aware that people were about to lose their religious and political freedoms, she said, even more than they were in the past. We are actually discovering that people who are losing their jobs and their livelihoods as a result of their faith are increasingly looking for legal counsel in addition to the laws we saw.
Hadassah Carter, a Christian realtor, recently won a case against the Virginia Real Estate Board, alleging that she was discriminated against and harassed. Carter was monitored and accused of violating Virginia’s fair housing laws by the board because of her religious speech, and she included Bible verses and Christian phrases on her website.  ,  ,  ,
” Societatea Has Really Reached a New Low”
The “hopeful outcome is that the ethics judges will recognize Wilson has n’t broken the law and has never spoken out against anyone in any public or online space,” Sylvester said. If quoting the Bible constitutes hate speech, society has actually reached a new low, according to the article. Typically, we applaud our professions, but now we are telling them to leave their values at the door. One would have thought that this 2020 rule would be to stop society’s greatest evil, but now it is targeting Christian ministers”.
In the meantime, the harm done to Fauber’s reputation may be irreparable.
” I’ve earned an excellent reputation and am well thought of in the community”, Fauber said. ” As with any accusation, people wonder if something is there, it creates some doubt. That seed has been planted in the community. After 44 years in the business and an excellent reputation, it’s very disheartening”. Fauber, he claimed, was attacked physically by the local police department during the campaign.
” If this can happen to Wilson, it can happen to anyone, and if we do n’t stand up alongside, we might not have anyone to stand with us when it happens to us,” Sylvester said.
Ashley Bateman blogs for Ascension Press and writes for The Heartland Institute about policy. Her work has been featured in The Washington Times, The Daily Caller, The New York Post, The American Thinker and numerous other publications. She previously held positions as an adjunct scholar for The Lexington Institute and as an editor, writer, and photographer for The Warner Weekly, a publication for the German-speaking American military community in Bamberg. A Catholic homeschool cooperative in Virginia has Ashley on the board. Along with her brilliant engineer/scientist husband, she educates four incredible children at home.