Posted on 05/13/2020 2:16:19 PM PDT by Morgana
Several states banned religious gatherings due to the coronavirus but have allowed liquor stores to remain open.
Governors in California, Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, and Vermont prohibited in person religious gatherings through stay-at-home orders implemented as the coronavirus took hold of the United States, data from the Pew Research Center shows. Some of these states have since begun the process of reopening that loosens restrictions on religious gatherings.
But when governors initially banned religious gatherings, liquor stores remained opened in California, Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, and Vermont.
Churchgoers in several of these states have fought against orders banning religious services. In California, pastors announced Thursday that they will not wait for phase three of the state’s reopening plan but will open on May 31, according to the San Bernardino County Sun.
The pastors’ announcement followed a Tuesday ruling from a California judge saying that Newsom has the right to ban church assemblies during the pandemic.
Some religious leaders, like Republican Idaho state representative and senior pastor Tim Remington, say these orders violate First Amendment rights and will continue to hold religious gatherings.
“Do you understand that this is a gimmick? It’s a test,” Remington said in an early April sermon. “I want to pass the test, so as for me and my house we’re going to serve the Lord.”
“They’ve completely overstepped their bounds,” California Pastor Tim Thompson told the Daily Caller News Foundation regarding decisions by the governors in these states to prohibit religious gatherings. “The governor should have no role.”
“The idea of separation of church and state is something I was taught even as a child in public school system,” Thompson said. “The whole purpose of separation of church and state is because we escaped tyranny. We escaped a state run church. And that was why we had the revolutionary war in the first place – escaping tyranny and religious persecution.”
“The whole purpose the American experiment is to have religious liberty,” he added. “And the whole idea of separation of church and state is that the state can’t run the church. The state can’t tell the church what to do.”
Washington
Most of Washington’s alcohol sales are done in stores deemed essential for food, a spokeswoman for Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, told the DCNF.
“As you likely know, states across the U.S. had to put limits on all sorts of social and religious activities – including funerals and weddings out of concern for spreading the virus and getting people sick and potentially killing them,” spokeswoman Tara Lee told the DCNF. “We are not the only state that has done this.”
Lee noted that as of last week, Inslee opened up drive in religious services to help people “worship while practicing physical distancing” and that the state has offered accommodations for religious counseling since the beginning of the coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
Idaho
Spokeswoman for Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Marissa Morrison Hyer, informed the DCNF that large gatherings continue to be restricted under the Governor’s reopening plan.
But under Stage 1 of the plan, religious gatherings will not be restricted and place of worship may open “if they adhere to strict physical distancing, sanitation protocol, and any CDC guidance,” Hyer noted.
“Governor Little has heard from many, many Idahoans concerned about the limitations on their right to practice their faith,” she added.
“While social gatherings will continue to be limited throughout the four stages of reopening, it was important to the Governor to open up places of worship as early as responsibly possible, provided they follow strict physical distancing, sanitation protocol and other measures to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmissions among patrons.”
Montana
Erin Loranger, press secretary to Democratic Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, noted to the DCNF that under new coronavirus guidance, in person church services in Montana are operating at a reduced capacity in order to allow for social distancing between non-household members.
She did not respond to further request for comment regarding Bullock’s previous order allowing liquor stores to remain open while religious gatherings were banned.
Vermont
Democratic Vermont Gov. Phil Scott’s stay-at-home order did not explicitly address either liquor stores or religious services though it did allow retail operations to continue under certain precautions, communications director Rebecca Kelley told the DCNF.
She emphasized that “subsequent guidance” has allowed for both virtual and drive-up religious services.
“The Governor never restricted religious freedom or banned religious services,” Kelley added.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Democratic Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker, and Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not yet respond to requests for comment from the DCNF.
You can stand in line at the liquor store grocery store hardware store certain departments stores. But you’re not supposed to stand in a voting line according to Democrats.
Add NJ and Gov Woodchuck to that list.
When a greater number of people drink liquor than go to church.
I do my best drinking in church... : )
You know, there has been enough hypocrisy in the COVID response for everyone.
Flubros and Fearpers included.
But, please stop with the Church v. liquor meme.
They are not polar opposites and, actually, not a valid comparison as abortuaries and churches.
God does not find liquor EVIL.
Remember, the first thing Noah did after the flood is get drunk and pass out on the ground, naked.
You left Kentucky and its Democrat governor, Andrew Beshear, off the list. The same situation happened here. Also, the governor made sure that the state’s only practicing abortion clinic stayed open, too. Abortion is a Democratic sacrament, after all.
You are exactly right. Kentucky is a pro-life state but Beshear is so beholden to the national party that he chose to defy the voters and allow elective abortions to continue.
For all the non-Kentuckians Beshear had previously served as the state attorney general. The newly elected AG, Daniel Cameron, was called inexperienced and unqualified by the democrats. AG Cameron took Beshear to federal court and Beshear’s ban on drive in church services, in person church services and crossing state lines were ruled unconstitutional.
GREAT ‘toon!
Yes! It's done by Ben Garrison! One of the very best conservative political cartoonists.
And your point?
Comrade Governor Beshear closed the churches in Kentucky and sent the State Police out to record license plate numbers so he’d knew who to persecute. Also, someone threw a bunch of nails in the parking lot of one church, though probably not directed by the Comrade Beshear.
Florida also!! DISGUSTING!
I’m also interested in finding out if mosques were shut down and complying with the shutdown orders.
Or they they were ignoring them and the police were ignoring them, too.
It’s a valid comparison.
The hypocrisy is evident because there’s no more contact at church than there is in liquor stores.
The only reason liquors stores are open is because they generate tax revenue. If they weren’t profitable and the governors didn’t literally want riots on their hands, they’d have shut those down too.
Good one, Fiddlestix. May I borrow it for the FReepathon thread?
But which do you think is essential: alcohol consumption or obeying the Third Commandment?
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