The headline on the homepage of the First Liberty Institute reads:
“Clarity Amidst the Crisis: How First Liberty is Leading the Effort to Unite Church & State”
And leading the effort they are, along with other fundamentalist Christian organizations, who want to have their unconstitutional cake and eat it, too.
We at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) are all to familiar with First Liberty Institute, a constant antagonist of MRFF’s efforts to maintain the separation of church and state in the military, but this latest trumped up cry of Christian persecution reaches a new level of false alarm even for them.
In an April 3 post titled “All Out War on Faith: Opponents Use COVID-19 Crisis to Launch Attacks on Religious Freedom,” First Liberty raises the (ridiculously false) alarm that if religious gatherings are shut down by the states during this pandemic they could be shut down forever:
“A recent headline in The Atlantic reads “Close the Churches,” and the article goes on to argue that state and local shutdown orders shouldn’t exempt religious gatherings, and that religious communities must comply.
“The headline alone is alarming. As you read further, the article essentially says houses of worship have the capability to adapt to crises and that they have historically been able to worship under dire circumstances, even in times of limited freedom.
“That’s true. But what we don’t hear the writers of the article—as well as many other critics of churches and religious groups—is that state limitations on worship gatherings must be temporary. No, instead they just give the state blanket discretion to determine when the full liberty to gather will be restored.”
This is why you need to give money to First Liberty right away! So they can fight the outrageous action of government treating churches just like any other business.
But wait! On the other hand First Liberty DOES want churches to be treated just like any other business, applauding the Trump administration for the unprecedented and completely unconstitutional direct funding of religious institutions through the stimulus act. As First Liberty explained:
“The CARES Act makes Small Business Administration loans available as part of the stimulus/recovery program. But preexisting federal regulations prohibited some churches and ministries from becoming federal financial assistance recipients. However, an Interim Final Rule published by the SBA ensures that churches and faith-based ministries are eligible to receive loans as part of the CARES Act. Churches and ministries across the nation are providing essential services to millions of Americans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Yes, those pesky “preexisting federal regulations” — like, um, the Constitution — used to prohibit direct federal funding of churches!
If a dangerous precedent is being set here, it is not the states’ treating religious services the same as any other non-essential business, but the federal government committing one of the most monumental breaches of the Constitution in our nation’s history.
In their “All Out War on Faith” post, First Liberty also attacks MRFF, writing that “No religious freedom violation would be complete without an attack from the deceptively-named Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF),” and accusing MRFF of “using the COVID-19 crisis to put chaplains in the crosshairs.”
Tell that to the chaplains — yes, chaplains — who came to MRFF concerned about the fact that the Air Force and the Navy had not suspended in-person religious services service-wide as the Army had done. MRFF was not attacking chaplains; it was acting on behalf of them!
First Liberty sums up its post:
“Although the country is in the middle of a health crisis, it’s clear there are some who want to seize this as an opportunity to strip away the rights and liberties of people of faith, houses of worship and religious institutions.
“Going All In to protect religious liberty is essential when a national crisis arises. Together, we must be vigilant about possible abuses and must continue defending, restoring and reclaiming our religious freedom right now, in this unique time.
“After all, it’s during difficult seasons like this (when the state is already imposing limits on our freedoms) that anti-faith activists may become more emboldened to launch unremitting assaults on faith and religious freedom.”
And, of course, ends with another plea for money …