A View from the States: The Criminalization of Faith

 

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,
religion and morality are indispensable supports . . . And let us with
caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained
without religion.  Whatever may be conceded to the influence of
refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and
experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail
in exclusion of religious principle. - George Washington, 1789
Farewell Address

Every individual, family, and church community should seek to follow
the Lord's command to love our neighbor as ourselves and follow
social distancing guidelines in order to protect our community as we
all seek to control the spread of COVID-19. And in return, government
leaders should trust religious bodies to follow generally applicable
guidelines. However, over the Easter weekend we saw a marked uptick in
government leaders showing extreme distrust for the religious
community and threatening harsh criminal penalties for exercising
religious freedoms.

Because the First Amendment is a fundamental right explicitly listed
in the Bill of Rights, it gets heightened protection. Any state law or
regulation that affects religious practice or belief should be
generally applicable, meaning that it must apply to everyone and
cannot target religious people specifically as a distinct group.
Further, any regulation/law must be for a specific purpose (like
combating a pandemic) and cannot simply be imposed for an unrelated
purpose.

When do the COVID-19 church orders go too far?

Generally speaking, government regulations go too far when they single
out religious groups - parishioners, churches, mosques,
synagogues, etc. - for unequal treatment or criminal
prosecution. This is true during normal circumstances. It remains true
during times of crisis like the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Many of the early stay-at-home orders applying to churches did so
broadly. And the vast majority of churches complied willingly. In
other states without mandatory orders, churches complied voluntarily
for the good of the community. But as Easter and Passover approached,
this mutual trust between government and church disappeared.

In my state of Kansas, after weeks of working with legislative
leaders, liberal Governor Laura Kelly reversed her exemption for
churches and issued an executive order singling out churches while
exempting 25 other types of groups. She even went so far as to compare
church services to KU basketball games. While Kansans love KU
basketball, there are clear constitutional differences.

Similarly, in New Mexico the liberal governor changed her mind about
whether churches were trustworthy during the holiest week in the
Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths. She specifically went so far as
to prohibit people from even producing recorded services where no
congregants were in attendance.

How bad is it?

* In Kansas, attending church could mean $2500 in fines and up to
a year in jail.
* In Kentucky, the liberal Governor threatened to collect the
license plate numbers of any who attended churches, even
drive-in services (where people remained safely in their cars)
while ignoring others at drive-in restaurants or retail stores.
* New York City Mayor de Blasio threatened to close churches
permanently if they did not comply with his closure order.
* Some counties in California have even banned drive-in services.
* Even the generally conservative Governor of Indiana issued a
very detailed restrictive order targeting churches unfairly.
* In Mississippi, drive-in services were banned. Now U.S. Attorney
General Barr is working to protect the religious freedom rights
of one of the churches affected there.

To add salt to this wound, many of these states allow abortion clinics
to continue operating. In states where recreational marijuana is
legal, pot shops have been deemed essential businesses. Similarly,
liquor stores are deemed essential in most every state as well. Yet,
church doors are shuttered.

Where do we go from here?

While there are no perfect solutions, other liberal governors in
states like Colorado and Wisconsin figured out ways to work with the
churches-to allow them to continue to produce services, while
encouraging members to stay home. There are multiple different means
for the church to still worship together without endangering lives.
And as many people have said recently, the church is much more than
just a building. God has provided great gifts of creativity and
technology that many churches are putting to good use.

At the same time, Governors and government leaders are not off the
hook - they still need to operate constitutionally. They cannot
be allowed to set dangerous precedents that single out religious
freedom for criminal prosecution.

Only under rare, extraordinary circumstances, can religious freedom be
squelched, if at all. In those circumstances, government actions
cannot, even then, single out religious freedom alone for punitive
action.

Governors should actually strive to work with the faith community on a
number of fronts amid this crisis. Family Policy Alliance team members
have been on calls with President Trump and Vice President Pence, who
have repeatedly thanked the faith community for all that they are
doing to rearrange their services and serve their communities.

George Washington didn't realize how important his 1789 words would be
in 2020. We need national morality-fueled by religion-amid
the fight against COVID-19 more than ever. Churches are coming
alongside the government leaders to battle the coronavirus, provide
hope, serve their communities, and help guide us through the crisis.
Now we must make sure our government leaders come alongside the
churches so that we still recognize our country's moral fabric after
the crisis passes.

Sincerely,


Brittany Jones, Esq.
Advocacy Director
Family Policy Alliance of Kansas

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