By Dex
After losing a series of court cases designed to stop indoor services at Grace Community Church due to the Wuhan virus. The County of Los Angeles has decided to take a more vindictive approach. The county recently notified the church that it will be evicted from the parking lot that it had leased for 45 years.
Grace Community Church has been given until October 1 to surrender the portion of land that houses the lot. This, after the church had won a victory in Los Angeles County Superior Court that allowed it to hold in-person church services during the ongoing Wuhan virus pandemic.
The county issued a letter warning that if Grace Community Church fails to comply with the eviction, “the District may enter the premises and remove Grace’s personal property in accordance with the Agreement and applicable law, and Grace will be responsible for any resultant expenses incurred by the District.”
Jenna Ellis, of the Thomas More Society, called the move by the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works retaliation for the church daring to pushback against the statewide ban on indoor church worship services.
“Los Angeles County is retaliating against Grace Community Church for simply exercising their constitutionally protected right to hold church and challenging an unreasonable, unlawful health order,” Ellis said.
“In America, we have a judicial system to ensure that the executive branch does not abuse its power, and Grace Community Church has every right to be heard without fear of reprisal. The Democrats’ message to Americans is clear—if you don’t bow to every whim of tyranny, the government will come after you. The Church has peacefully held this lease for 45 years and the only reason the County is attempting eviction is because (Pastor) John MacArthur stood up to their unconstitutional power grab. This is harassment, abusive, and unconscionable.”
What is going on here is actually a shot across the bow to other churches: stand up to the government and it will find ways to make your life miserable. So much for the First Amendment rights to the free exercise of religion and to peaceably assemble. That is apparently trumped by the government keeping you safe from the Wuhan virus. How ironic when you consider these state and county governments, who claim to have your safety in mind, have released violent criminals from jail also because of Covid. Consider as well that many of these blue state governments want to punitively defund the police. Finally, these same political hacks are obsessed with cracking down on our lives, yet do not lift a finger to control the rampant homelessness problem in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco in which pestilence is a very real danger to surrounding communities.
Democrats at all levels of government are naturally full of hubris. However, as more ordinary Americans challenge their arbitrary dictates their arrogance is transforming into reckless desperation.
Pray that Grace Community Church will win this skirmish and will find a way around this setback for their parishioners. God will be glorified in the midst of this spiritual battle. This will happen because Pastor MacArthur and thousands of Christians are prayerfully seeking God for redress now that the County of Los Angeles has failed in this regard.