Religious Liberty

“I can only think of three times in the entire Bible where believers were openly, civilly disobedient—twice in Daniel and once in Acts (Daniel 1, 6, and Acts 4-5). But in all three instances, they simply took a quiet (even silent) stand without going on the offense.” - Rooted Thinking

“To have any chance of seriously mitigating common misperceptions of religious freedom, Evangelicals must publicly demonstrate a sincere commitment to religious pluralism and its necessary counterpart, religious literacy.” - Public Discourse

“The California Court of Appeal late on Saturday set aside a lower court order and reinstated a ban on indoor worship services [in groups larger than 250] for Grace Community Church pastored by John McArthur in Sun Valley.” - WORLD

“In the complaint, MacArthur and Grace Community Church accuse state government officials of interfering with their religious freedom and selectively restricting gatherings amid the pandemic.” - C.Post

“A California judge has granted a temporary restraining order against Godspeak Calvary Chapel and its Pastor Rob McCoy for holding in-person services in violation of COVID-19 health orders….McCoy announced in a video message Friday that he will continue to hold indoor services.

“Aside from what the authors of this [Grace Community Church] statement may or may not believe, the statement itself makes no provision for the possibility that a Christian might choose another path and still be counted as faithful.” - 9 Marks

“The Supreme Court has chosen in a 5-4 ruling not to grant injunctive relief to churches in Nevada in light of the state’s arguably inconsistent Covid-19 guidelines. In doing so, the Supreme Court let stand what is wrong: churches are being treated differently than similar gatherings.” - Ed Stetzer

“Last Monday between 300 and 400 protesters gathered on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. But they didn’t shout ‘defund the police’—they worshiped, sang, and prayed>….The demonstrators were protesting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to ban singing and chanting in churches.” - WORLD

“Leaders of Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley are asking the high court to suspend the cap while the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals considers their claim that restrictions treating casinos and others more leniently during the pandemic is unconstitutional.” - BPNews