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Friday, May 8, 2020

APOSTASY: LUTHERANS PRAY TO MOTHER GOD FOR HELP, JUST LIKE ROMAN CATHOLICS

Lutherans Pray to Mother God
LUTHERANS PRAY TO MOTHER GOD FOR HELP
BY DAVID CLOUD
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
LUTHERANS PRAY TO MOTHER GOD FOR HELP 
(Friday Church News Notes, May 8, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - 
On April 28 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America posted a prayer tweet addressed to “Mother God,” asking her to “raise us up to salvation ... so we may share the sweetness of your holy word with all the world.” This was one of the ELCA’s #Bread4theday Twitter posts. The ELCA is the largest Lutheran denomination in America, and it is obviously apostate. The ELCA Publishing House has printed countless volumes which promote unbelief. For example, in 1988 an ELCA book by Ragnar Leivestad, entitled Jesus in His Own Perspective, goofily claimed that Jesus never invoked for himself a special position and did not claim messianic titles. The World Council of Churches, of which the ELCA is a member, is filled with mother goddess worship. ELCA women participated in the WCC’S “Re-imagining Conference” in 1993 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Star Tribune reported that “throughout the conference worship experiences will celebrate Sophia, the biblical goddess of creation” (Nov. 3, 1993). On Sunday morning, the conferees joined together in repeating a prayer to their female goddess, including these words, “Our maker Sophia, we are women in your image. ... With the honey of wisdom in our mouths, we prophesy a full humanity to all the peoples.” At the WCC’s Seventh Assembly in 1991 South Korean Presbyterian Chung Hyun-Kyung evoked a female Holy Spirit (Religious News Service, Mar. 5, 1991). The WCC publication No Longer Strangers, a joint project with the Lutheran World Federation, which includes the ELCA, suggested that God be addressed as “The Source, Lady of peace, Lady of wisdom, Lady of love, Lady of birth, Lord of stars, Lord of planets, Mother, Home, Presence, Power, Essence, Simplicity.” Consider the poem “Bakerwoman God,” which is to be used in church services: “Bakerwoman God, I am your living bread. Strong, brown, Bakerwoman God ... Put me in your fire, Bakerwoman God ... Break me, Bakerwoman God. ... Bakerwoman God, remake me.” The hour is very late, folks!

NJ2AS VIDEO: SAYREVILLE, NEW JERSEY GESTAPO POLICE DENYING ALL GUN PERMITTING RIGHTS TO CITIZENS

NJ2AS VIDEO: SAYREVILLE, NEW JERSEY GESTAPO POLICE DENYING ALL 
GUN PERMITTING RIGHTS TO CITIZENS 
BY ALEX ROUBIAN
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
U.S.A. -(Ammoland.com)- Almost two months into the Covid-19 pandemic, the 
government of NJ is showing their true colors on how they really feel about the Second 
Amendment. Gun owners are seeing little relief in the abuse of their rights.

Gun stores are heavily restricted on visitation from the public. Gun safety training schools and ranges are still closed. This makes it impossible for new gun owners to learn proper safety procedures. It’s ironic that the same people calling for “gun safety” are the first to exploit Governor Murphy’s executive orders to actually make firearm use potentially more dangerous.
Recently, we’ve had several tips from our members about the Sayreville police department outright refusing to process gun permits. Their Facebook page, phone messages, and police department lobby all have messaging declaring the firearm department is closed until further notice. Watch to find out the full story.

About New Jersey Second Amendment Society:
New Jersey Second Amendment Society
New Jersey Second Amendment Society – The NJ2AS uses innovative and bold direct-action tactics to expose, document, and take results-oriented action to confront anti-Second Amendment policies and legislators.
By Defending, Protecting, and Preserving the Second Amendment within New Jersey, the NJ2AS works to ensure that our civil rights are restored, no longer degraded, and to prevent NJ from being used as a laboratory to destroy the Second Amendment nationwide. Visit: www.nj2as.com

NEW YORK TIMES BLAMES HASIDIM, PURIM FOR CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

NEW YORK TIMES BLAMES HASIDIM, PURIM FOR CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
BY IRA STOLL
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
Did the Hasidic Jewish community in New York bring coronavirus upon itself by refusing to cancel in-person Purim megillah readings?
That’s the narrative being pushed by The New York Times, which, in a news article, reported, “Celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Purim, which fell on March 10 this year, were canceled by many Reform, Conservative, and Modern Orthodox synagogues. But many Hasidic groups observed the festival, drawing people to gatherings where they may have been exposed to the virus.”
As is so often the case with The New York Times and Jewish matters, the newspaper has it wrong. Start with the basics: In Judaism, holidays, and days, begin at nightfall. So the Sabbath begins on Friday night and lasts into Saturday. Purim, the 14th of Adar on the Hebrew calendar, was widely observed on Monday night, March 9. There’s another reading of the Book of Esther the following morning and some people might have a festive meal afterward, but the big Purim celebrations were Monday night, March 9, not, as the Times inaccurately reports, March 10. Perhaps the paper will run a correction on this point as it has on so many other matters of Jewish ritual and law over the years, or perhaps it will display its disregard for accuracy by failing to publish a correction.
The Times article makes it sound like, by Purim, everyone except for those reckless Hasidim was already sheltering in place, locked down, or in an informal self-imposed quarantine. But that gets the timeline wrong. Broadway theaters and the Metropolitan Museum of Art didn’t shut down until Thursday, March 12 — more than 48 hours after the night of Purim. On March 10, New York Times reporters were still commuting via subway, and movie theaters in New York City were open. New York City Public Schools were open through Friday, March 13, and the mayor only announced their closure on Sunday, March 15 — nearly a week after Purim. The Museum of Modern Art in New York remained open until Thursday, March 12 and only closed starting Friday, March 13.
So why pick on the Hasidim?
The Times doesn’t have any scientific count of what percentage of Reform, Conservative, or Modern Orthodox congregations “canceled” Purim. “Many” may have canceled, but many also went ahead and observed the holiday in person. I personally attended a megillah reading on Monday night, March 9 at a non-Hasidic congregation in Massachusetts. A local news outlet published a slideshow of a 2020 Purim carnival at Temple Beth Am, a Reform synagogue in Framingham, Massachusetts. The Los Angeles Times published a news article late in the afternoon of March 9 with the following passages:
“We’re trying to manage the delta between vigilance and panic,” said Rabbi Adam Kligfeld of Temple Beth Am, a large Conservative congregation whose Purim events are especially popular among young families. “As of now, nothing is canceled. We’re encouraging people to come.” …
“With the Purim carnival [Sunday] we went back and forth whether or not to cancel it, and it was packed,” Kligfeld said. “It was overflowing.”
As for those congregations that did cancel Purim celebrations, they didn’t get much adulatory treatment at all in the moment from the Times. The newspaper was apparently holding back and reserving the extensive-photo-essay plus a column treatment for Ramadan: “Some mosques, where men and women normally pray shoulder to shoulder and crowds spill into the streets, have made efforts to space out the faithful to prevent contagion. Others, from Paris to Brooklyn to Mecca, toward which all Muslims pray, have shut their doors altogether.”
It’s gotten to the point where the double standard is widely recognized in the Jewish community. The Times coverage informs the mayor’s response, which then is repeated again by the Times. David Greenfield, a former New York City Council member, tweeted over the weekend as crowds filled New York parks to enjoy the warm weather: “Message: do whatever the heck you want if you’re not Hasidic.”
Ira Stoll was managing editor of The Forward and North American editor of The Jerusalem Post. His media critique, a regular Algemeiner feature, can be found here.

CORONAVIRUS SURVIVORS SOON "PERMANENTLY DISQUALIFIED FROM JOINING U.S. MILITARY"

Coronavirus Survivors Soon 'Permanently Disqualified From Joining US Military'
CORONAVIRUS SURVIVORS SOON "PERMANENTLY DISQUALIFIED FROM JOINING U.S. MILITARY" 

Pentagon memo states strange new COVID-19 regulations

BY DAN LYMAN
SEE: https://www.infowars.com/coronavirus-survivors-soon-permanently-disqualified-from-joining-us-military/republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Any applicant who has survived the COVID-19 coronavirus will be barred from enrolling in the US military, unless they can obtain a waiver from the branch they would like to join, according to a new Pentagon memo.
“During the medical history interview or examination, a history of COVID-19, confirmed by either a laboratory test or a clinician diagnosis, is permanently disqualifying…” the US Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPCOM) memo reads.
According to the Washington Times, over 4,000 US troops have tested positive for COVID-19, while nearly 1,000 crew members of USS Theodore Roosevelt were confirmed to have been infected, as well.
​Military Times said that they received confirmation on the authenticity of the memo from Pentagon spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell. The document also includes guidance on how to deal with potential and confirmed COVID-19 cases, beginning with an initial screening at 65 Military Entry Processing (MEPS) stations.
If an applicant fails the screening, he or she will not be tested, and will be able to return in 14 days if they are symptom-free and do not have clinical diagnosis. Anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 will have to wait for 28 days, after receiving confirmation, to report to MEPS, according to the directive.
When reported, the diagnosis would be “permanently disqualifying”, unless an applicant gets a waiver, although it is not clear how one could be obtained.
The US military does not disclose data on the number of confirmed coronavirus cases among servicemen and women out of security concerns, but reports allege there are over 4,000 US troops to have tested positive for COVID-19, while the US Navy has recorded 1,688 confirmed cases and 8 deaths.

THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: A TEST OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER~TODAY'S AMERICANS & YESTERYEAR'S AMERICANS: CRY BABIES VS. ROARING GIANTS

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THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: 
A TEST OF CHRISTIAN CHARACTER 
BY DAVID CLOUD
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:

The coronavirus pandemic is the greatest world crisis since World War II. As it turns out, the world probably shouldn’t have been closed down, but that is largely in hindsight. The way that the events occurred was like the falling of dominoes. There was no stopping it, and it’s all water under the bridge. Great damage has been done to the world economy, and the repercussions cannot yet be determined by anyone. The draconian power of government over the details of people’s lives has moved to a new and frightful level even in the “free nations.” There is talk of civil wars, rioting, famine, the breakdown of society. It looks like a trial run for the antichrist, and surely the devil would put his man on the throne of this world today if there were not one who withholds him. “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Th. 2:7). There is a pandemic of highly infectious fear, doubt, uncertainty, confusion, frustration, anger. For “old-fashioned” Americans, there is the added frustration of seeing a beloved country ruined, constitutional liberties thrown to the ground and trampled in the mire, socialists on the rampage, demagoguery on every hand, good sense thrown to the wind, propagandists in the seat of the news media, haters of the founding Fathers in high places. So where is my heart in all of this? What has this great crisis shown? As it has tested my metal, what has been revealed? Do I really, truly believe that it is God who changes the times and that my times are in His hand? “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Da. 2:21). “But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand...” (Ps. 31:14-15). Am I acting like this is true, or am I acting like my times are in the hands of the government, the World Health Organization, Bill Gates, China, some prominent medical authority, the banking system, society, or perhaps the devil? Is my heart focused in heavenly places or on this world? “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:1-4). Do I really have the mindset of a pilgrim whose citizenship is in heaven and who is merely journeying through this world as in a strange land? Can I truly sing from the heart, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through?” Or have I sunk deep roots in this world and do I love this world like Lot’s wife loved Sodom? What flag are I flying the highest? The flag of heaven, or the American or the British or the European Union or some other flag of this world? Do I glory in tribulation as God tells me to do, understanding its purpose and benefit in God’s will? “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Ro. 5:3-5). “Glory”in Romans 5:3 is the Greek kauchaomai, which is translated “rejoice” Romans 5:2. It has the idea of being confident in, boasting in, being sure of. It is the opposite of being discouraged by, frustrated with, overwhelmed by, cast down by, defeated by, angry at. Am I trusting God’s Word and believing His promises in a real, practical way? Do I really believe that all things work together for good for those who love God (Ro. 8:28), that my times are in His hand (Ps. 31:15), that the Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want (Ps. 23:1), that surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life (Ps. 23:6), that the righteous is not forsaken nor does his seed beg bread (Ps. 37:25), that God will never leave me nor forsake me (Heb. 13:5)? Is this my testimony? Is this what others see and hear of me? Or am I doubting, fearing, complaining, confused, frustrated, acting just the unsaved around me? Am I truly seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, or do other things have first place? Can I truly say with Job, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. ... What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 1:212:10)? Can I truly say with Habakkuk, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:17-18)? Does this crisis show that I truly do NOT love this world, that I am NOT conformed to this world, that I am NOT the friend of this world? Am I anxious about the closing down of vain things like professional sports? Am I worried about what might happen to my worldly plans? “And be not conformed to this world” (Ro. 12:2). “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 Jo. 2:15-17). “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (Jas. 4:4). What does the way I am spending my time during lockdown show about the character of my Christian life? Have I used the time to immerse myself in prayer and the Word of God and ministry. Have I found special Bible projects to do? Have I spent the time encouraging others in the Word of God and helping them think right about this crisis? Or have I been spiritually depressed, idle, playing, wasting time on social media for no good purpose? “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord” (Ro. 12:11).
_____________________________________________________________

Today's Americans and Yesteryear's Americans

Cry babies vs. roaring giants
BY WALTER WILLIAMS
SEE: https://cms.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/04/todays-americans-and-yesteryears-americans-walter-williamsrepublished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Dr. Victor Davis Hanson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, a military historian and a professor emeritus of classics at California State University, Fresno. He has written two articles relevant to today's society. Last October he published, "Members of Previous Generations Now Seem Like Giants," and he recently wrote, "Is America a Roaring Giant or Crying Baby?"
In the first article, Hanson starts with some observations and questions regarding the greatness of previous generations compared with today's Americans. He asks: "Does anyone believe that contemporary Americans could build another transcontinental railroad in six years? ... America went to the moon in 1969 with supposedly primitive computers and backward engineering. Does anyone believe we could launch a similar moonshot today?" Hanson observes: "We have been fighting in Afghanistan without result for 18 years. Our forefathers helped to win World War II and defeat the Axis Powers in four years." Keep in mind that the Axis powers (Germany, Japan and Italy) had far greater firepower than the Afghan rebels that we've fought. Hanson also could have asked whether today's Americans could build a 1,700-mile road such as the ALCAN Highway, connecting the lower 48 states to Alaska, whose construction started in March 1942 and was completed in October that year.
In terms of learning, Hanson asks whether anyone believes that a 2020 college graduate knows half of what a 1950 graduate knew. In the 1940s, he says, young people read the works of William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pearl Buck and John Steinbeck. He doubts that today's high school graduates could even finish "The Good Earth" or "The Grapes of Wrath." I attended Benjamin Franklin High School from 1950 to 1954, and our senior English class required reading included Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" and William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and "Julius Caesar." By the way, when I attended Benjamin Franklin High, it was ranked the lowest among Philadelphia's high schools.
Hanson's second article asks whether our response to the COVID-19 epidemic will be that of a "roaring giant" or "crying baby." We can awaken, just as we did on Dec. 8, 1941, with massive amounts of fight, ready to get on a war footing. For those who were not around then or do not know our history, in 1941 our nation had seven fleet aircraft carriers and one escort carrier. By 1945, it was deploying 27 fleet and 72 escort carriers. In December 1941, we had 2.2 million service members in the U.S. military. By the war's end, there were more than 12 million Americans in the armed services. That's an astonishing mobilization considering our population was a little over 132 million. What's even more amazing is that our gross domestic product for 1944 exceeded the combined economic output of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy and Germany.
Hanson says that our other choice regarding the epidemic is whether to continue the partisan bickering and blaming. We can ignore the importance of the crisis and instead scapegoat and play the blame game. We can talk not of an America in crisis but of the virus's effects on particular groups. We can decide that to hold China responsible for lying about the virus is mean, racist and, at best, xenophobic.
In other words, Hanson says, "The choice is ours whether America awakens as a roaring giant or a crying baby." My prediction is that Americans, left to their own tendencies, will roar together as giants and will ignore the political and media crybabies.

AMERICA THE WUSS: FROM RUGGED PIONEERS TO COWERING SHEEP~WHAT HAPPENED TO THE AMERICAN SPIRIT?

AMERICA THE WUSS: 
FROM RUGGED PIONEERS TO COWERING SHEEP~WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 
AMERICAN SPIRIT? 
BY DON FEDER 
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
On the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, the paramount question becomes: What happened to the American people?
Is this the nation whose soldiers braved withering fire wading ashore on Omaha Beach, that produced the Battling Bastards of Bastogne -- whose Marines raised the flag over Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima after a month of brutal fighting?
What happened to the American spirit? We’ve gone from the nation of rugged individualism and the pioneer spirit to shutdowns, social distancing, and face masks. Citizens who are treated like children meekly obey.
The battle cry of America the Wuss (“People are dying”) has drowned out “Give me liberty or give me death!”
Where totalitarians have failed, a triumvirate of the political left, fake news and medical bureaucrats have succeeded in subjugating the American people and ruining the U.S. economy.
Many Americans want to live in a bubble, avoiding contact with anything that might threaten their comfortable existence. Their fear makes them easy to stampede.
In reality, safety is an illusion. Step out your front door and you risk your life. As of May 3, 67,595 had died from the coronavirus in the United States.
In 2018, 647,457 Americans died of heart disease, 599,108 of cancer, 169,936 from accidents of all kinds (including roughly 40,000 highway fatalities), 55,672 from influenza and pneumonia and 47,173 from suicide.
To stay safe, don’t smoke or drink, don’t get too excited, get in a car or climb a ladder, stay indoors, lose weight, avoid human contact during flu season and don’t get depressed. Try not to think about Fingers Biden as president.
Despite the initial hype (first one million would die, then 500,000, then less then 100,000), the coronavirus turns out not to be more contagious or lethal than a really bad flu. The probability of dying from COVID-19 in the United States is 1.5 out of 10,000. Not bad odds.
In Sweden without a draconian shutdown regime, the probability of death from the coronavirus rises slightly to 2.0 out of 10,000. In the United States, the risk for healthy individuals under 55 is probably 1.5 in 100,000. COVID-19 isn’t the first time a flock of squawking Chicken Littles, feathers flying in all directions, has tried to terrify us with dire warnings of impending doom, just the most successful.
Overpopulation – In “The Population Bomb” (1969) Paul Ehrlich predicted worldwide starvation in the 1970s, due to population growth outstripping food production and the depletion of natural resources. If you missed that, don’t feel bad. Everyone else did too. New methods of cultivation increased the yield per acre. Greater demand led to new discoveries of oil and other resources.
Nuclear War – In 1947, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock, which was supposed to show how close we were to planetary annihilation, due to stockpiles of nuclear weapons among other factors. When the clock started ticking, it was seven minutes to midnight – or the big bang. In January 2020, with Trump in office, we were just 100 seconds away from Armageddon. Ban the bomb! Trust Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, and the leaders of Iran.
Man-Made Climate Change – Due to burning fossil fuels, the ozone layer is shrinking. Soon, sea-levels will rise to unimagined heights, polar bears on surfboards wearing Hawaiian shirts will glide by the island of Manhattan (if it isn’t under water) and they’ll be growing tropical fruit in Antarctica. Al Gore made a fortune with “An Inconvenient Truth.” Little Greta Thunberg mesmerized the U.N. General Assembly whining that grownups “stole my future.” And Commissar Ocasio Cortez devised a Green New Deal to deindustrialize America. Almost the entire Democratic Party is now onboard. Man-made climate change is based largely on those infallible computer models.
And now we have a lockdown going into its sixth week, so Dr. Fauci can do nightly briefings and Democratic governors can be little Caesars. And when it’s all over, they’ll present themselves as saviors. If It weren’t for social distancing and the lockdown, you’d all be dead, the Michigan Dominatrix and New York’s Il Duce will tell voters. If you object, they’ll label you anti-science.
Add to the current death toll civil liberties, representative government and all of the economic gains since the end of the last recession.
Earlier generations of Americans wouldn’t have stood for it. Tar and feathers would been in short supply.
We cheerfully comply. According to an April 29 NPR/Marist poll, 65% say they’re opposed to letting Americans get back to work without more testing. Presumably, that includes pets.
The Corono-crats won’t let you go to church, won’t let Dads play catch with their sons in parks, and won’t let healthy men and women go to work or dine in restaurants. It makes us wear face masks to buy groceries. It forces some independent businessmen to witness the deaths of what it took a lifetime to build.
How did we get here? Was it the feminization of America, whereby we’ve been taught to spurn what used to be called “manly virtues”? In an era of transgendered rights, micro-aggressions and drag-queen story hours, manhood is out of fashion.
People are no longer even ashamed to admit they’re cowards. The Land of the Free depends on the brave. That’s why we’re losing more territory every day. 
But there are still some patriots left. You can see them in the growing number of protests and in the City of Stillwater, Oklahoma which amended a rule requiring the use of face masks in restaurants and stores (which are still open) after “employees have been threatened with physical violence and showered with verbal abuse,” in the words of the city manager.
I wonder if I could apply for asylum.      

WASHINGTON STATE: GOVERNOR CANDIDATE JOSHUA FREED SUES TO OBTAIN RIGHT TO HOLD OUTDOOR ONE-ON-ONE BIBLE STUDIES DURING "PANICDEMIC"


WASHINGTON STATE: GOVERNOR CANDIDATE SUES TO OBTAIN RIGHT TO HOLD OUTDOOR ONE-ON-ONE BIBLE STUDIES 
DURING "PANICDEMIC"
BY HEATHER CLARK
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
OLYMPIA, Wash. (Christian News Network) — A Republican gubernatorial candidate in the state of Washington has filed suit against sitting Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee to obtain the right to hold one-on-one Bible studies in his yard, which he believes are currently prohibited under the governor’s stay-at-home order prohibiting religious gatherings of any size.
“Prohibiting two people from meeting together to pray and read Scripture while they follow all social distancing guidelines unconstitutionally targets religious activity,” Mark Lamb of The North Creek Law Firm, which is co-representing plaintiff Joshua Freed, said in a statement.
Freed, who is seeking an injunction against the order as applied to religious activity, says he simply plans to meet with one person a day for Bible study and prayer and will keep his social distance while also wearing a mask and gloves. Each person will also be urged to check their temperature prior to the meeting.
“The meetings requested through the temporary restraining order are to involve only a single other person meeting to pray and read Scripture with Joshua Freed. They will take place outdoors, with social distancing at all times followed, hygiene precautions taken, and the visitor bringing his or her own seat and removing it upon leaving,” the legal challenge states.
Freed, the founder of Global Leadership and former mayor of Bothell, has been hosting Bible studies at his home each week for the past two and a half years. He sees anywhere from 25-50 people in attendance each week, mostly young adults.
Following the novel coronavirus’ incursion on America, Freed sought to hold the Bible studies virtually, but the option has been less than ideal as there are technical glitches at times and remote meetings are not as personal. While continuing to hold such meetings, he seeks to have the legal freedom to rather hold one-on-one meetings outside.
However, Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Stay at Home, Stay Healthy” proclamation, issued on March 23, says that “[a]ll people in Washington State shall immediately cease participating in all public and private gatherings and multi-person activities for social, spiritual and recreational purposes, regardless of the number of people involved, except as specifically identified herein.”
It further specifies that the order applies to “community, civic, public, leisure, faith-based, or sporting events; parades; concerts; festivals; conventions; fundraisers; and similar activities.”
Freed believes this prohibition thus prevents him from holding one-on-one Bible studies in his yard with those outside his household.
The lawsuit filed in federal court on April 29 notes, however, that essential businesses are excluded from the stay-at-home order, such as grocery stores, retail stores, media outlets, and even cannabis shops. It further outlines that as of May 5, outdoor recreational activities, such as fishing and golfing, were allowed to resume.
“Governor Inslee has prohibited any gatherings for spiritual purposes outside of members of a household no matter the size or what precautions are taken to eliminate the risk of such meetings spreading the novel coronavirus. Thus, Governor Inslee has criminalized any in-person practice of religious devotion between non-household members,” the complaint states.
“The criminal penalties may hold even if such a meeting abides by the social distancing and hygiene guidelines provided by the CDC,” it laments. “This directly targets religious gatherings and is in contravention of the federal Constitution.”
The lawsuit argues that the order is not neutral in its application since it allows some secular activities but precludes all religious ones. The prohibition is also not the least restrictive means of seeking to protect the public from disease, Freed’s attorneys contend.
“By not allowing plaintiff’s outdoor meetings, even when careful to comply with and exceed the relevant public health guidelines, Defendant has not narrowly tailored their action to the compelling interest, and thus violate plaintiff’s constitutional right to free exercise of his religion,” the legal challenge asserts.
“Criminalizing all religious gatherings outside of family members is an outrageous overreach that stifles religious liberty and violates the First Amendment,” Hiram Sasser of the Texas-based First Liberty Institute said in a statement. “The Constitution forbids the government from singling out religious Americans for restrictions that are not imposed on other entities.”