I’m sure a lot of you have been waiting for the news: A county in California is suing a church for having meetings.
Earlier this week, Ventura County filed suit against a church in Thousand Oaks.
As reported by The Los Angeles Times:
The lawsuit follows the county Board of Supervisors’ vote to use court actions to enforce COVID-19 health orders.
The congregation in question — Godspeak Calvary Chapel — is headed by Pastor Rob McCoy, who previously served as mayor of Thousand Oaks.
He described the services as “singing, hugging, no masks.”
That’ll do it.
Rob stepped down from the city council in April following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proclamation that churches were “nonessential.”
As relayed by RedState’s Jennifer Van Laar, here’s what the minister had to say at the time:
“[F]or us to be paralyzed and to be considered non-essential though we would have liquor stores considered essential, cannabis distribution considered essential, even…abortions are considered essential. And is the church going to sit back and say, well, we’ll be relegated to non-essential…?”
In April, Godspeak held Communion — 10 people at a time.
They livestreamed their services, but after massive protests in the wake of George Floyd’s terrible death, the Chapel resumed in-person worship.
A look back at some of LA’s May and June social distancing:
Los Angeles high end art store on Melrose being looted
At this point rioters understand they can get away with looting
They will not stop destroying businesses until the government restores rule of law
Currently big cities aren’t doing that very well
pic.twitter.com/u9afxVAXkm— ELIJAH RIOT (@ElijahSchaffer) June 3, 2020
Protests tonight in Los Angeles have erupted over George Floyd’s death, with one of the protestors injured as the crowd attacked police cars.
A 2nd night of protest also in Minneapolis where there is looting & vandalizing.#icantbreathe#GeorgeFloydpic.twitter.com/U0K1iKIf3N— ~Marietta✌ (@_MariettaDavis) May 28, 2020
Los Angeles right now looting a fairfax shoe store. What an act of social justice for #GeorgeFlyod pic.twitter.com/bjG1wGIsfe
— Jeanette Kassai (@jkjumps) May 31, 2020
The lawsuit — for which County Public Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin is the plaintiff — claims, “It is only a matter of time — if it has not already happened — before there is a significant outbreak of COVID-19 cases among the attendees.”
Here’s The Daily Wire with more:
The lawsuit states that the “chapel and McCoy, in public statements, have represented that they will continue to violate the State Stay at Home Order and the Local Health Order by conducting, participating in, and attending indoor worship services at the Property, by failing to comply with the mandate of the State Public Health Officer to wear face coverings and practice physical distancing, and by permitting, allowing, and encouraging others to violate these mandates. McCoy has stated that he is ‘willing to go to jail’ and is ‘willing for them to take our building’ rather than to comply with the State Stay at Home Order and the Local Health Order.”
As per the litigation, Godspeak holding regular services “will cause and continue to cause great and irreparable injury to the general public, including all persons within Ventura County, by creating a significant risk of further community spread of COVID-19, including hospitalizations and deaths, which in turn is likely to result in continued and further restrictions on businesses and other operations and activities within Ventura County, detrimentally affecting the quality of life of the entire community.”
Public Health Director Rigoberto Vargas depicted what he saw thusly:
“[A]ttendees were in close proximity to one another, seated side by side in pews, for the entirety of the service. The church appeared to be at capacity.”
No matter, Pastor Rob believes the entire issue has nothing to do with health:
“We would be the first to be masked and distanced, and willingly so, if this were meriting it, and it doesn’t. This isn’t a health issue, it’s an ideological issue.”
-ALEX
See more pieces from me:
Orange County’s Sheriff Won’t Be Enforcing Gavin Newsom’s Newest Ridiculous Rule for Churchgoers
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