Why Are Double Standards Being Applied in First Amendment Rights?

            The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is a discussion about the double standards being applied to Americans under their First Amendment rights. The wording for the First Amendment is as follows: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”


            The First Amendment clearly states that the free exercise of religion and the right of the people to assemble peaceably are both protected from infringement by government. Yet, local and state governments have restricted church meetings to small groups, while allowing thousands of people to assemble in protests across the nation.


            The double standards have not gone unnoticed in Congress. Two days ago, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr and the Department of Justice asking for a “full civil rights investigation” into the violations of “free exercise and free speech rights of religious Americans.”

Under the First Amendment, state officials must not treat religious persons and groups worse than others, and they must not favor one kind of speech over another…. State officials have violated the free speech and free exercise rights of religious Americans by treating religious gatherings and speech differently than the speech and mass gatherings of protests. I urge you to launch a full civil rights investigation….

Two weeks ago, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court denied relief to a California church. The decision tilted in favor of the state, the Chief Justice wrote, because of uncertainty about whether the church was being treated worse than comparable secular organizations….

Now, after two weeks of nationwide protests, no uncertainty remains. Many jurisdictions across the nation are imposing extraordinarily strict caps on religious gatherings – such as restricting religious gatherings to 10 or fewer people – even as those jurisdictions allow thousands of people to gather closely in protests. States cannot allow one but prohibit the other.

            Governors and mayors across the United States allowed racial injustice protesters to assemble in huge numbers for more than two weeks. Just weeks earlier, these same jurisdictions would not allow people to gather in protest of the COVID-19 shutdown. It seems that protests are allowed for only those causes that Democrat politicians deem important. This is in addition to the double standards applied to church attendance. Why should Americans stay home and practice physical distancing except for events that further the liberal agenda?