SCotUS (4 plus ROBERTS) upholds restrictions on reopening churches

[UTUSN]

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https://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-wont-force-states-040533836.html

Supreme Court won't force states to speed up church reopenings

WASHINGTON – .... Chief Justice John Roberts, who cast the deciding vote in the more consequential California case announced just before midnight, said choosing when to lift restrictions during a pandemic is the business of elected officials, not unelected judges. He was joined in the vote by the court's four liberal justices.

Roberts, the only one of the five to explain his vote, compared in-person church services to other forms of assembly. His conservative colleagues who dissented compared the services to secular businesses. ....

Writing for three of the four conservative justices who dissented, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh said California's current 25% occupancy limit on churches amounted to "discrimination against religious worship services." ....

The religious disputes over governors' reopening plans are most heated in states that impose limits on religious gatherings. While 30 states no longer have prohibitions, 20 and the District of Columbia impose restrictions, according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. They are most severe in California, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. ....

The Supreme Court's slim conservative majority, with Roberts in agreement, has come down on the side of religious liberty consistently in recent years. In the next few weeks, the high court will decide if state funds can be used to help pay religious school tuition, if employers with religious or moral objections can refuse to offer insurance coverage for contraceptives and if religious employers can sidestep job discrimination laws.

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[Thomas Hurt]

1. This about money to the christofascists, tithing is down, revenue is down.

This is not about prayer or reading the Bible, or meeting in groups to worship or sing.

Christians can still do that on phone or teleconference or in small groups, or out doors and distance themselves.

Singing a hymn through a mask is not a violation of their right to practice religion.

[UTUSN]

2. & the 4 wingnuts compared churches to businesses - so I say they should pay taxes!1

Oh, I forgot, (some) businesses don't pay taxes.

[Thomas Hurt]

3. that is the new church model. The latest genration of christofascist evangelical...

pastors like osteen and what his face in Colorado Spgs who had a thing for boy toys are just political entrepreneurs.