Free Republic

John MacArthur reads list of demands from California Govt.

King Charles II and the British passed the Conventicle Act of 1664, making it illegal to hold church meetings of over five people. It prohibited "... more than five persons in addition to members of the family, for any religious purpose not according to the rules of the Church of England." The word "conventicle" is derived from the word "convenant" and referred to gatherings of church members according to Jesus' promise in Matthew 18:20, "Where two or three are met together in my name." The English Book of Canon Law, Article 11, stated: "All conventicles and secret meetings ... have...

Decent Americans who are feeling perplexed today shouldn't be ashamed about it. There is good reason to be perplexed. On the one hand, in the name of health and safety, we are being asked by the government to compromise personal freedoms that we have always taken for granted: going to work, going to church, sending our children off to school, meeting our friends in our favorite restaurant. We walk around wearing annoying masks and trying to respect social distancing limits. But decent Americans are perplexed because we would expect that allowing more government into our personal space would happen uniformly,...

The Supreme Court on Friday denied an appeal by a Nevada church to allow additional worshipers to join in-person services based on capacity amid the coronavirus pandemic. Nevada has placed a 50-person cap on all places of worship, no matter the capacity of the building, as a part of the state's coronavirus restrictions. But casinos, along with other businesses such as restaurants and movie theaters, may permit up to 50 percent capacity, allowing casinos to grant access to hundreds of patrons at a time. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh all issued dissenting opinions rejecting the constitutionality of...

Conservative lawmakers blasted Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts after he sided with the court's liberal justices in a 5-4 decision Friday that rejected a Nevada church’s request to block the state government from enforcing a cap on attendance at religious services. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) tweeted early Saturday morning that Roberts had "abandoned his oath." "What happened to that judge?" tweeted Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). "Freedom of religion is our first freedom. Yet SCOTUS has ruled that casinos can host hundreds of gamblers, while churches cannot welcome their full congregations. Justice Roberts once again got it wrong, shamefully closing...

In Nevada, it seems being in the entertainment business has more leeway than those exercising their constitutionally protected right to worship. Amid the COVID outbreak, the state has limits on the capacity of certain locations. For churches, it’s no more than 50. For everything else, from movie theaters to casinos, it’s much more than that. It seems a bit unfair. The standard makes no sense, but it seems to be perfectly logical for Chief Justice John Roberts who sided with the liberal wing of the Supreme Court in the case of a church who challenged this unfair standard (via NYT):...

More than 30 faith leaders on Monday issued a warning against Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s new push to put property rights and religious freedom at the forefront of American diplomacy. In a statement, faith leaders across denominations warned that Pompeo’s push for a hierarchy of rights with religious freedom at the top “will weaken religious freedom itself and undermine respect for and damage the protections of the universal values of human dignity.” The statement was led by the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan progressive policy institute, and signed by leaders from the Catholic, evangelical, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and...

'This proves' that 'there is no pandemic exception to the First Amendment,' said Mike Berry, First Liberty Institute General Counsel. WASHINGTON, D.C., July 9, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The United States Navy has revised its policy prohibiting active service members from attending in-person religious services. Those who disobeyed and attended church services had risked court-martial. The move is seen as an important victory on behalf of religious liberty by Navy personnel affected by the previously enacted ban, and by those who fought on their behalf. The change comes just days after First Liberty Institute sent a letter on behalf of active...

In a major win for religious liberty, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on Wednesday that employers with moral or religious objections would be exempt from the federal mandate that requires company health insurance to cover birth control. The case was a consolidation of The Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania and Trump v. Pennsylvania, both of which sought to alter the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). While the bill itself had no requirements for contraceptive access being guaranteed, this became mandatory through interim final rules (IFRs). While Churches have always been exempt...

Washington — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Trump administration's broad exemptions to employers who raise religious or moral objections to providing free birth control coverage, paving the way for more employers to opt out of a provision of the Obama-era health care law that has been at the center of a long-running dispute before the courts.

https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Screen-Shot-2020-07-07-at-5.03.12-PM-998x665.png> The Navy last week asked my husband to sign his name to a new restriction broadly “prohibiting,” in bold letters, a multitude of activities “to include indoor religious services” and even to discourage “in-person use” of “drive-in spiritual services.” While we maintain a faint hope that the military doesn’t really mean to restrict religious practices, the latest restrictions preclude nearly all indoor religious services — even those adhering to COVID-19 guidelines. The Catholic Masses my husband and I attend are vastly better spaced than the grocery or liquor stores where he can shop, or even the authorized Chick-fil-A drive-through...

U.S. District Judge Gary L. Sharpe handed down a preliminary injunction on Friday against New York officials for violating the First Amendment by shutting down religious services while encouraging Black Lives Matter protests. Earlier this month, two Catholic priests and three Orthodox Jews came together in a lawsuit against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, alleging that Democrats were violating their religious liberty under the First Amendment (and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment) by discouraging religious gatherings while joining large crowds of protesters in...

Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division issued the following statement in response to the federal court ruling today regarding religious liberty in New York City and New York State:"Today’s federal court decision is a win for religious freedom and the civil liberties of New Yorkers. Government cannot discriminate by protecting free speech and the right to assemble while threatening or limiting religious exercise – it must protect all rights guaranteed under the First Amendment. The court’s decision is consistent with positions and arguments made by the United States Department of Justice in similar filings and...

Christian leaders who were quick to break social distancing guidelines to stand with Black Lives Matter protesters appear loathe to fight back against the ban on church services. American Christians saw something these past two weeks we’re not used to: People standing for their beliefs in the face of coronavirus.In cities and towns nationwide, millions crowded streets and parks, marching, singing and for some after dark, rioting. Many had been sheltered in place for nearly three months, carefully avoiding their neighbors, watching Netflix, wearing pajamas, and when outside, fleeing into busy streets for fear of unmasked joggers.But this — this...

45% of Catholics and 39% of “Protestant/Other-denomination” Christians voted Democrat in the 2016 Presidential Elections, according to Pew. In other words, Christians have the power to swing the 2020 election—and a responsibility to exercise this power in a way that upholds Biblical values and religious freedom.  Churches have been barred from holding normal public worship for nearly three months. Restraints on churches have been most severe in Democrat-ruled areas. Democrats claim they “clean up the messes made by Republicans,” yet Christian oppression is strongest in cities like Chicago, Louisville, Madison and Holly Springs and in states like New York and...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:Section 1.  Policy.  (a)  Religious freedom, America’s first freedom, is a moral and national security imperative.  Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority of the United States, and the United States will respect and vigorously promote this freedom.  As stated in the 2017 National Security Strategy, our Founders understood religious freedom not as a creation of the state, but as a gift of God to every person and a right that is fundamental...

Churchgoers across the country are reasserting their fundamental rights of conscience—rights that too many political leaders have forgotten or denied. On Friday, President Trump said churches and houses of worship are “essential” and called on governors nationwide to allow them to open this weekend. If they don’t, Trump said he would “override” governors, citing forthcoming guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In remarks Thursday, the president criticized some governors who have “deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential” but not churches. “It’s not right. So I’m correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential.”Trump is right,...

The Justice Department sided with a church suing Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) after the pastor was threatened with a fine and jail time for holding a 16-person service on Palm Sunday. Northam is famous for a posing in KKK-blackface in his college yearbook. Kevin Wilson, the pastor of Lighthouse Fellowship Church on Chincoteague Island, was threatened with jail time or a $2,000 fine by police for violating Northam’s unconstitutional Coronavirus lockdown order. A total of 16 people attended the Palm Sunday church service on April 5 and were all spaced far apart from each other in a church that...

The Department of Justice announced it will aid a Virginia church suing Gov. Ralph Northam after a pastor was threatened with jail time or a $2,500 fine for hosting a 16-person church service on Palm Sunday. According to Northam’s shelter-in-place restrictions, churches cannot hold services with more than 10 people. The DOJ filed a Statement of Interest in a Virginia federal court citing freedom of religion in support of Lighthouse Fellowship Church, a congregation in Chincoteague Island, Virginia. According to the DOJ’s statement, the congregation serves, among others, recovering drug addicts and former prostitutes.

Governors and mayors across the nation have claimed that their emergency powers allow them to ban large groups during the coronavirus pandemic. They don't want groups gathering in malls, movie theaters or even churches, despite the constitutional protection of religious rights. Now one official is moving into extreme territory, demanding churches provide him with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of anyone who shows up to worship. The move by Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, already is attracting the attention of Liberty Counsel, which has been defending churches amid the coronavirus lockdowns. Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver...