Churches Archives | Restoring Liberty

A long list of religious leaders signed onto a letter sent Tuesday requesting that Congress’ next coronavirus relief package include legal immunity for religious organizations reopening amid an onslaught of new regulations surrounding the pandemic.

“[I]n the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a proliferation of complex and often contradictory orders and guidelines at the state, county, and local levels, each purporting to govern when and how to reopen,” read the letter, signed by pastor Franklin Graham, actor Kirk Cameron, and dozens of pastors. In total, the letter has 300 signatories.

“Unfortunately, no religious organization—or any organization—can follow every guideline or order that has been issued around the country. We are concerned that some people—and their lawyers—will cherry pick certain guidelines from around the nation in order to assign liability to religious organizations. They might claim that a religious organization or a house of worship was negligent because it did not follow a single recommendation buried deep within a set of guidelines.”

Spearheaded by the legal non-profit First Liberty Institute, the appeal underscores national uncertainty as businesses and organizations return to normal after the economic shutdown.

“Churches, synagogues, and America’s houses of worship have provided critical care, comfort, and calm in the midst of the uncertainty caused by a worldwide pandemic,” said Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO, and Chief Counsel for First Liberty Institute. “Providing this reasonable measure of protection to religious organizations and houses of worship in America will ensure that they can continue performing their vital functions of serving Americans and ministering to all of our spiritual and physical needs. (Read more from “Faith Leaders Ask Congress to Grant Legal Immunity to Religious Organizations Reopening Amid Pandemic” HERE)

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It may be a matter of some interest to you that the American left is now openly declaring its intention to shutdown your church and outlaw your religious expression entirely. If you’ve been paying attention, you won’t be terribly shocked by this revelation. They plan to come after the churches. That’s what they’ve always wanted, and now they intend to do it.

The hysterical reaction to Georgia’s religious liberty bill can be interpreted no other way. Gov. Nathan Deal has now decided — just one day after Easter, no less — to veto the bill because the outrage was so severe, and because he has the resiliency and backbone of a dead slug melting in the sun. In his statement explaining his decision, Deal insisted that religious liberty doesn’t include the right to “discriminate against anyone.” He took a steadfast and courageous posture, declaring that he refuses to be intimidated by “insults and threats” from pastors, nuns, and his local baptist church. On the other hand, for gay groups and large progressive corporations, he will fall to his knees in trembling submission and polish their boots after they finish kicking him repeatedly in the ribs.

On a day when we hear reports of a Catholic priest being literally crucified by Islamic State because he refused to abandon his faith, perhaps we might hope Christians in this country could at least withstand mean insults and online petitions. But we’ve learned not to expect anything — not even one minuscule, microscopic shred of bravery — from Christians like Deal. They will surrender every time, without fail.

And that’s not to downplay the pressure he faced. It was substantial, though not enough to justify his shameful capitulation. Hollywood was leading the charge, with heavy hitters like Disney, Time Warner, Starz, The Weinstein Company, AMC, Viacom, Marvel, CBS, MGM, NBC and other companies threatening to boycott if the bill passed. (Read more from “Pay Attention, Christians. They’re Coming After the Churches Now.” HERE)

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