Governor Newsom just gained some competition in the battle to restrict religious liberty for churches.
Members of the Calgary Police Service were tossed from a Polish church in Canada by a pastor who compared their “COVID compliance” visits to practices by German police who were known to send officers to “monitor” churches during the 1930s and 1940s. Rev. Artur Pawlowski spoke passionately about the danger of creeping authoritarianism from the bureaucratic state.
“I grew up under communism, and my grandparents lived under the Nazis,” said Pastor Pawlowski. “My family escaped the communists in Poland and first went to Greece and then to Canada to get away from it. There were millions of Jewish people murdered in Poland, including at Auschwitz.”
Even as states around the country have begun to reopen, California’s government officials continue to discriminate against churches. While megastores like Costco and Walmart are allowed to have thousands of people come through their doors each hour, houses of worship still face strict capacity limits in most counties.
Despite brief respite from the U.S. Supreme Court on some cases involving government regulations on churches, we know that this battle is just heating up in California. That’s why we need to take proactive steps to push back!
California Family Council is advocating for the passage of the Religion is Essential Act (SB 397), legislation to require the state and local government to treat religious organizations just like they do other services considered “essential” during pandemics. If the state trusts shoppers packed into ‘Big Box’ stores to social distance and wear masks, they should trust leaders and congregants at houses of worship to do the same.
You can watch CFC’s interview video that explains why this legislation is so critical here and sign our petition encouraging legislators to support this effort.
