Hundreds of Clergy Tell California Gov. Newsom They WILL Open Church on Pentecost

I am very glad to see more and more clergy saying enough is enough.  

On Wednesday, lawyers representing more than 1,200 California clergy sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.), declaring religious services essential during the coronavirus pandemic and announcing that churches will start meeting in person on May 31 — the Day of Pentecost … — with or without the governor’s permission.

Now I do not know exactly how many have signed this Declaration of Essentiality for Churches as I have not found a list of signees.  Nor do I know if any ACNA or Continuing Anglican clergy have signed. Readers may send more information via the comments.  (Let me know if you do not want your comment posted.)

Nonetheless, I think the restrictions on our freedom of religion as well as other freedoms went too far weeks ago, if not at the beginning of this COVID-19 panic.* So I am glad to see such public, widespread principled defiance.

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*Yes, I said it.  The danger from COVID-19, though very real, was exaggerated with disastrous societal consequences.  It was and is a panic.

MORE: Trump’s Justice Department is pushing back, too:

The Justice Department on Tuesday warned California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a letter that his order banning church services puts an "unfair burden" on religious institutions.

The letter, sent by the department's Civil Rights Division, expressed concerns that Newsom's still undetermined opening date for churches amounted to "unequal treatment of faith communities" ...

"Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights," wrote Eric Dreiband, the lead attorney in a team assembled by Attorney General William Barr to examine religious liberty disputes amid state shutdown orders.