US Supreme Court on religious service attendance restrictions

So the Supreme Court in the US just ruled that churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques can pack 'em in as much as they want while ignoring those tyrannical governments that are trying to keep them alive.
If these religious types really want to kill themselves, can’t they just do it without taking up needed hospital beds and occupying the time of first-responders?

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They want to meet their Maker before they lose faith…or their flock losses faith, whichever comes first.

Kill themselves? With a survival rate of 99.86% ( for < 65 years ).

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Haha…exactly.

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Here’s an actual link if MikeN1’s hyperbole doesn’t work for you.

Won’t someone think of the Nation? Or the half that you support…

In an unsigned majority opinion, the court said the restrictions would violate religious freedom and are not neutral because they “single out houses of worship for especially harsh treatment.”

While religious institutions were affected, businesses categorized as essential could admit as many people as they wish, the court said, and the list of such businesses included acupuncture facilities and others the court said were not essential.

The court said there’s no evidence that the organizations that brought the lawsuit have contributed to the spread of Covid-19.

In his dissent, Roberts said he saw no need to take this action, because the state has revised the designations of the affected areas, and none of the houses of worship that sought relief now face numerical restrictions and can hold services up to 50 percent capacity.

Breyer said if the state seeks to reimpose the limits, the plaintiffs can come back to the court. Sotomayor and Kagan said granting the injunction “will only exacerbate the nation’s suffering.”

They should have made houses of worship the safest places in every community right at the beginning, could have set them up to distribute PPE and whatnot, but nah…better to see Emmy Award Winning Cuomo on TV ever day telling us to put our faith in SCIENCE! And then allowing riots and protests and fuck all all summer long.

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So what do US churches have different from Korean churches, where COVID spread like wildfire? Air conditioning? Larger pews? Less visits from the Holy ghost? Accurate numbers?

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The Chosen don’t need no statistics. All they need is “places of worship”, because, y’know, they’re safe there. Lord Jesus gonna keep them healthy and clean. :heart:

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Probably.

No, not at all. That’s not why they want to go. You should read up on why they want to go instead of rubbernecking the whole “FREE SPEECH!” headfake.

This is just you getting cranky when people believe in something you don’t believe in. Imagine what they’d have to say about you and your openly admitted chronic alcoholism. I’d wager they respond in a kinder, gentler snark bc of their faith. What, aside from derision, do you bring to the table?

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This was a no-brainer to anyone who knows about US law.

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Some of these justices just don’t get it. Your job is to interpret the Constitution, not to provide relief for anybody.

There’s no reason Walmart can pack’em in (I was just there this morning) and a church can’t.

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Soon, it’ll all be a moo point:

:banana:

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I’ve heard mute point.

The issue then is whether the law pertinent to spreading disease is overpowered by the need to pray in groups and pay for the privilege.

Walmart or any other place indoors shouldn’t be packing people.

I actually think the vaccine announcement has made people more careless. Yet we still have a year or two more at least to live with this.

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That need to pray that you skirt by here is a Constitutional Right in the USA. Many folks take them serious as a heart attack.

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The US Constitution.

If New York wants to shut down churches but allow other public gatherings (like shopping at WalMart and political protests), it could be a violation of civil rights.

If New York wants to shut down everything and allow no public gatherings, they’re probably cookin’ with gas.

tl;dr The Supreme Court ruled that New York’s discrimination is illegal.

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That’s right. Only the unrepentant sinners in the congregation will need to worry. Oops that’s at least 50% of church goers.

Thank God for new Justice Amy Coney Barrett, too.

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No more Canadians commenting on first amendment rights please.

Closer. The issue is whether religious workshop is considered “essential.”

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None. Neither did anybody actually argue that.

The argument is about whether government can restrict attendance. As you might know, the US has a constitution guaranteeing right to religious assembly and freedom. Forcing churches to close appears to contradict that.

The problem here was also that a whole bunch of businesses were open, but religious institutions were singled out with especially harsh treatments.

People who want to worship can go and people who don’t want to can not go. What’s that called again? Freedom?

People who think giving up their rights and freedom will being their rights and freedom back might need a history lesson.

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