Law now protects religious groups from ‘government abuse’

Over the objections of a Democrat in the governor’s office, North Carolina has a new state law that now protects religious organizations from “abusive government overreach.”

A report from the American Center for Law and Justice explains that happened when the China virus, COVID-19, hit American shores and various state officials applied strict quarantining rules to church organizations, while giving secular organizations much more freedom.

The new law now, the report said, “provides a constitutionally sound way to protect religious liberty from abusive government overreach.”

“As you know, our sister organization, ACLJ Action, has been working with state legislators around the country to protect religious liberty. In order to protect the right to worship from unelected bureaucrats abusing their authority, ACLJ Action drafted model legislation titled the Protecting Religious Liberty in States of Emergency (PRAISE) Act,” the report explained.

That would ensure that religious institutions cannot be shut down while similar secular institutions remain open.

The campaign so far has started addressing the needs in 28 states, and in North Carolina, it has been adopted by the legislature over the objections – and veto – of a leftist governor.

That plan reads: “(b) No religious institution shall be subject to an executive order, secretarial declaration, municipal or local government prohibition or restriction, or a rule or regulation by a political subdivision of this State that distinguishes between religious institutions and other public or private for-profit or nonprofit entities that are subject to or affected by the same or similar emergency in a way that imposes additional limitations on the religious institution. For the purposes of this subsection, the term ‘religious institution’ has the same meaning as in 33 G.S. 131F-2.”

The bill was temporarily delayed during arguments over the mandates for masking, but those eventually were resolved.

It was Gov. Roy Cooper who vetoed the plan because, he said, he didn’t like one campaign finance reform included in the overall bill.

But both chambers of the North Carolina general assembly overrode his decision.

“The House overrode the veto by a 70-46 vote, and the Senate overrode the veto last Thursday by a vote of 30-14. HB 237 is now officially law in North Carolina, ensuring that citizens’ right to worship is protected from bureaucratic overreach during any future declared state of emergency.”

The fight was repeated multiple times across America during COVID, when governors or other officials demanded that churches limit attendance or even close, while they allowed malls, strip joints, marijuana shops and others to remain open.

Several lawsuits that already have been resolved have included damages paid to some of those churches, although there still remain many unbalanced processes that governments can choose to use.