In a letter sent on Tuesday, June 2, a list of religious leaders requested that Congress’ next coronavirus relief package include legal immunity for religious organizations upon reopening.
We are concerned that some people—and their lawyers—will cherry-pick certain guidelines from around the nation in order to assign liability to religious organizations.
They might claim that a religious organization or a house of worship was negligent because it did not follow a single recommendation buried deep within a set of guidelines,” read the letter.
“[I]n the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a proliferation of complex and often contradictory orders and guidelines at the state, county, and local levels, each purporting to govern when and how to reopen,” the letter says.
“Providing this reasonable measure of protection to religious organizations and houses of worship in America will ensure that they can continue performing their vital functions of serving Americans and ministering to all of our spiritual and physical needs,” she said.