‘Evangelicals for Trump’ skirt Nevada church restrictions, hold service in Las Vegas casino
By: Tom Tillison
I love it! The haters and bigots think that they can target believers free expression and restrict religion like no other group of citizens. It’s great that we are meeting outdoors and now in places like Casinos and Walmart. Bottom line is that the god haters in blue city and state government will have to close down everything for everyone in order to silence us and still they won’t.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The year 2020 has proven to be a bizarre year in many ways, so much so that some swear we are in the apocalyptic end times detailed in the Book of Revelation, which talks about war, famine, disease and earthquakes striking the land.
The coronavirus pandemic certainly fills the bill as far as disease is concerned, and as a result of the virus gifted to the world by China, we see churches being forced to hold services in the most unusual places, such as a Walmart.
Or a Las Vegas casino.
In many places, mostly Democrat-run locales, churches are being restricted by social distancing guidelines when it comes to holding services and the faithful are forced to get creative in practicing their faith.
Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, shared a video Thursday of Evangelicals for Trump worshiping in a casino because of a 50-person cap on religious gatherings imposed by Nevada’s Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak.
“Packed house at #EvangelicalsForTrump prayer & praise event in Las Vegas,” Reed said in a tweet. “NV Governor banned church services but casinos can operate at 50% capacity. So we are praying in a casino.”
Casinos and other Nevada businesses didn’t face the same restrictions as churches, being allowed to reopen at 50% of capacity under social distancing protocols.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld the cap, denying a rural church’s request to strike it down as unconstitutional. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal justices yet again, in a 5-4 ruling.
After the ruling, Vice President Mike Pence spoke about what a “disappointment” the George W. Bush appointee has been for conservatives.
In addition to the Nevada case, Roberts sided with the liberal justices in a Louisiana abortion case. He also voted against ending Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and in favor of preserving health protections for transgenders, as well as upholding the Affordable Care Act.
“Chief Justice Roberts has been a disappointment to conservatives,” Pence said this week in a discussion with Christian Broadcast Network’s David Brody. “Whether it be the Obamacare decision or whether it be a slate of recent decisions all the way through Calvary Chapel.”
In an interesting aside, outspoken conservative actor James Woods noted that churches and schools are where most voting is held. It’s implied that Democrat desires to keep these places closed isn’t a coincidence.
A video of a group of Christians gathering at a North Versailles, Pa., Walmart in June went viral at the time, after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf asked faith leaders to consider alternative forms of worship other than gathering in churches.
“Religious leaders are encouraged to find alternatives to in-person gatherings and to avoid endangering their congregants,” Wolf said at the time. “Individuals should not gather in religious buildings or homes for services or celebrations until the stay-at-home order is lifted.”
Here’s a sampling of responses to Reed from Twitter:
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After being barred by the state’s Democrat governor from meeting in church due to coronavirus social distancing restrictions, a group of Christians gathered instead at local Walmart in June.
Video of the gathering in North Versailles, Pa., is going viral, as Americans ponder the absurdity of COVID-19-related orders mandating the closure of churches while allowing citizens to come into close proximity in a business that has been determined to be “essential.”
One video of the religious gathering was posted to Facebook by Nancy Halford, who reportedly works at the North Versailles Walmart, according to the Post Millennial.
Another site called Faithpot reported that Halford immediately dropped what she was doing after she heard the group singing religious songs. The site adds that customers also joined in, while some recorded the gathering on their cellphones.
“I’ve said since began [sic] of social distance if we can[’t] attend church, go local store and bust out in song because we the people are the church,” one person wrote in response to the video.
“Oh how this must have pleased our Heavenly Father. This right here is what our country needs – God’s people being the church outside the church building,” wrote another.
The Post Millennial reported that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf asked faith leaders April 3 to consider alternative forms of worship other than gathering in churches.
“Religious leaders are encouraged to find alternatives to in-person gatherings and to avoid endangering their congregants. Individuals should not gather in religious buildings or homes for services or celebrations until the stay-at-home order is lifted,” he said at the time.
“This is an excellent time for all of us to remember that the church is not a building, but the people who make up the congregation,” Senior Pastor Mark Kelly Tyler of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, added. “We must do everything within our power to save the lives of those we’ve been called to shepherd. If that means livestreaming the worship services and holding Bible Study in video chat rooms, so be it.”
Americans around the country are growing increasingly frustrated by contradictory state-ordered coronavirus restrictions that shutter churches and punish pastors while allowing often violent protesters to gather unimpeded.
Last week, the First Amendment hypocrisy was on full display in Portland, where protesters gathered to burn American flags and Bibles.
In June, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled against churches pushing to open in violation of Democratic Gov. Kate Brown’s COVID-19 order.
Initially, Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff ruled in favor of a group of churches led by Elkhorn Baptist Church. He noted that while Brown “has an enormous responsibility,” churches could practice social distancing and safely worship.
“The public interest is furthered by allowing people to fully exercise their right to worship and conduct their business,” Shirtcliff, a former district attorney appointed to the bench by Brown, also wrote.
But Brown’s office filed an emergency appeal with the Oregon Supreme Court, which sided with her and vacated Shirtcliff’s injunction.
“There have been and will continue to be debates about how best to respond to the threat posed by the coronavirus,” the Oregon high court noted. “To the extent that those debates concern policy choices, they are properly for policymakers. That is, those difficult choices must be made by the people’s representatives in the legislative and executive branches of the government.”
The church-ban hypocrisy was again on display in Atlanta late last month when people were allowed to gather at Ebeneezer Baptist Church to see former President Barack Obama politicize the late Rep. John Lewis’ funeral.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDkTShKng3i/?igshid=kje0q52n3d81
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We are proud to have secular progressives call us names and attack us for our beliefs and votes.
You claim to be religious but support someone who has broken every one of your commandments multiple times.....hypocritically sad.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I’m a sinner too. So I choose sinner Trump over sinner Biden.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDnKECMFlP2/?igshid=17fuh20apbre5
You would.
I would and I do!
Whiskey foxtrot echo.
You are so busted!
Name: WFE
I WFE U
Shame on you!
The mayor, city council, and governor did their worst to try to stop the event even in that venue because it was religious and for the wrong political leaders....
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/trump-evangelical-rally-proceeds-despite-warnings-from-city-state-2089941/amp/
Stupid is as stupid does.
100 people catch COVID-19 after infected man went to church in Ohio causing the virus to 'spread like wildfire' across FIVE counties
Because the virus only occurs where Christians or conservatives gather to worship or to promote Trumps re election but never where liberals gather to loot and riot in our large cities.
They could all infect each other and I would not shed a tear. Unfortunately they will infect other people also.
Do you say the same about the protesters in the streets of our biggest cities who congregate and yell and shout as well as the violence and vandalism they do?