Dear CV Friend,

They got fined $500.

What was the offense?

They were attending a drive-in church service in Greenville,
Mississippi. Get this: They were listening to the sermon on the
radio -- with their windows rolled up -- and still got fined.

Thankfully, Attorney General William Barr (a pro-life Catholic)
was having none of that!

Barr wrote:

"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 [Centers
for Disease Control] and state recommendations regarding social
distancing."

Barr's statement was enough to get Greenville Mayor Errick
Simmons to back off. The mayor announced that citizens who
received these fines will not have to pay.

But that's not the end of it. Over in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer has become a petty tyrant. Citizens in Michigan cannot
travel to other people's houses. In Michigan, you can't even buy
vegetable seeds to grow a garden, but you can buy marijuana and
lottery tickets.

It's madness.

The elites in entertainment, academia, and the media can more
easily telecommute and adapt to stay-at-home orders. But they're
out of touch with the hard-working Americans who live paycheck to
paycheck or struggle to keep their small businesses afloat.

We need to start talking about safely re-opening our country and
allowing people to earn a living again.

PROBLEM: Anyone who dares to suggest reasonable options to
re-open America - including churches - is accused of endangering
grandmothers or placing greed and money ahead of public health.

It's time to call these accusations out for what they are:
ridiculous straw man attacks.

Let's not forget that the primary purpose of the recent
restrictions was to "flatten the curve" so as not to overwhelm
our hospitals. We did it. The curve is flattening and our
hospitals are reporting large declines in patient intakes.

The United States is a massive country. It's time to have a
constructive conversation about getting people back to work -
immediately - especially people living in rural areas and small
towns or whose jobs do not require interacting in close proximity
with large numbers of people.

After all, many workers are now in dire straits and are hardly
immoral greedy profiteers worshipping the GDP.

Most importantly, it is time to stop treating religious Americans
like criminals.

Catholic church leaders should begin to explore ways to allow
Catholics to worship Our Lord while maintaining social
distancing. Parking lot Masses? Perhaps offer more, but shorter
Masses, even if Holy Communion may not be distributed to everyone
(as it was for much of the history of the Church). Be creative!

Just recently officials inside the White House reached out to me
to ask what Catholics want from the administration at this time.
My response: Let's flatten the curve and get our churches and
economy opened back up ASAP.

This isn't a call for an immediate "return to normal." That won't
happen for a while. But you can't put an entire economy in the
freezer. And citizens cannot be locked inside their homes in
perpetuity. Doing so will only lead to widespread poverty,
depression, suicide -- even civil disobedience and unrest as we
are starting to see...

And that outcome could turn out to be worse than the virus
itself.

Our public officials have done an excellent job educating about
the virus, its effects on public health, and the necessary
precautions we should take.

The American people get it.

We're ready to begin the transition back to church and work.

Yet given the facts, the flattening curve, the emptying
hospitals, and the clear ability to begin managing a responsible
and gradual re-opening of the economy, those opposed to such a
transition raise a serious question...

What else do they have in mind?

Brian


PAID FOR BY CATHOL‌ICVOTE.ORG EDUCATION FUND.
P.‌O. Box 259‌837 | Madi‌son, WI 53725 | (312) 201-6559




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