A church in California is suing Governor Newsom after he went so far as to not only ban church services, but home Bible studies as well:
Here’s more from CBN News:
A California church is suing Gov. Gavin Newsom for banning all indoor worship services, including Bible studies, and singing, saying the restrictions violate their religious freedom.
Pasadena-based Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry filed the lawsuit in an attempt to block enforcement of Newsom’s orders which target churches.
The church has many “Life Groups” which are home Bible studies and fellowship groups where people come together to share and learn about the Word of God. These are now forbidden under Gov. Newsom’s recent orders.
CBN News previously reported that Newsom announced on July 13 that all indoor gatherings, including church services, must cease due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Liberty Counsel, a religious rights law group, is representing the church and points out that the governor’s actions are contradictory as he recently encouraged thousands of people to gather for protests against social injustice.
“Governor Gavin Newsom cannot disregard the First Amendment and ban all in-person worship in private homes and churches,” said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. “Nor can the state micromanage the form of worship by banning singing or chanting. The governor is not the High Priest over all religions.”
“There is not two First Amendments – one for protests and one for houses of worship. Gov. Newsom encourages thousands of protesters to gather in the streets but bans in-person worship and home Bible studies and fellowship. This discriminatory treatment is unconstitutional,” Staver added.
Sounds just like Governor de Blasio in NYC. Cancel everything but not the BLM protests, because that’s a history changing movement or something. But really, this isn’t just about the hypocrisy. The first amendment guarantees the freedom to worship and it doesn’t have a caveat for pandemics. Many of us tolerated the closure of churches earlier this year when the pandemic had just begun circulating. But to close them again at this point, even to the point of restricting worship in the homes of Americans, is ridiculous and unconstitutional. And dangerous.