SAN JOSE (LifeSiteNews) — Three years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, months after the end of California’s state of emergency, and just before the expiration of the national emergency declaration, a Christian church in California has been ordered to pay $1.2 million in fines for bucking local mandates by continuing to hold services in 2020 and 2021. The church plans to appeal the order.
In the Good Friday decision, California Superior Court Judge Evette Pennypacker ruled that San Jose’s Calvary Chapel must pay the fines because they refused to enforce so-called “simple, unobtrusive” mask mandates in compliance with the county’s top-down rules.
“It should appear clear to all — regardless of religious affiliation — that wearing a mask while worshiping one’s god and communing with other congregants is a simple, unobtrusive, giving way to protect others while still exercising your right to religious freedom. Unfortunately, Defendants repeatedly refused to model, much less, enforce this gesture,” Pennypacker wrote in the 32-page ruling, despite the fact that research indicates that mask mandates did nothing to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
READ: New York Times finally admits masks were totally useless at stopping the spread of COVID
Pennypacker accused Calvary Chapel, which reopened in May 2020 after briefly complying with local orders, of having “repeatedly flouted their refusal to comply with the Public Health Orders and urged others to do so ‘who cares what the cost,’ including death.” She insisted that the county’s orders were enforced equally throughout the country and didn’t target the church specifically.
Headed by pastor Mike McClure, Calvary began to openly defy its Silicon Valley county’s harsh lockdown rules after an initial two months of compliance, recognizing the serious spiritual needs of their congregants to return to worship and community.
United Airlines acted despicably when they forced unvaccinated staff out of their jobs, laying-off those who objected to taking the experimental jab on religious grounds.
It’s time all of us stood up for these brave conscientious objectors who refused to budge.
SIGN: I am boycotting United Airlines until they permanently drop their COVID shot mandate.
Thousands of employees refused to take the shot and United placed them on an “UNPAID LEAVE of ABSENCE,” a new term for “fired”.
The airline later invited the staff back amid the ensuing chaos of crew shortages, but the COVID policy remains in place, hanging over the unvaccinated as a daily threat if authorities call for more restrictions.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby even mocked the unvaccinated of the company at the time, saying they “…suddenly becoming religious” and openly threatened them that were putting their “job on the line.”
The unvaccinated were not allowed to work, the airline would not pay them, and they were denied all benefits of United employees, including travel privileges, access to health savings, health benefits, and (in the name of health safety) they denied Medical Insurance Coverage during the Covid-19 medical emergency.
BOYCOTT UNITED AIRLINES UNTIL THEY APOLOGIZE
30 unvaccinated, religious staff are now bravely taking a landmark court case against their former employer.
They contend that United Airlines went further than any other airline in mandating the shot for all staff, and then illegaly placed many of the religious staff on unpaid leave for their refusal to comply.
The medical products being forced on staff were developed and produced using aborted human fetus cells, thus violating the consciences of many believers concerned with the sanctity of life.
Join the Boycott: I support the 30 unvaccinated staff in their pursuit of justice.
Even after United Airlines had been informed by several plaintiffs that the Covid-19 vaccines were not working as advertised in August 2021, the airline created an ultimatum for its 67,000+ employees. Get the shot, or lose your job.
With staffs’ religious liberty trampled upon, United used every trick in the book to make their position untenable.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit even report monetary incentives and extra holidays being offered to break Federal Aviation regulations barring pilots and crew from taking experimental medicines, as well as condemnation, shaming, and accusations the vaccine was failing due to their non-compliance, and that they were killing people.
These heavy-handed tactics were intended to cause the unvaccinated to bend to the airline’s will.
But the affected staff say they “kneel only to God in Heaven, the maker of Heaven and Earth.”
We must all seek justice against the illegal, indecent, and treacherous actions that United exacted against its own staff.
Please share this petition with as many people as possible – help us fight this battle so that future generations of Christians won’t have to fear this type of treatment by their employers.
MORE INFORMATION:
United Airlines employees file lawsuit over tyrannical, government-backed COVID jab mandate
Legal Fund: LifeFunder.com/wings
“God doesn’t want us to isolate ourselves,” McClure said in a sermon upon the church’s reopening. “All of us need to be in the sanctuary. I don’t care what they say, I’m never again going to close the doors, ever.”
The church welcomed back its members and refused to enforce the public health mandates, arguing they were unconstitutional. In consequence, the church saw not only the return of its congregation, but a substantial influx of new attendees as well.
According to a local Fox News affiliate, the judgment against the church noted that “Between May 31, 2020, and May 2021, Calvary held a pair of Sunday services with an average attendance of between 300 and 500 attendees … as well as prayer gatherings and roughly 1,000 baptism ceremonies.”
Santa Clara County responded by hitting the church with fine after fine for such violations as failure to social distance, to wear masks, and even failure to comply with the county’s rules against singing. County officials also subjected churchgoers to an intense surveillance scheme via stakeouts, cell phone monitoring, and other measures “reminiscent of totalitarian regimes,” according to a March 5 report by independent journalist David Zweig.
Citing court filings, Zweig said health officers with Santa Clara’s Business Compliance Unit took meticulous note of the churchgoers’ ordinary behavior that ran afoul of the county’s new COVID mandates, including reporting the number of cars in the parking lot, whether or not masks were being worn, and even instances of hugging.
“The declarations recounting the surveillance read like stakeout scenes from a screenplay of a police comedy — earnestness played as farce, with the officers as the classic straight man,” Zweig remarked.
Calvary Chapel has been represented in its legal battles against the county by Advocates for Faith & Freedom. Last month, attorney Mariah Gondeiro argued in comments to The Free Press that while her clients were hit with hefty fines for staying open, the draconian lockdown orders weren’t enforced equally during the height of the pandemic.
“They exempted essential government entities, as well as personal care [businesses] like hair and nail salons, and entertainment studios,” Gondeiro said. “There was no singing ban on entertainment studios, so they could continue their productions.”
A county spokesperson denied the allegations, telling the outlet that the county “issued notices of violation to hundreds of entities that violated the orders, including card rooms, and virtually all of them came into compliance.”
Meanwhile, despite the subsequent lifting of all public health orders and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling that found that California’s ban on church assemblies during the pandemic had been unconstitutional, Santa Clara County has persisted in pursuing legal complaints against Calvary.
The latest legal battle — which came after a federal court tossed out most of Calvary’s claims in a countersuit against the county, in which they argued the rules violated their constitutional rights — has now culminated in the $1.2 million fine levied against the church earlier this month after the case was handed to the State court.
Gondeiro told San Jose Mercury News the church plans to file an appeal to reverse the April 7 ruling.
“We look forward to establishing more precedent on appeal that will have far greater implications for the future,” she said.