Ya Know, Guvnah, as They Say in Black Church, the Church Got a Mighty Silent. LOL
Can I Get an Amen. LOL
Editorial Discretion
1. Paragraphs 1 to 20 are incorporated by reference.
2. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”, First Amendment, two distinct ideas identified as the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses.
3. “[G]uided through the legislative process by James Madison while Jefferson watched anxiously from Paris where he was serving as U.S. minister”, “[t]he act now commonly called the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom began simply as Bill No. 82”, and “was finally adopted in 1786.” John A. Ragosta, “Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom,” Monticello, February 21, 2018.
4. “Jeremiah Moore, an early proponent of religious liberty, was twice imprisoned for unlawful preaching in colonial Virginia”, and had been “the founding pastor of First Baptist Church of Alexandria”, where Affiant is a member, and had “preached the dedicatory sermon for First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C.” Religious Herald, “Jeremiah Moore commission reports on prospects for house,” Baptist News Global, June 13, 2007.
5. “He [had even] influenced Jefferson’s and Madison’s political thinking and was known by the leading Baptist figures of the times”, Id., and yet, neither before, nor after the former Virginia Governor had publicly “conceded that he could not legally limit in-person worship ceremonies, noting that the recent Supreme Court decision against the state of New York prevented him from doing that”, see Mike Spiering, “Gov. Ralph Northam Tightens Coronavirus Restrictions: You Don’t Have to Sit In Church for God to Hear Your Prayers,” Breitbart, December 10, 2020, did the religious community raise a voice, “instant in season, out of season”, to “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:2 (KJV), except for in two instances, i.e., Lighthouse Fellowship Church, Civil Action No. 2:20-cv-00204 (E.D.Va. 2020); Hughes v. Northam, Civil Action No. CL20-415 (Russell Cy. Cir. 2020), at least according to the press.
6. According to press accounts, “U.S. District Court Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen ruled against the lawsuit brought by Lighthouse Fellowship Church of Chincoteague Island”, described as “a lawsuit leveled by a church against Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam over previous coronavirus pandemic restrictions on in-person worship attendance.” Michael Gryboski, “Judge dismisses Virginia church’s lawsuit against governor over COVID-19 restrictions,” Mainline Church Editor, February 01, 2021.
7. In April 2020, “Lighthouse Pastor Kevin Wilson was cited by local authorities for holding an in-person worship service on Palm Sunday that had 16 people in attendance”, and, “[a]t the time, Virginia restricted in-person worship services to no more than 10 people, with any violators facing a punishment of up to a year in jail and a fine of as much as $2,500.” Id.
8. “In response, Wilson sued the state. . . , arguing that the measure violated his religious freedom and that the service adhered to various public health guidelines like social distancing.” Id.
9. Similarly, “in the Circuit Court of Russell County”, “Larry Hughes, a self-professed Christian and regular churchgoer, argued that Northam’s executive order barring gatherings of more than 10 people, religious gatherings included, ‘substantially interferes with [his] exercise of his Christian faith, and forces [him] to choose between fidelity to his religious belief and punishment […].’” Matt Naham, “Virginia Man Sues to Prevent Democratic Governor from Ruining Easter Sunday for Christians,” Law & Crime, March 9, 2020, the first matter in which Affiant deigned to divinely intervene, without mention in the press.