Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 04122020 20240713 :

CSPAN Washington Journal August 20, 0413

From stayathome orders . Here is how you join the conversation. In eastern and central time zones, the line is 202 7488000. In the mountain and pacific time zones, 202 7488001. And we welcome those of you who are religious leaders. Regardless of your denomination of faith, we would like to hear from you and how you have altered your gatherings and practices during the crisis. 202 7488002 is the line. If you want to text us, tell us where you are texting from, your name, 202 7488003. E are on twitter, cspanwj and facebook. Com cspan is how you post your thoughts. One of the states was kansas where the decision came down late yesterday from the Supreme Court. This is that reporting from the public Radio Station Kansas Supreme Court sides with governor preserving ban on large Church Services. Shegovernor wrote that holds powers to shut down large gatherings in the face of a Public Health crisis. The High Court Said public leaders lack the powers to reverse the limits on charging funeral services. That meant late last night, governor kellys order Banning Church gatherings of more than 10 remained in force. The ruling forced the justices to weigh in on an issue that tingles together politics, religion, and debate about the powers granted to a governor when a deadly pandemic strikes. In kentucky, in louisville, a headline judge allows drive in service at louisville church. Says the mayor of louisville, fischer a federal judge reboot mayor fischers call for churches to forgo drivein services, calling the move unconstitutional and overly broad. They write that, on holy thursday, and american mayor criminalized the celebration of in a temporary restraining order saturday. On Fire Christian Church in louisville sued the city friday, arguing the mayors direction on driving religious services violated Constitutional Rights and their religious liberty. Should religious gatherings be exempt from state stayathome orders . That is our question this morning. 202 7488000 is the line for those of you in the eastern and central time zones. 202 7488001 mountain pacific. The president talked about the issue in the Daily Briefing friday. Here is what he said. [video clip] though we will not be able to gather together with one another as we normally would on easter, we can use this sacred time to focus on prayer, reflection, and growing in our purse no relationship with god our personal relationship with god. I pray to god to give strength to the doctors, nurses, and Health Care Workers to restore health to the sick and to renew every person who are suffering, our nation will come through like never before. Host your comments on facebook and twitter as well. A couple post on facebook. No, from donna that says, you cannot worship from home. Livestream if that is an option, but leading large gatherings of any kind is a public hazard. Jeffrey says accommodations must be made. Not everyone who wants to worship with others has social media access. People who can keep safe, personal distance from others should not be forbidden from congregating. Religious beliefs and practices are so precious. They deserve the highest respect and protection. Deadly andause this contagious virus checks as the other or not you have in excepted from the stayathome order from before infecting you. And bc on twitter says jesus would tell you that organized religion today is a scam and sham to get your cash. God needs no money. Only man does. God did not make covid19, man did. God will not cure it. Only man can. 202 7488000 for those of you in the eastern and central time zones. 202 7488001 for those of you in the mountain and pacific. The lead story in the New York Times, the headlines as he could have seen what is coming, behind trumps failure on the virus. An examination reveals that the president was warned about the potential for the pandemic, but lack of planning and his faith in his own instinct led to a halting response. Any way you cut it, this will be bad, a Senior Advisor wrote on the night of january 28 in an email to a group of Public Health experts scattered around the government and universities. The projected size and outbreak already seems hard to believe. A week after the first coronavirus case had been identified in the United States and six long weeks before the president finally took aggressive action to confront the danger the nation was facing, and pandemic now forecast to take tens of thousands of american lives, the doctor was urging the upper ranks of the nations Public Health bureaucracy to wake up and prepare for the possibility of far more drastic action. Guys made fun of me screaming to close the schools, he wrote to the group, hich called itself red dawn based on an inside joke based on a movie. Hardlyes writes his was a lone voice. Throughout january, as mr. Trump repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus and focused on an array of other figuresan array of inside his government identify the threat, sounded alarms, and made clear the need for aggressive action. Where you read that. First, we go to michael in new kensington, pennsylvania. Caller thank you for taking my call. Andy easter to everyone passover. I think it is a tough call. I can see why they did it, but i am not a fan of the isolation. I do not think there is a lot of proof that it works, the sheltering. Guess it is something we have to live with. Their churches i do not think they should have been exempt. Inth plays such a large role so many peoples lives, and it should play a large role. When they started talking about this flu bug and all of the bad news coming around about it and everything else, they said there is one thing that is missing. And i said they will finally talk about faith. And they did not. They talked about immunity and this and that in the other thing i think immunities are a key role. , thes angeles, the virus rise of the virus, was not as large as it was in other places, despite the fact that they have a lot of chinese there. That is their main port of entry, i think, california. And yet they did not have that large rise, and i think it is because of herd immunity. I wonder, if i keeping everyone away from this virus, if you do not actually make it easier to spread this virus in the end. If we get another wave of this virus, will anyone have any immunity at all . Host florence, kentucky. Caller how are you doing . For a number of years, i was on immunosuppressive therapy to fight crohns disease. Spleen removedmy complications, so i am very susceptible to this virus. A series of other things as well. Religious exemption i am sick and tired of hearing about religious exception. A church should be in the heart and not in the actual building. I do not need a building to go to church. But what you do, when you break these corn teaming rules, you threaten my life, and that is completely unacceptable. To me, that is no different than a drunk getting behind the wheel of a car and running into a school bus. Your reckless behavior then threatens my life. It is no different with those who are antibaxter antiv axxers either. Host thank you. We started the program showing scenes of st. Peters square, the vatican the pope tweeted late last night that we understand the service at the vatican has already streamed. He tweeted several times yesterday evening. Tonight, we acquire the fundamental right, the right to hope. It is a new and living hope that comes from god. It is not mere optimism. It is a gift from heaven that week couldnt have earned on our own. Our question this first hour asking you about religious gatherings. In many places, they have been banned. Should they be exempt from stayathome orders . We hear next from houston, texas, don. Caller good morning. The word of us is where two or three are gathered in my name. I think the issue of church, religious gatherings, has been the issue in america and across the world. Head. As come to a againstof the violence religious service right here in texas, where a guy killed over. 0 members of a congregation come to where we have to identify what is a gathering . What is the purpose of the gathering . Is it for propaganda or true religious freedom . An age of live in technology. Of ve many ways television, for instance. So i do not think that the physical gathering during a pandemic is necessary. Also itdemic spread across diseases. If we look at the pandemic of poverty, childrens poverty, i do not see the religious sect taking that issue on the pandemic of childrens poverty in america and the world. Against thends mandate of the right of all andzens to Public Health the pandemic of poverty, they are silent on that issue. But the issue of a pandemic of infectious disease, they are bold and bodacious, so i think they are hypocritical to their own doctrine. Host don in houston, texas. We are starting to see video from the vatican ill not sure if this is live. Im not sure if this is live. Media video vatican we are seeing. Our question for you should religious exact should religious gatherings be exempt from stayathome orders . Our next call is josh from redding, california. Caller good morning. We have to look at is this in a rational way, in possible,bvious way by allowing religion to override what the government does, by allowing religion to take over what they can and cannot do, whos to say when they stop . Idea of for the religion being sacred, religion being special, and having good preference, but when does this special preference say we cannot just do whatever we feel like doing . If you are religious, keep doing what you do, but do not let your religion put others at risk. Host by the way, thank you. We have set a sideline for religious leaders, 202 7488002. Tell us not just this sunday or this week how you are handling the closures during the coronavirus pandemic. A report in the Washington Post, published before that states Supreme Court in kansas issue their ruling. Their headline, kansas court ways in state order barring state gatherings. They write about the pastor of st. Lukes Lutheran Church in kansas city, kansas. He said his small church will continue to have inPerson Services this weekend, despite the health warnings, though the events will take ways in and outside space with handmade pews. His flock of about 25 will be Wearing Masks and use physical distancing during worship. His easter theme is about resurrection and the gift that the pandemic has given believers a chance to pause, reflect, and grow. As christians, we are people of body and soul. The essence of our faith is spiritual, but physical presence is essential. In my opinion, there is no substituting the presence of a christian brother or sister, even six feet away. We gather in body and spirit, not just. Several governors, including floridas governor, have classified religious services as an essential business in their states and have allowed such gatherings to continue despite stayathome orders statewide. But National Religious organizations, including the catholic church, the church of latterday saints, and jewish have suspendedps live worship in recent weeks. The governor of kansas, laura issuedbefore the court the ruling, was on cnn and said this about her executive order. [video clip] mywhen i originally issued First Executive order, my stayathome order, we did exempt churches. Everybody else was under this 10 , sociallyit distanced, and if it was enforced if there was enforcement, it would be a class a misdemeanor. What happened was we saw what happened in kentucky and louisiana around Church Service. Then we had four clusters here in the state of kansas and them that that have resulted from Church Gatherings. So i felt it important to make it clear that churches would be included in the limit of 10 with the social distancing. Ton i did that, i had talked all of our faith leaders all across the state, all denominations. All of them were on board with that. After the legislative coordinating council revoked my executive order, i then again talk to faith leaders. They were still supportive. We took this to the Supreme Court not so much because we want to argue with the legislative coordinating council on criminalization or noncriminalization, but the fact is, the coordinating council does not have the authority to revoke this order only the full legislator can legislature can do that. Kansashis recording ruled yesterday on the governors executive order, upholding that order of stayathome orders for applying to religious services there in the state of kansas. Gail in new york. Hi there. Caller hi. Happy easter. Host happy easter to you, too. Caller thank you. Last night, i watched services on tv from st. Patricks cathedral. I am a christian. But most religions, i think all religions, teach us that god wants us to be good to everybody and that our neighbor is very important. And the issue with Public Health, i think and i think god would want us to protect one another. So i am glad they are not excluded. I do not think anybody should congregate if it is going to make people sick. So i do not think they should be exempt, churches or other synagogues or whatever. God is everywhere. Host what is that experience like . You mentioned watching the service, the streaming. Have you been watching the regular sunday services there . Caller no, no. I am not a person that goes to church every day, but on holidays and holy days, i do that. What was it like . It was uplifting. It was not as good as being in a church, because it is important to be with other people. But it did the trick, you know . For oneime out to pray another is a good thing to do. It is not like this is exempting from by exempting us going the church and being with other people, it is not saying to us we cannot pray to god or that we cannot be good to other people. I think that is the biggest message, especially on Easter Sunday. Arizona. M phoenix, hi there. Caller thank you for taking my call. I am listening to these callers, and i am not sure what bible or what word of god you are reading. Thatible that i read says they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Thatible that i read says he was roost through my transgressions, and by his strides, i was healed, 2000 years ago. So for all these people, especially those governors and wants and sheriffs who to put an ad lib after the constitution, yesterday, there was a judge in the Western District of kentucky who issued a temporary restraining order against louisville, saying that you do not get to tell churches that they are not essential. How do you tell a church they are not essential . And who are you to tell the church that they are not used by officials . And the free exercise clause religious police are at times not logical or compensable an alcohol and if store is essential, then you Better Believe a church is going to be essential. If a walmart or home depot, who are not practicing social distancing when you walk into that store, if they are essential with over 100 or 200 people inside, you Better Believe a church is going to be essential. I encourage all of my christians, if you feel that your rights are being infringed, take yourself down to that federal courthouse and file your action against that governor or that sheriff or that mayor and get your rights back. Out and christian pointed the situation in louisville, the ruling of a federal judge in louisville on that. Here is the mayor, greg fischer, after that ruling came out. Among his tweets, i reluctantly but emphatically asked faith leaders to worship without holding in person or 99 ofn services the those houses of worship who have chosen to adhere to that have made the responsible choice. We hear from rich next. Caller a lot of good comments. It seems the line should be which way to save lives, and it is where that now that we cannot go to church on easter, we miss it, where before, we took it pretty much for granted. I hate to say that we had to go through this to really appreciate it more. It could be one of the odd benefits of this. The other thing is we have been through other crises before. When polio was going around, we had no idea what was causing it, and years, they were trying to solve it. Our thing happens, from one church school, they did a test to solve polio. It was the first time polio was tried on. Saul tried it on his family first and then in this one area in pittsburgh. In one generation, we are solving it. We should get onto the and the we shouldases go to the next one and the next one of the major diseases. Host next call. This is dusty. Caller i attend Services Every sunday. The building is not the church. The fellowship of people coming together to worship god in spirit and truth. Aw can i go to work 50 hours week, how can i go to walmart to buy essential foods for my skull body, and then sa my physical body and then say my spiritual body does not matter . Because when i am on my isthbed, people and bread not going to matter. The only thing i can depend on is the lord. We have a convocation of about 125 people. Aref them, 35, 40, attending. We tried to pack his social distancing. We do the things necessary to duty tried to keep people safe. But i cannot turn on the lord because the government tells me to turn on the lord. He is my refuge. I will continue to worship the lord in spirit and in truth. Host jim is next, st. Johns, michigan. It says you are a religious leader. Tell us about that. Caller i am an ordained minister. Ive stood at the pulpit before. Currently, i do not. My point of view is it does not really matter what the government tells us. We should look at what god tells us. He tells us to love everyone as we love ourselves. Way, can see that meaning that we should go risk our fellow parishioners, fellow believers, or even the unbelievers. Why should we do that . That is not what he would do. He would not want to risk the life of anyone. Wea religious community, need to say, hey, this is not ok. Toneed to find another way get together in smaller groups, to do it online,

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