Tampa megachurch pastor Rev. Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested for holding voluntary services and "faces a punishment of up to 60 days in jail and fines totaling up to $500." This raises an important church-state concern, as does New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's outrageous threat "to permanently close churches and synagogues [mosques?] that hold services during the coronavirus pandemic." He doesn't have the constitutional authority to "permanently close" any church, though he apparently thinks he does.
Getting an abortion is an "essential" service according to Democrat-governed areas (and the wicked NYT). In many places keeping liquor stores open is also an "essential" service. We go to grocery stories in close contact with tens or hundreds of people. If you don't touch your face with unwashed hands, you are very unlikely to get COVID-19, particularly if not standing within 3-6 feet of the same person for 15-30 minutes or more. Many church buildings have enough space to make such a seating arrangement possible.
How long should churches allow the state to close their doors? Are churches not going to meet for Easter celebration? What if the restrictions persist over many months, even over a year? In ancient Israel a disease or plague would have prompted people to hold a national convocation of repentance, not to disperse. Democrats are already inclined to act with impunity against the church, as Beto's remark about removing the tax-exempt status of any church that does not kowtow to the LGBTQ agenda. These recent events will only make matters worse, with long-term ramifications well beyond the time that it takes COVID-19 to run its course.
Gagnon says it better, but this is exactly the conversation I've had with numerous fellow Christians over the past couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteMost of them looked at me like I had a horn growing out of my forehead.
Now the 2nd Amendment lobby has finally found its voice and has begun the threat of lawsuits over gun store closures similar to PP and the ACLU suing over the abortuaries being closed.
But the 1st Amendment and freedom of assembly and religion? As a thought experiment I sat with my family and went through the Bill of Rights and asked what they thought the response would be to the government revoking any or all of them under the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic.
Or various Amendments. Suspend womens sufferage? Suspend the civil rights act? Suspend the constitution? It was a fun discussion.