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riversedge

(69,727 posts)
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 11:48 AM Feb 2021

Supreme Court Partly Backs Religious Challenge to California Virus Restrictions

Source: nytimes




The ruling followed a similar one in a case from New York and provided more evidence of a change in the court’s direction after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.






Feb. 6, 2021, 12:34 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON — A splintered Supreme Court on late Friday night partly lifted restrictions on religious services in California that had been prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The court ruled in cases brought by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista and Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. The churches said restrictions imposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, violated the Constitution’s protection of the free exercise of religion.

The restrictions set varying limits on attendance at religious services by county, depending on infection rates. With the pandemic raging, in-person worship services were entirely barred in Tier 1, which covers almost all of the state.

In a brief, unsigned opinion, the court blocked that total ban but left in place a 25 percent capacity restriction and a prohibition on singing and chanting. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch said they would have blocked all of the restrictions. Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented, saying they would have left all of the restrictions in place.

.....................

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/06/us/supreme-court-california-church-coronavirus.html



No two ways about it. Religion trumps Science.






?quality=90&auto=webp
In a brief, unsigned opinion late Friday night, the Supreme Court left in place a 25 percent capacity restriction and a prohibition on singing and chanting in religious services in California.Credit...Adam Beam/Associated Press
Adam Liptak
23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Supreme Court Partly Backs Religious Challenge to California Virus Restrictions (Original Post) riversedge Feb 2021 OP
it's challenging, e.g. can you ban protests? AlexSFCA Feb 2021 #1
Fuck, we're going to have to deal with this for years, aren't we. Grokenstein Feb 2021 #2
Yes OldBaldy1701E Feb 2021 #19
And they will be able to recover economically long before we will Sucha NastyWoman Feb 2021 #21
The religious right is pushing the End Times RainCaster Feb 2021 #3
They are definitely a murder-suicide cult. ananda Feb 2021 #4
Ironic that "pro-life" translates into "pro-death" for evangelicals. LastLiberal in PalmSprings Feb 2021 #17
As long as we can still have snakes.... BobTheSubgenius Feb 2021 #5
This country will never regain our previous normalcy. sarcasmo Feb 2021 #6
Organized religion will be the death of us all because they do not understand Miigwech Feb 2021 #7
I'm a Christian, but the higher being gave me a brain with critical thinking skills and I know it iluvtennis Feb 2021 #8
Tax churches, they are a business enterprise - worship+breathe+covid+death equals funeral revenues bucolic_frolic Feb 2021 #9
Locally two 'mega churches' ... left-of-center2012 Feb 2021 #10
If folks would check their anti-religious biases at the door melm00se Feb 2021 #11
In the vast majority of those cases angrychair Feb 2021 #15
Maybe its time to expand the courts turbinetree Feb 2021 #12
Stupid people. EndlessWire Feb 2021 #13
This Is Not A First Amendment Issue On Free Exercise Of Religion DallasNE Feb 2021 #14
This. ☝ angrychair Feb 2021 #16
I am still trying OldBaldy1701E Feb 2021 #20
Church's are super-spreaders, mask or no mask mdbl Feb 2021 #18
Bronze age fiction trumps science and public safety. badboy67 Feb 2021 #22
Tonight. My house. A religious gathering. Sermon: Good vs Evil, and ... JustABozoOnThisBus Feb 2021 #23

AlexSFCA

(6,137 posts)
1. it's challenging, e.g. can you ban protests?
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 11:55 AM
Feb 2021

constitutionality of lockdowns is not at all clear. It’s been sad to see restaurant owners who lost everything because they were required to shutdown. Those families have children to care for. Covid-19 pandemic is temporary, the inequality it amplified will last for many years.

Grokenstein

(5,707 posts)
2. Fuck, we're going to have to deal with this for years, aren't we.
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 12:04 PM
Feb 2021

The rest of the world will cordon us off while the antimaskers, antivaxxers and superspreaders keep right on killing themselves and us.

Sucha NastyWoman

(2,725 posts)
21. And they will be able to recover economically long before we will
Sun Feb 7, 2021, 04:47 AM
Feb 2021

You’d think the anti-maskers and virus deniers would at least be interested in that aspect.

17. Ironic that "pro-life" translates into "pro-death" for evangelicals.
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 07:07 PM
Feb 2021

I could give a shit whether they choose to join their Maker. It's all the innocent people -- their kids, parents, co-workers, me, etc. -- they can infect as a result of their super-spreader events that annoys me. Freedom of religion doesn't give you the right to spread a highly contagious and fatal virus through the rest of society, any more than the First Amendment gives you the right to shout "fire!" in a crowded theater. Or incite a riot and call it "protected speech," for that matter.

 

Miigwech

(3,741 posts)
7. Organized religion will be the death of us all because they do not understand
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 01:35 PM
Feb 2021

the one true truth .... Unless they each accept the one true light of God , that we are all equal, every man and woman, every race and every religion ... NOT EVEN THE POPE is pure in his knowledge of GOD, the doctrine of his church declares women to be less then men .... this is empirically not so, in the whole of creation. Until all man's religions can accept women and men as equals and accept all of Gods creatures as equal to humans then there will be no religious salvation for anyone. Organizied religion and these effing evangelical tele preachers, Mega church rip-off preachers are nothing more then going through a corporation to talk to God. Some religious man is needed to contact your creator to cure you, the way to go ... check out this absolutely revolutionary leaflet about it. If you have Amazon Prime you get it for free on books, not sure exactly how that works but this shit blows everything out of the water.



A Pure White Light: The Daughter of God Speaks
by Dionysia Adamson

iluvtennis

(19,758 posts)
8. I'm a Christian, but the higher being gave me a brain with critical thinking skills and I know it
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 01:52 PM
Feb 2021

is not safe to be inside a church building during a pandemic. Do like many churches are doing - parking lot services with the pastor on multiple big screens on the parking lot or Facebook or zoom.

You can be a Christian and believe in science - they aren't mutually exclusive.

bucolic_frolic

(42,676 posts)
9. Tax churches, they are a business enterprise - worship+breathe+covid+death equals funeral revenues
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 02:08 PM
Feb 2021

Funerals are not free. This is an ongoing, repetitive, cookie-cutter BUSINESS, not a non-profit.

left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
10. Locally two 'mega churches' ...
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 02:15 PM
Feb 2021

Locally (Albuquerque) two 'mega churches' have renamed their church services as 'peaceful protests'
as the state COVID-19 restrictions permit 'peaceful protests'.

melm00se

(4,974 posts)
11. If folks would check their anti-religious biases at the door
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 02:27 PM
Feb 2021

and I would suggest that they remove the Church and substitute:

BLM, Anti-Trump protests, Union picket lines or any other progressive cause that wants to be able to exercise their right of assembly then honestly reflect upon their stance.

And then look into the future and gauge their reaction if the Court referenced this ruling to suppress any of the above.

angrychair

(8,594 posts)
15. In the vast majority of those cases
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 04:50 PM
Feb 2021

Those protest are being done outside and the vast majority of people wearing masks.

In the case of church services they are indoors and 99% of people are not wearing masks.

While few cases have been tied to protest events, literally thousands of cases have been tied to indoor, unmasked, church services.

So these type of events are not similar. While none of them are ideal, at least protesters, by in large, are taking some level of precautions.

EndlessWire

(6,377 posts)
13. Stupid people.
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 04:28 PM
Feb 2021

They shouldn't be allowed to infect themselves and then carry it back to the community. We have rights, too. It's reckless endangerment. And, G-d never said it was okay to harm your fellow humans in this manner.

DallasNE

(7,392 posts)
14. This Is Not A First Amendment Issue On Free Exercise Of Religion
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 04:36 PM
Feb 2021

These restrictions did not single out churches. They applied across the board. The next step would be for a private owner to challenge the restrictions based on deeply held religious beliefs along the line of Hobby Lobby. It is a slippery slope. Besides, it is arbitrary by setting restrictions that were softer than what the Governor determined was the best. This is overstepping the bounds of what SCOTUS should be doing. It is a terrible decision where no precedence is cited - a sure sign that the decision is badly decided.

OldBaldy1701E

(4,968 posts)
20. I am still trying
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 11:44 PM
Feb 2021

to figure out exactly how the restrictions deny anyone their beliefs. Now, if they are saying that they cannot practice their religion without gathering on one place... well, I think I would be questioning why this is a requirement. (Of course it has nothing to do with needing to rook the 'faithful' out of their hard earned money by scare tactics and mob mentality on a regular basis... nothing at all. Of course.)

mdbl

(4,972 posts)
18. Church's are super-spreaders, mask or no mask
Sat Feb 6, 2021, 08:20 PM
Feb 2021

Most of my visits to any church has me sitting around a bunch of coughing weezing sick people. This was before the pandemic. Why the hell would anyone want to risk going there until we have achieved a high percentage of immunity? The supreme court should have just rejected this with no comment. Dumbasses.

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,283 posts)
23. Tonight. My house. A religious gathering. Sermon: Good vs Evil, and ...
Sun Feb 7, 2021, 06:45 AM
Feb 2021

... is Tom Brady a god, or a devil? We will watch the holy contest.

BYOB. And, bring lots of cash, there will be a collection plate passed by some very big and fierce "ushers".

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