(ETH) – A federal judge in Colorado has recently ruled against a ministry that requested to hold an in-person conference that would capacitate over 175 people, which is in violation of a state public health order.
According to the report from the Christian Post, the U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello ruled against a request that was made by Andrew Wommack Ministries International to exempt them from the in-person cap imposed by Governor Jared Polis. The ministry had planned to host a pastors conference next Monday at their affiliate ministry Charis Bible College, which has approximately 650 enrolled students.
The statement was ruled: “Granting such an injunction would present a high risk of harm to the state of Colorado as well as the public generally,” “The relief the Plaintiff requests has the potential to increase case numbers significantly, placing a high burden on the state. Further, Plaintiff would be compromising the health of the public, which could cause the death of an untold number of innocent citizens.”
Liberty Counsel who is representing AWMI filed an emergency request for an injunction on Thursday before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. “The Governor’s Orders must satisfy strict scrutiny because they substantially burden AWMI’s religious exercise and are neither neutral nor generally applicable,” read the request.
“The Orders are not neutral or generally applicable because they internally discriminate between AWMI’s impermissible religious activities and AWMI’s permissible non-religious activities in the same building for the same number of people.”Prohibiting Coloradans from joining others at a religious gathering for religious reasons, such as a worship service or conference, while permitting them to join others at the same facility for non-religious reasons, such as giving or receiving food, shelter, or counseling, ‘violates the Free Exercise Clause beyond all question.'”
Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver made a statement as well on Thursday that Colorado’s restrictions “give preferential treatment to nonreligious gatherings over religious gatherings.” “While the virus does not discriminate between nonreligious and religious gatherings, Gov. Polis does. This discriminatory treatment is unconstitutional,” he continued.
