Separation of Church and State

Recently, Pastor John McCarthur, of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, released a statement that he and his church will not be following state law to lockdown and will continue to gatherings weekly on Sundays. Since then, there has been a lot of debates and criticism about John McCarthur’s decision all over the media. People argue that he does not have a right to do this and that he should be following state law because he is putting peoples lives in danger. The governor of California, Gavin Newsom has since threatened to fine or arrest him. People on twitter have been claiming that religious people gathering has caused an increase in the Covid- 19 cases because of people singing and moving around. John McCathur and many of his supporters defend themselves by saying that the state is infringing on our first amendment right by dictating how congregants can worship. The law affects the way people meet and it is important for congregants to worship. Just how we all defend the government from the Church having a say in laws, the government should not dictate what the church and its congregants do. The people who are against this make it out to be as though masses of people will rush to churches but this, in fact, is untrue. Other congregants can choose whether or not they feel comfortable attending church or watching the services livestream. What do you think, should the government get to determine what defines a necessity for a church to lockdown? Do you think it is enough to have personal responsibility or do you think government needs to get involved and enforce state laws on the church? The government should not have a say in determining what a church does because the church is a separate entity from the government.