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Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church sue state of California, Gov. Newsom, Mayor Garcett

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PeteS in CA:
Pastor John MacArthur and Grace Community Church sue state of California, Gov. Newsom, Mayor Garcetti over church closure

https://disrn.com/news/pastor-john-macarthur-grace-community-church-sue-state-of-california


--- Quote ---Influential Pastor John MacArthur and his Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, are suing the state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and several other public health officials.

The lawsuit, filed by Thomas More Society Special Counsel Jenna Ellis and Charles LiMandri, seeks to stop the state from enforcing its order forbidding the megachurch from meeting for indoor worship services, arguing that the regulations violate the California Constitution.

Press release from the Thomas More Society:


--- Quote ---The suit seeks to prohibit California from enforcing its unconstitutional and onerous coronavirus pandemic regulations against Grace Community Church and seeks a judgment that the health orders violate the California Constitution.

The complaint states that the American people have begun to see that they are being cheated by their own government. "They have witnessed how the onerous restrictions imposed on them by public officials to allegedly fight the COVID-19 pandemic simply do not apply to certain, favored groups. When many went to the streets to engage in ‘political protests' against ‘racism' and ‘police brutality,' these protestors refused to comply with the pandemic restrictions. Instead of enforcing the public health orders, public officials were all too eager to grant a de facto exception for these favored protestors."
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Ummmm, wow! John MacArthur is going there - city, county, and state governments' encouragement of the BLM/Antifa "protests", i.e. selective enforcement and violation of CA's equivalent of the Free Exercise clause. I'm not a MacArthur fan, for entirely unrelated reasons, but I think this is the right move at the right time.

mountaineer:
Someone had to do it. Can't wait to see how this plays out.

PeteS in CA:
California church defies pandemic order, holds Sunday services after winning court ruling

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/california-church-defies-pandemic-order-holds-sunday-services-after-winning


--- Quote ---After winning a temporary court battle, Pastor John MacArthur and his Grace Community Church in California held indoor Sunday services despite local officials orders to shut the evangelical Christian church down over pandemic restrictions.

“They don’t want us to meet, that’s obvious,” MacArthur told his flock. “They’re not willing to work with us. They just want to shut us down. But we’re here to bring honor to the Lord.”

MacArthur has led the Los Angeles-area church for a half-century and on Friday went to court to challenge a public health order forbidding indoor services at the 3,500-seat megachurch. Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis is helping to defend the church.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant refused Friday to issue a temporary restraining order sought by the county to block this Sunday's services. MacArthur has agreed to ensure churchgoers practice social distancing and wear masks. The next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4.
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truth_seeker:
I wished that I had started an event tent business.

There are plenty of potential  customers.

Businesses and churches  would but them.

And it wouldn't be that hard to make them.

I am using a gym, which found or made some, for five sites.  YMCA of Orange County. A truly Non-profit Org, as well.



I have been a member for many years when I had business offices near one or more facility. Certainly the best "bang for the buck

PeteS in CA:
Calif. COVID Bullies Tried to Slap John MacArthur With Contempt. It Backfired.

https://pjmedia.com/culture/tyler-o-neil/2020/08/21/calif-covid-bullies-tried-to-slap-john-macarthur-with-contempt-it-backfired-n822071


--- Quote ---Grace Community Church and Pastor John MacArthur have brought a powerful court challenge against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-Calif.) ban on in-person church meetings. Grace Community Church has refused to comply with the ban, its congregation exercising their First Amendment rights of religious freedom and free association. Los Angeles County filed a motion asking a judge to find Grace Community Church in contempt of court, but the judge flatly denied the motion.

“Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff correctly found there is no court order prohibiting Grace Community Church from holding indoor services,” Jenna Ellis, one of MacArthur’s lawyers who also served as President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer during the impeachment trial, said in a statement Thursday. “LA County continues to harass and target Pastor MacArthur. Having failed to get a court order to shut down the church they have sought three times, they’re going to try again by hauling us back into court.”

“Ironically, LA County said in its application for contempt that, ‘Grace Church cannot thumb its nose at the court when decisions don’t go its way,’ yet that’s precisely what LA County is now doing themselves,” Ellis explained. “We will simply continue to defend our client’s constitutionally protected rights because church is essential.”
...
MacArthur’s lawsuit is challenging the health department’s coronavirus restrictions banning the church from meeting in person. While the appeals court allowed the health department to enforce those restrictions, it did not issue a restraining order against the church. The City of Los Angeles has previously threatened Grace Community Church and MacArthur with a daily fine of $1,000 or arrest.
...
Why didn’t the city merely enforce the health order and issue the fines? Perhaps Los Angeles’s lawyers are afraid they will lose the lawsuit. If the city issues fines and arrests MacArthur and his congregation, not only would that provide a concrete and visceral example of the county’s oppressive crackdown on religious freedom but it would also increase the amount of damages awarded to MacArthur and GCC if they prevail in the case.
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LA County will be getting in spades what they tried to evade.

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