Surge Summary: Recent government actions in the run-up to the Thanksgiving Holiday, in conjunction with COVID-19 lockdown orders which have targeted church gatherings for months, suggest an anti-Christian animosity on the part of many of the nation’s leaders. How is the American church going to respond – especially in light of the genuine danger so many of their brethren face around the world where it is actually illegal and/or life-threatening to meet and worship?
by Gary Bauer
First they came for Easter. Just before Palm Sunday and Easter, liberal mayors and governors shut down churches while allowing big box stores, marijuana dispensaries and abortion clinics to remain open. Overwhelmingly, churches complied, although I wish they hadn’t.
Now the left is coming for Thanksgiving.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is calling on residents of her city to “cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans.” California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an absurd decree severely restricting Thanksgiving gatherings.
Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a similar order and suggested that if police see evidence of more than 10 people in a house, they should knock on the door and act accordingly. Some New York sheriffs are refusing to enforce the governor’s order.
Joe Biden was asked yesterday what his advice for Thanksgiving was. He said that family gatherings should be limited to a “maximum [of] 10 people, socially distanced, wearing masks, and people who have quarantined.”
As we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, I hope more churches will resist these outrageous shutdown orders. There is little evidence that the shutdowns actually do much to change the course of the disease.
Beyond that, there are hidden agendas here. To tell a church which can seat 1,000 people that it cannot have more than 25 at a service is irrational. It’s so irrational that it suggests there is something else at play.
The tendency of the Church to collapse in front of this pressure, because we’re told it is an emergency, is setting a dangerous precedent. We have had bad flu seasons that kill 80,000 people. Will churches be asked to shut down for the flu in the future?
The next time a jihadist group threatens to attack a church or synagogue, will they be ordered to shut down because the experts say the best way to save lives is to close? And what Bible verses are people relying on for this kind of reasoning?
Christians in many parts of the world regularly go to church knowing there are huge risks involved. The church could be blown up or set on fire. They could be gunned down leaving church.
Chinese Christians go to church every Sunday knowing that facial recognition technology installed by the godless Chinese Communist Party is recording them. As a result, their children may not be able to go to college or they may be arrested in the middle of the night by state police.
It is time for American Christians to do a gut check.
If a church decides to shut down, it should send a letter to government officials at all levels saying they are doing so voluntarily in the best interest of the congregation, but that local officials have no legal authority to close the church.
As Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito recently warned, COVID restrictions are creating “previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty,” especially religious liberty. But the Constitution is still the supreme law of the land, and the First Amendment still guarantees religious liberty.
The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge
Originally posted here.
Image: Thanksgiving meal; https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/; Adapted from: https://creazilla.com/nodes/32282-turkey-on-a-platter-arranged-with-fruit-and-bread-clipart; https://openclipart.org/
Image: Cancelled; HanaKara’s picture on Pixabay .
Gary Lee Bauer is an American politician and activist, who served in the Reagan administration. He later became president of the Family Research Council and a senior vice president of Focus on the Family. In 2000, he participated in the Republican presidential contest.
Surge Summary: Recent government actions in the run-up to the Thanksgiving Holiday, in conjunction with COVID-19 lockdown orders which have targeted church gatherings for months, suggest an anti-Christian animosity on the part of many of the nation’s leaders. How is the American church going to respond – especially in light of the genuine danger so many of their brethren face around the world where it is actually illegal and/or life-threatening to meet and worship?
by Gary BauerFirst they came for Easter. Just before Palm Sunday and Easter, liberal mayors and governors shut down churches while allowing big box stores, marijuana dispensaries and abortion clinics to remain open. Overwhelmingly, churches complied, although I wish they hadn’t.
Now the left is coming for Thanksgiving.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is calling on residents of her city to “cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans.” California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an absurd decree severely restricting Thanksgiving gatherings.
Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a similar order and suggested that if police see evidence of more than 10 people in a house, they should knock on the door and act accordingly. Some New York sheriffs are refusing to enforce the governor’s order.
Joe Biden was asked yesterday what his advice for Thanksgiving was. He said that family gatherings should be limited to a “maximum [of] 10 people, socially distanced, wearing masks, and people who have quarantined.”
As we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, I hope more churches will resist these outrageous shutdown orders. There is little evidence that the shutdowns actually do much to change the course of the disease.Beyond that, there are hidden agendas here. To tell a church which can seat 1,000 people that it cannot have more than 25 at a service is irrational. It’s so irrational that it suggests there is something else at play.
The tendency of the Church to collapse in front of this pressure, because we’re told it is an emergency, is setting a dangerous precedent. We have had bad flu seasons that kill 80,000 people. Will churches be asked to shut down for the flu in the future?
The next time a jihadist group threatens to attack a church or synagogue, will they be ordered to shut down because the experts say the best way to save lives is to close? And what Bible verses are people relying on for this kind of reasoning?
Christians in many parts of the world regularly go to church knowing there are huge risks involved. The church could be blown up or set on fire. They could be gunned down leaving church.
Chinese Christians go to church every Sunday knowing that facial recognition technology installed by the godless Chinese Communist Party is recording them. As a result, their children may not be able to go to college or they may be arrested in the middle of the night by state police.It is time for American Christians to do a gut check.
If a church decides to shut down, it should send a letter to government officials at all levels saying they are doing so voluntarily in the best interest of the congregation, but that local officials have no legal authority to close the church.
As Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito recently warned, COVID restrictions are creating “previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty,” especially religious liberty. But the Constitution is still the supreme law of the land, and the First Amendment still guarantees religious liberty.
The views here are those of the author and not necessarily Daily Surge
Originally posted here.Image: Thanksgiving meal; https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/; Adapted from: https://creazilla.com/nodes/32282-turkey-on-a-platter-arranged-with-fruit-and-bread-clipart; https://openclipart.org/
Image: Cancelled; HanaKara’s picture on Pixabay .
Gary Lee Bauer is an American politician and activist, who served in the Reagan administration. He later became president of the Family Research Council and a senior vice president of Focus on the Family. In 2000, he participated in the Republican presidential contest.
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