Protecting Religious Freedom in the Wake of COVID-19

Latest Polls (view all)

Where do you stand on the Transgender Issue now that the issue has gotten to the overt point of the open celebration of this lifestyle choice, dictated by certain direct and explicit actions.

88.64% I do not approve of behavior that has within its expressed tenants policies that harm children.

10.23% I do support the Trans Community in all its many facets because diversity is at a premium in today's society.

1.14% What is a "Children's Drag Queen Story Hour?"

Click Here to Vote
88 Vote(s)

View all Polls

Protecting Religious Freedom in the Wake of COVID-19

Published: Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 @ 10:07 pm
By: John Locke Foundation ( More Entries )

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Mitch Kokai.

Graham Piro of the Washington Free Beacon documents state-level efforts to safeguard religious freedom during a pandemic.

Republican-controlled state legislatures are moving to protect the right to religious worship from future government-ordered lockdown measures that have sparked legal challenges since the start of the pandemic.
Montana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas are pushing legislation that would further protect religious liberty in the wake of shutdown orders mandating that places of worship close their doors entirely or operate under significantly curtailed conditions. The Montana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed into law by Republican governor Greg Gianforte, establishes that the government "may not substantially burden a person's right to the exercise of religion." Oklahoma's law, signed by Republican governor Kevin Stitt, similarly makes restrictions on religious worship because of an emergency more difficult to enforce. The Arkansas legislature went a step further and proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would establish similar protections for religious worship. The amendment will be voted on by Arkansas voters next year.
"Throughout 2020, we saw First Amendment rights being ignored in states across our nation," state representative Brian Hill (R.), who authored Oklahoma's legislation, said. "Based on the First Amendment and the Oklahoma Constitution, the undue burden created by blocking our places of worship from gathering was unacceptable and required a legislative response to insure that in Oklahoma this type of government overreach would not be tolerated."
The state laws expand on protections for religious liberty that were enacted by the passage of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993. Montana joins 21 other states that have enacted their own expansions of the 1993 law. Montana's legislation comes on the heels of a contentious year of restrictions on religious worship due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
The laws are likely to find a sympathetic Supreme Court, as it has repeatedly ruled against restrictions on religious worship during the coronavirus pandemic.

Go Back

Login to Leave a Comment

Poll Suggests People Like the Trump Agenda ‘Without the Noise’

John Locke Foundation Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics

Governor Cooper Continues To Encourage North Carolinians To Get Vaccinated in Wilmington Visit

Our Members

ENCN Sign Up

BCN Home

Beaufort Observer

Portfolios

Current Events: A Historical Perspective

Current Weather

Latest Comments

Latest Polls

Featured Entries

Latest Entries

Protecting Religious Freedom in the Wake of COVID-19 | Eastern NC Now

Protecting Religious Freedom in the Wake of COVID-19

Leave a Guest Comment

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

Virginia Supreme Court strikes down Democrats gerrymandering referendum

Illegal alien migrants behaving badly - migrants and crime NEWLY UPDATED

anti-immigration Reform Party winning English local elections in apparent landslide UPDATE

Truth for our times: Assassination Attempt, Social Media & Profanity Plague

UN's IPCC climate panel finally admits that doomsday climate scenarios are "implausible"

New poll: 60% of Americans blame the media for assassination attempts on Trump

FBI raids office of Democrat VA Senate President Pro Tem in major corruption probe

RNC Statement on Roy Cooper in Greensboro

GOP voters in Indiana oust 7 state senate RINOs and replace with Trunp backed conservatives

Cooper released 3,500 “hardened criminals out of the NC prisons

Alberta independence from Canada petition submitted with almost 2X number needed

Another de-transitioner wins court settlement for trans surgery genital mutilation

Dominican Republic has mass deportation of Haitian migrants, while Obama judges stop it here

Henry Hinton: "NCAE teachers union rally in Raleigh was like a communist / left wing rally".

Democrat federal candidates make threats on President Trump's life, one arrested

new poll: 60% of French people believe native population being replaced by 3rd world migrants

14,000 food stamps ("SNAP") users were driving luxury cars in just ONE STATE,

Hollywood Still Blacklists Conservatives — Now They Don’t Even Hide It

NC federal grand jury indicts Comey on charges he threatened Trump

The Abortion Industry Simply Changed Tactics. Now Congress Must Act.

Trump Admin Shuts Down Sham Charities Caught Bankrolling Hamas

51 Prisoners To Be Freed As Cuba Shows Cracks Under Trump Pressure

‘Andre the Giant’ marker puts smalltown Ellerbe into spotlight

Republicans Petition for New Meetings

What Happens When A Naturalized Citizen Commits Terror In America?

teachers unions push WEF globalist propaganda in schools; NH legislature fights back

US Justice Department to enforce SCOTUS ruling against states with racial gerrymanders