A Santa Clara pastor … [was] slapped with $10,000 in fines for violating the health order.

“This is not a hot spot, we were told that thousands were going to die,” said North Valley Baptist Church pastor Jack Trieber. “There’s not a pandemic here.”

…Trieber uses the county’s death rate to justify opening his doors to his congregation.

But even if a genuine pandemic rather than COVID-Con raged, pastors should never close churches. Both liberty and the Lord demand that we defy such dictatorship.

“Absolutely, we have a First Amendment right, you can’t make laws against the church, we have the right to worship,” Trieble said…

And it’s an inalienable right without restrictions—yet Christians and their lawyers mistakenly argue for limits on it:

Trieber was fined $5,000 twice over the weekend for holding indoor services and singing, which are both against the state’s order. …

Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney and CEO of the Center for American Liberty … said the order to ban indoor religious services is unconstitutional.

“When you treat people differently when they’re in a church setting than you treat them in a commercial establishment, that’s discriminatory,” said Dhillon. “I think it is very interesting that people are being prosecuted for singing in church, because singing, as we know, is not prohibited by the orders in any other settings.”

The despotic “solution” is to ban singing everywhere. Contrast that with the actual and only answer: our rights are absolute, regardless of circumstances, without reference to “discrimination.”  Meanwhile, government’s “interests,” whether in fighting an alleged pandemic, or “securing” aviation, or brainwashing–sorry, educating kids, or equalizing outcomes among citizens, always and everywhere excuse dictatorship. No one who loves liberty grants government any “interests” at all. 

Thanks to Mary from San Jose for sending me this story. And to Scott in Colorado for an update on Pastor John MacArthur, another of Californiastan’s persecuted Christians: a judge has denied yet another restraining order  “to prohibit the church from holding indoor services” until the case goes to trial on September 4. 

I need not exhort you to pray. Fervently. Remember that politicians called the Church “non-essential”—and, praise God, He is quick to avenge His Name and His bride. 

The Best of Becky Akers