In interesting thought:
The 1st amendment says:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..
If a National Emergency allows for government to tell churches to cease exercising their free religious beliefs, is this not a suspension of habeus corpus by the backdoor?
If it is deemed a national emergency, I should think churches would be considerate about the health risks of their congregation members.
They are not calling for a ban on religious worship, just a 15 day moratorium on gatherings of large groups of people.
not mandated, recommended.
You raise interesting points. Thank you!
I’m not sure “habeas corpus” is the expression you’re looking for. But aside from that, so far as I know, the government has NOT told churches not to meet. Some are voluntarily suspending services as a precaution, which falls under free will.
Even if my church were shut down, it wouldn’t prevent me from exercising my freedom of religion. I can pray anywhere, any time. I understand that others might not feel that way. Certainly a shutdown would have an impact. No communion. In both senses of the word.
Another factor is that it’s “temporary.” Yeah, that’s a very scary word when the government uses it. The income tax was “temporary”. But I am fairly confident that in the current situation, many measures being taken are truly temporary and not an excuse to impose new permanent restrictions or burdens on us.
I see all of this as the Q plan unfolding. If Q is, as I think most likely, benevolent and looking out for OUR best interests, then all of this is a good thing. If I’m wrong and Q is not benevolent, then we are all screwed. It would be very difficult to make a good argument for Q as evil.
Bottom line: I’m not worried about the exercise of religion. I miss church when I’m ill, and it’s not a catastrophe. I see this as similar. I’ll reassess that position in another 30 days unless something happens to change my mind before then.