Religious Freedom Isn't Cancelled

Cancel culture have you down? Whether it's a cancelled event due
to COVID-19 or a "cancelled" public figure, 2020 has
certainly been the year of the cancellation. But here's one
thing that hasn't been cancelled: the fight to protect families
and freedom across our nation. In spite of the difficulties of
COVID-19, we praise God for some amazing victories for religious
freedom and the family.

Today, here are 7 victories people of faith can celebrate during
COVID-19:

1. The Trump Administration included non-profit and faith-based
entities in COVID relief.

In the thick of the pandemic's economic fallout, it would have
been easy for leaders to forget about - or intentionally ignore
- non-profit and faith-based entities in their financial relief
response. Thankfully, leaders made sure to include them, with even
President Trump himself tweeting out, "The Paycheck Protection
Program is up and running! The program is open to nonprofits as well,
so banks be sure to sign up our Great Religious and Veteran
Organizations that need help!"

2. Family Policy Alliance of New Jersey led a coalition of pastors to
get churches on the Governor's reopening plan.

As states began to reopen after initial closures, many included
provisions for houses of worship. But not New Jersey! Family Policy
Alliance of New Jersey joined with other local leaders and pastors to
persistently ask Governor Murphy to allow churches to reopen.
It's a stunning story - but the good news is that thanks
to the work of citizens, the Governor ultimately allowed 
churches to open on a limited basis.

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3. The Supreme Court handed down three wins for religious freedom in
recent decisions.

Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue: The Supreme Court affirmed
that families in Montana should be free to choose the education that
best suits their children-including in faith-based schools, that
the old Blaine Amendment used to invalidate the scholarship program is
bigoted and discriminatory, and that faith-based schools can't
be disqualified from a school choice program just because they are
faith-based. Thanks to our friends at Montana Family Institute for
their great work in making this win possible!

Our Lady of Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru:  Our Lady of
Guadalupe centered around a Catholic school that simply made an
employment decision about one of its teachers - and got sued for
it. The case asked whether the First Amendment prevents courts from
interfering in situations like the one faced by the Catholic
school. Ultimately, the Supreme Court took a stand on the side of
freedom for religious institutions.

Little Sisters of the Poor vs. Pennsylvania: The Little Sisters of the
Poor are a group of nuns who take a vow of chastity and provide care
to the elderly poor. When Obamacare regulations would have forced them
to pay for contraception (to which they objected on religious
grounds), the nuns were faced with a choice to pay a large fine or
violate their consciences. They chose the third option: go to court.
After an extended series of lawsuits, the Supreme Court's recent
decision hopefully settled the nun's case for good. And
it's good news: they don't have to pay for contraception
to which they have a religious, or moral, objection!

4. COVID ChurchAid proved a fantastic resource for pastors and
churches navigating COVID's uncharted waters.

Thanks to our friends at Florida Family Action for creating COVID
Church Aid, a website filled with COVID-19 resources for church
leaders, including resources on the Paycheck Protection Program. It
was invaluable as pastors and churches made decisions about finances,
reopening, and pastoring during a pandemic.
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5. A federal judge recently ruled in favor of churches in New York

When houses of worship were targeted with capacity restrictions in New
York, a federal judge disagreed - and prevented the targeting
from being enforced. He noted that while New York Governor Cuomo and
NYC Mayor de Blasio have both supported protest gatherings, they
continued to restrict religious gatherings. We're glad the judge
saw the irony!

6. Family Policy Alliance of Kansas played a key role in three major
wins for religious freedom in the state.

In the words of Advocacy Director Brittany Jones, "During height
of the impact of COVID-19, Family Policy Alliance of Kansas never
stopped working to protect the God-given freedoms of Kansans. We
worked with legislative, grassroots, and policy leaders to push back
when Governor Kelly targeted churches for unfair treatment. Her
actions were eventually strongly rebuked by a federal judge. We were a
key part to standing alongside legislators as they worked through an
all-night session to correct Governor Kelly's overreach into
schools, businesses and churches and rein in her power as we continue
to deal with COVID-19. Further, we worked with legislators and
grassroots leaders to defeat multiple Medicaid expansion attempts that
did not include important pro-life protections."

7. In Wyoming, the Governor changed his public health order to allow
churches to fully open despite COVID.

For freedom-loving people, this is a big win: churches are fully open
in Wyoming! Of course, no one's being forced to go to church or
encouraged to not take important precautions. But we are glad that the
state's governor recognizes the importance of religious freedom,
and your support of Family Policy Alliance of Wyoming helped make this
possible!

We were encouraged by these wins, and hope that you are, too. Most
importantly, we hope that you're encouraged to keep up the
fight. Many of these wins were not easy - for instance, getting
the New Jersey Governor to put churches in the reopening plan at all.
And we know that we have future battles to fight: The ACLU, Planned
Parenthood, and their political allies continue to push their radical
abortion and transgender agendas with no regard for people of faith.
We've seen it even in places like North Dakota, where the
legislature has defeated three religious freedom-threatening bills in
two legislative sessions!

But when that happens again - as we know it will -- we'll
keep fighting so religious freedom never gets cancelled.

Sincerely,


Meridian Baldacci
Policy and Communications Strategist

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Mailing Address:
8675 Explorer Drive, Suite 112
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
(866) 655-4545
FamilyPolicyAlliance.com


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