Return to a City Atop a Hill

IS YOUR FAITH SO INFECTIOUS THAT YOU NEED TO BE QUARANTINED?

During Holy Week in 1979, after his election to U.S Congress, my godfather, Rev. William "Bill" Gray, III, travelled by train each day from Washington into Penn Station in Newark, NJ to be picked up by one of our church's deacons to deliver the sermon for our Lenten Revival, and, on the final night, he delivered a sermon titled "The Indictments Against a Man Named Jesus." Any biblical scholar would readily point out that Uncle Bill was definitely not "in the Book" that evening, and engaged in some literal "liberation theology", nor do I doubt that if required to render sworn testimony under penalty of perjury, Uncle Bill would testify that he had personally recovered the charging documents. and if Uncle Bill had a charge sheet, we may be able to get a new trial on the third indictment of "taking up space", which I am pretty certain was not codified in Roman law. But we live in an interesting time for faith, and don't be surprised if you find yourself being apprehended upon allegations of being a devout, evangelical Christian. But two questions arise from that very possible hypothetical: 1) Could the state mount enough evidence to convict you; and 2) Would you hire the best attorney to get you acquitted?

We are currently in our third litigation against the COVID-19 response in defense of the faith community, having the first filed and longest surviving challenges against the lockdowns, now on appeal in the State Supreme Court, and the first and longest surviving challenges against the facial coverings mandate, now on petition for certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court, with litigation against the vaccines commenced on July 7, 2021, the same day that Donald Trump filed suit against "Big Tech."

We filed against Big Pharm, multiple state and federal agencies and a few politicians involved in the "American Rescue Plan", and had included a few social media platforms upon which we had been suspended or banned permanently. But, with an order from the Court to amend issued on July 13, 2021, a door closed and a window opened, permitting us to add additional defendants and causes of action; so, this will be the very first litigation ever launched in history against Facebook, or any other social media platform under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which creates a felony for not only blocking the entrance to an abortion mill, but also for blocking the entrance to a place of worship, with allowance to bring a civil suit, which we are bringing against Facebook.

Consider the pandemic argument. According to CDC, we have a pandemic amongst the unvaccinated, which I am. The safest option for all involved, so that I do not become the choir member in the Skagit County Chorale whose choir could not sing the Lord's praise without his voice and who was accused of setting off a "super spreader event" with a less than five percent pathogen that resulted in the deaths of two of his fellow choir members. So, the safe option is to attend church being livestreamed online on Facebook, but not for the fact that Facebook deleted my account and will not permit me to create a new account.

Under the FACE Act, if you are trying to create a defense, alternative options for worship are not a defense, just like you could not say that a person who was obstructed en route to an abortion mill had other options. So, this will be an interesting "case of first impression."