Pandemic Response Makes Liberty Sick in the States
From the print edition of The New American:
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has threatened churches and synagogues with permanent closure if they dare to open their buildings of worship to hold services during the coronavirus pandemic. In March, de Blasio said, “A small number of communities, specific churches and synagogues, are unfortunately not paying attention to this guidance [to close during the pandemic] even though it’s so widespread.” One might notice that de Blasio used the word guidance rather than orders, but he clearly did not mean that he was just making some wise suggestions.
“I want to say to all of those preparing for the potential of religious services this weekend,” de Blasio said, “if you go to your synagogue, if you go to your church and attempt to hold services after having been told so often not to, our enforcement agents will have no choice but to shut down those services.”
To make sure that neither Christians nor Jews assembled for worship, he added that law enforcement in the city “will take additional action up to the point of fines, and potentially closing the building permanently.” (Emphasis added.)
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