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Title: Attorney General Barr issues statement on Greenville church, social distancing
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URL Source: https://www.wapt.com/article/attorn ... ch-social-distancing/32146142#
Published: Apr 15, 2020
Author: WAPT
Post Date: 2020-04-15 00:16:59 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 1484
Comments: 13
WASHINGTON — U.S. Attorney General William Barr has issued a statement after Greenville police issued tickets to church members who had gathered in their cars to worship during a COVID-19 shelter-in-place order.
The city has since stated it will drop the fines, but will continue to enforce the order, authorities said.
Read the response below:
"In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the President has issued guidelines calling on all Americans to do their part to slow the spread of a dangerous and highly contagious virus. Those measures are important because the virus is transmitted so easily from person to person, and because it all too often has life-threatening consequences for its victims, it has the potential to overwhelm health care systems when it surges.
To contain the virus and protect the most vulnerable among us, Americans have been asked, for a limited period of time, to practice rigorous social distancing. The President has also asked Americans to listen to and follow directions issued by state and local authorities regarding social distancing. Social distancing, while difficult and unfamiliar for a nation that has long prided itself on the strength of its voluntary associations, has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of American lives from an imminent threat. Scrupulously observing these guidelines is the best path to swiftly ending COVID-19’s profound disruptions to our national life and resuming the normal economic life of our country. Citizens who seek to do otherwise are not merely assuming risk with respect to themselves, but are exposing others to danger. In exigent circumstances, when the community as a whole faces an impending harm of this magnitude, and where the measures are tailored to meeting the imminent danger, the constitution does allow some temporary restriction on our liberties that would not be tolerated in normal circumstances.
But even in times of emergency, when reasonable and temporary restrictions are placed on rights, the First Amendment and federal statutory law prohibit discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers. Thus, government may not impose special restrictions on religious activity that do not also apply to similar nonreligious activity. For example, if a government allows movie theaters, restaurants, concert halls, and other comparable places of assembly to remain open and unrestricted, it may not order houses of worship to close, limit their congregation size, or otherwise impede religious gatherings. Religious institutions must not be singled out for special burdens.
Today, the Department filed a Statement of Interest in support of a church in Mississippi that allegedly sought to hold parking lot worship services, in which congregants listened to their pastor preach over their car radios, while sitting in their cars in the church parking lot with their windows rolled up. The City of Greenville fined congregants $500 per person for attending these parking lot services – while permitting citizens to attend nearby drive-in restaurants, even with their windows open. The City appears to have thereby singled churches out as the only essential service (as designated by the state of Mississippi) that may not operate despite following all CDC and state recommendations regarding social distancing.
As we explain in the Statement of Interest, where a state has not acted evenhandedly, it must have a compelling reason to impose restrictions on places of worship and must ensure that those restrictions are narrowly tailored to advance its compelling interest. While we believe that during this period there is a sufficient basis for the social distancing rules that have been put in place, the scope and justification of restrictions beyond that will have to be assessed based on the circumstances as they evolve.
Religion and religious worship continue to be central to the lives of millions of Americans. This is true more so than ever during this difficult time. The pandemic has changed the ways Americans live their lives. Religious communities have rallied to the critical need to protect the community from the spread of this disease by making services available online and in ways that otherwise comply with social distancing guidelines.
The United States Department of Justice will continue to ensure that religious freedom remains protected if any state or local government, in their response to COVID-19, singles out, targets, or discriminates against any house of worship for special restrictions."
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But even in times of emergency, when reasonable and temporary restrictions are placed on rights, the First Amendment and federal statutory law prohibit discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers. Thus, government may not impose special restrictions on religious activity that do not also apply to similar nonreligious activity. For example, if a government allows movie theaters, restaurants, concert halls, and other comparable places of assembly to remain open and unrestricted, it may not order houses of worship to close, limit their congregation size, or otherwise impede religious gatherings. Religious institutions must not be singled out for special burdens.Today, the Department filed a Statement of Interest in support of a church in Mississippi that allegedly sought to hold parking lot worship services, in which congregants listened to their pastor preach over their car radios, while sitting in their cars in the church parking lot with their windows rolled up. The City of Greenville fined congregants $500 per person for attending these parking lot services – while permitting citizens to attend nearby drive-in restaurants, even with their windows open. The City appears to have thereby singled churches out as the only essential service (as designated by the state of Mississippi) that may not operate despite following all CDC and state recommendations regarding social distancing.
Read that you dumb anti America piece of shit!
#2. To: Gatlin (#0)
The United States Department of Justice will continue to ensure that religious freedom remains protected if any state or local government, in their response to COVID-19, singles out, targets, or discriminates against any house of worship for special restrictions."
Let that sink in you dumb ass.
#3. To: A K A Stone (#1)
Read that … I did.
So …
Why are you bothering me with this?
Gathering in cars is just fine.
That has never been restricted.
.The discussion has never been about that.
This has absolutely nothing to do with churches.
It only has to do with parking.
Keep trying in your groveling pathetic desperation.
You are not going to find what you are searching in vain for.
You may however continue to ping me so I can continue to shoot you down.
I enjoy the amusement.
Those restrictions on churches are lawful and remain in effect.
Meanwhile …
#4. To: A K A Stone (#2)
The United States Department of Justice will continue to ensure that religious freedom remains protected if any state or local government, in their response to COVID-19, singles out, targets, or discriminates against any house of worship for special restrictions." Let that sink in you dumb ass.
Please permit me to show you where you are the dumb ass here.
Read “singles out, targets” over a number of times and try to grasp what that means. Understand it? No? Okay, then I will help you.
Had the governor issued an order against everyone assembling in cars at any time and any place to prevent the spread of the virus, then that would have been lawful and the cops could have issued the tickets here. But the governor did not issue such a blanket order and the cops “singled out – or – targeted” only these cars. That is why it was unlawful and that is only Barr intervened.
Are you starting to get the picture right in your mind now? Good. It wasn’t so hard to understand this after I dumbed it down for you as it needed be for any six-year-old child to understand.
Come to me again anytime you have another problem understanding something …
#5. To: A K A Stone, Gatlin (#1)
Read that you dumb anti America piece of shit!
Game. Set. Match.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen.
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#6. To: Gatlin, A K A Stone (#3)
Gathering in cars is just fine. That has never been restricted.
Really Tater?
Kentucky: Christians Met At Church To Defy Tyranny With Nails In Road
The New York Post reports:
Maryville Baptist Church appeared to have a near-full house for its Sunday service despite orders to avoid in-person services — and the heightened risk of catching COVID-19, the Louisville Courier Journal said.
Worshipers arrived even after police warned that they would record their license plates to force them into 14-day quarantines.
Many — including the defiant pastor, the Rev. Jack Roberts — arrived with their plates covered, with officers instead recording their VIN numbers, the paper said.
Even more desperate measures appeared to have been taken to keep the faithful away — with “piles of nails” blocking each entrance, according to photos shared by the Courier Journal.
Gosh, I wonder who coulda done that?
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen.
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#7. To: Deckard (#6)
Gathering in cars is just fine. That has never been restricted. Really Tater?
Kentucky: Christians Met At Church To Defy Tyranny With Nails In Road
The New York Post reports:
What you really need to do is stay on topic.
The discussion here is about cops giving people tickets to people in cars when they had no lawful reason to do so.
We are not discussing so nut in Kentucky who puts nails in the road.
Start a new thread if you feel the urgent call to bring that into discussion.
Also, what you “really” need to do it get your head out of your ass …
#8. To: Deckard, A K A Stone (#5)
Read that you dumb anti America piece of shit! Game. Set. Match.
You are just as stupid as Stone is.
Nowhere have I ever said anything about restricting people in cars.
.The discussion has never been about that.
Stone’s post had absolutely nothing to do with churches.
He brought in an entirely different point which I agree in principle with because it follows the law.
So, why are you saying: “Game. Set. Match?”
#9. To: Deckard, A K A Stone (#5)
No discrimination against religion is good, but what if EVERY American is having their God given natural rights VIOLATED by some GHW bushbot Attorney General?
That's not good, actually more Americans are getting the shaft that way. Unacceptable.
Ron Paul - Lake Jackson Texas Values
#10. To: Gatlin (#7)
The discussion here is about cops giving people tickets to people in cars when they had no lawful reason to do so.
exactly what I posted. The nails were probably just some cop hijinx.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen.
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#11. To: Hondo68 (#9)
their God
Hondo there is only one God.
#12. To: Deckard (#10)
The discussion here is about cops giving people tickets to people in cars when they had no lawful reason to do so. exactly what I posted. The nails were probably just some cop hijinx. That is not exactly what you posted.
You are once again fantasizing. You are indulging in yet another of your wild daydreams about something you only desired to have happened.
You should try hard to come back into the world where the state of things are as they actually exist.
“Learn to see things as they really are – and not dream as you want to see them be” ~ Gatlin [LF 04/15/20]
Furthermore, you are misusing the adjective “probably." You should have used "likely." Learn to understand English and how to properly use it. Correct English can be your best friend – if only you will let it be.
Respectfully …
#13. To: A K A Stone (#11) (Edited)
Hondo there is only one God. I will finish this for you.
The verse deserves esteem recognition with full credit.1 Corinthians 8:6 KJV:“Something worth saying is worth saying properly complete with full credit” ~
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Gatlin [LF 04/15/20].
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