So it Begins

[smac97]

Here:

Quote

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is calling on President Donald Trump to defend religious liberty in America.

Lee and nine other Republican senators sent a letter to Trump on July 23 asking the president to do everything in his power to prevent state and local governments from discriminating against Americans seeking to exercise their First Amendment right to freely practice their religions.

“As you are aware,” the senators wrote, “there continue to be reported cases of state and localities prohibiting religious entities, including houses of worship, from reopening safely despite compliance with safety precautions found in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance such as social distancing, building and surface sanitization, use of masks, etc. This discriminatory behavior violates our Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom …”

Although attempts to limit public gatherings have been a nationwide phenomenon since mid-March, California has become the epicenter of recent legal battles over public health concerns versus religious freedom in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

California churches were ordered closed along with retail businesses, office buildings, restaurants and shopping centers in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first response to the COVID-19 outbreak in early spring. By mid-May, many of those commercial establishments were allowed to reopen, but not churches.

When clergymen and women sued the state, Newsom’s authority was upheld by justices of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, who said that if a court “ … does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom (in the midst of a pandemic), it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.”

When more than 1,200 unconvinced pastors threatened to reopen their churches in late May regardless of the state guidelines, Newsom finally relented.

More recently, however, Newsom announced an executive order “banning singing or chanting” as part of religious services in California, plus new limits on the size of such gatherings.

Lawyers for numerous churches are attacking that order by citing Newsom’s refusal to apply similar restrictions to massed chanting during the massive protest demonstrations against police authority taking place throughout California.

Here in Utah, officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints voluntarily suspended regular church services early in the pandemic and have since announced a phased resumption of activities consistent with local public health guidance. But relations between religious and governmental authorities in other parts of the United States have been much less amicable.

The letter from Lee and the other GOP senators requests that Trump take “additional measures” to ensure that churches, houses of worship and other religious institutions are able to reopen by following appropriate CDC guidelines.

“Your resolve and leadership on this issue would deliver a strong message in these most troubling times,” the letter concludes.

In addition to Lee, the letter to Trump was signed by Senators Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Kelly Loeffler (R-Georgia), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) and Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas).

I think the disparate treatment noted above ("Lawyers for numerous churches are attacking that order by citing Newsom’s refusal to apply similar restrictions to massed chanting during the massive protest demonstrations against police authority taking place throughout California") is a big point of concern.

Thanks,

-Smac

[CV75]

1 hour ago, Islander said:

We should. But, it speaks volumes that the letter of the law is dead, when we have to run to the SCOUTS every time there is an issue, because (typically) the Left decides what's good for the rest of us while ignoring the Constitution. 

dup

Edited July 26, 2020 by CV75

[CV75]

1 hour ago, Islander said:

We should. But, it speaks volumes that the letter of the law is dead, when we have to run to the SCOUTS every time there is an issue, because (typically) the Left decides what's good for the rest of us while ignoring the Constitution. 

I think it speaks to what could and should have been prevented had the saints in general lived their religion and hearkened to their leaders since the 1960s!  And predictably, some people aren't even happy with SCOTUS after running to them.

[Islander]

1 hour ago, california boy said:

So your position is to let those spreading the virus free on the streets to infect others, while those that are trying to curb the spread of the virus should stay home?  And you  think that by doing this, the economy will be able to start up again, people will be able to go back to work and society will be better off?

How about this.  Those that don't have any concern for public safety be the ones staying home.  

You are not reading my posts. You got my position transposed

[Islander]

34 minutes ago, CV75 said:

I think it speaks to what could and should have been prevented had the saints in general lived their religion and hearkened to their leaders since the 1960s!  And predictably, some people aren't even happy with SCOTUS after running to them.

I tend to agree with you.

[The Nehor]

1 hour ago, smac97 said:

Here:

I think the disparate treatment noted above ("Lawyers for numerous churches are attacking that order by citing Newsom’s refusal to apply similar restrictions to massed chanting during the massive protest demonstrations against police authority taking place throughout California") is a big point of concern.

Thanks,

-Smac

Again it could be argued they are not tolerating the protests. Seriously get on a livestream of Portland one evening if you want to see how the protest groups experience a “refusal to apply similar restriction”. Many are labeled riots and have tear gas and rubber bullets chucked at them. One incident of police using similar tactics against a church would have unleashed fury which is most likely why those churches who are ignoring the rules are largely ignored or treated with kid gloves.

[Scott Lloyd]

2 hours ago, california boy said:

I dunno.  Time was when I thought this country was over this whole discrimination at the lunch counter/bakery thing.  I see it is still alive and well among many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Just the name of the Church seems in conflict with not serving others no matter who they are.  Yet some manage to still justify such behavior.

Sigh. 

[The Nehor]

3 hours ago, Islander said:

We should. But, it speaks volumes that the letter of the law is dead, when we have to run to the SCOUTS every time there is an issue, because (typically) the Left decides what's good for the rest of us while ignoring the Constitution. 

But we just finally got rid of BSA!!!

[The Nehor]

2 hours ago, california boy said:

You didn't really answer the question did you.  AND what court ruled that protesters didn't have to wear masks?

 

The general advice to protesters from experts who support them is to wear masks and not just for health reasons. With all the facial recognition software not wearing a mask could mean an unmarked officer coming for you a few days later.

Edited July 26, 2020 by The Nehor