As new cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, so too are the number of protests and court challenges of churches fighting state and local orders that cap attendance at services.

Churches around the country have filed legal challenges to the virus closures, and with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays approaching, religious freedom issues continue to percolate. Just as the recent election showed a polarized nation, judges across America are divided on whether prohibiting churches from holding services during the pandemic violates our constitutional rights.

Last week, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned that religious liberty and free speech are among Americans’ personal freedoms potentially being threatened - along with government overreach - during the coronavirus pandemic. In his virtual keynote speech to the conservative Federalist Society, Alito said that tolerance for opposing views is now in short supply and that for many today, religious liberty is not a cherished freedom.

Alito’s speech came on the heels of the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn’s challenge to the Supreme Court over New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s coronavirus restrictions that include limits on how many congregants can gather for religious services. The church’s court filing compares the prohibitions houses of worship face with the relative freedom afforded to many businesses under an order that Cuomo issued in October. The diocese claimed that they were hit with these restrictions even though they themselves had not seen any spike in COVID-19 cases, while businesses deemed “essential” - supermarkets, large hardware stores, brokers’ offices and pet stores - were unaffected.

One judge in California wrote that in many counties, the state, while barring people from attending a church service, still allows people to congregate. People can’t gather to worship and pray but they can go shopping at the mall, have their hair styled, get a manicure or pedicure, attend college classes, produce a television show or movie, participate in professional sports, or wash their clothes at a laundromat.

Matt Staver, an attorney in Orlando, Florida, and founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, which litigates religious liberty cases, says this is unconstitutional. He points to a 1947 Supreme Court stating that the federal government cannot “force or influence a person to go to or remain away from church against his will.”

Staver is hoping that the Supreme Court will step in and stop the abuse of people’s First Amendment rights.

In July, the Supreme Court rejected challenges by religious groups in California and Nevada on narrow 5-4 votes. It has not issued a decision in such a case, however, since the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative who is expected to shift the bench to the right.

Rep. Kevin Hern, an Oklahoma congressman, introduced a bill in late July that would prohibit state and local governments from setting lower caps in the case of people who are exercising a First Amendment right. The Equal Opportunity First Amendment Act would apply to orders issued during a national or state emergency, and also allow those who allege they were harmed by unequal enforcement of a public gathering rule to sue in federal court.

“In many instances, Americans are confused and horrified as their local government allows large gatherings of people exercising their First Amendment right to protest but bans church services,” Hern said in a news release. “In many communities, businesses and shopping malls are open but houses of worship still have a 10-person limit. These inconsistent ordinances are disproportionately harming communities of faith. If the First Amendment protects protesters, it protects worshippers, as well.”

While announcing in May that officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were “issuing guidance for communities of faith,” President Trump called on governors to declare “houses of worship, churches, synagogues and mosques “essential places that provide essential services.” He stated that these are places that hold our society together and keep our people united.

The president wondered why some governors have deemed abortion clinics and liquor stores as essential but hadn’t put churches and other places of worship in that category.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for the White House’s coronavirus task force, said that faith community leaders should be in touch with their local health departments and can take steps to mitigate risks, including making sure those who are at high risk of severe complications remain protected.

She said there’s a way to work together - to have social distancing and safety for people - in order to decrease the amount of exposure.

The opinions of the president and Dr. Birx certainly make more sense than the stringent restrictions and lockdown orders being imposed by liberal governors like New York’s Andrew Cuomo which trample religious freedom.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com