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A group of Romanian pastors, who fled communist oppression in the country of their birth, have now issued a "declaration" to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker regarding their religious freedom in the country they have come to love.
They explain their concern: "We're seeing in America, what we fled from in our homeland."
Be informed.
Romanian pastors in Illinois have issued a declaration to Governor JB Pritzker announcing they are opening their churches for in-person services on May 10. Mother's Day.
And they are filing a lawsuit against the governor for unconstitutional orders.
Liberty Counsel is representing the pastors in the lawsuit.
Ironically, George Soros and cohorts have filed a lawsuit against the sheriff of Orange County California, for refusing to release prisoners held in the country jail.
What has happened to our country that was founded on the rule of law and the principle of freedom and liberty for all?
The pastors say "We've seen this before."
The six pastors who signed the "declaration," along with Liberty Counsel lawyer Horatio Mihet, once lived under the heavy hand of a totalitarian regime in Communist Romania. They are painfully familiar with the government suppressed religious freedom and the jailing of pastors and Christians as criminals for merely following their religious teachings to meet and preach the gospel.
For many like Mihet, their first day of freedom was on December 25, 1989, when Nicolae Ceausescu's Communist regime was overthrown.
These pastors know what it's like to not have freedom, and that is why they see clearly what is happening in the country they love.
Their letter of "declaration" tells the governor:
"We love our adopted country, and the freedom we have found here, too much to stay silent as you trample on our God-given rights. In light of our shared experiences living behind the Iron Curtain ---where discriminatory treatment of Churches by authoritarian governments was the norm---we are determined to do every thing that we can to ensure that our beloved country and our State remain the beacons of freedom that brought us here."
In their "declaration," the pastors lay out a very specific set of action items that detail how they are going to comply with all the state's rules of social distancing, asking families to see that the most vulnerable elderly do not attend the services, etc---saying: "During the COVID-19 pandemic, we will implement protocols such as those recommended by the CDC."
However.
"In the meantime, and until you reverse course, we have authorized our legal counsel to immediately challenge your unconstitutional orders in federal court," they promise.
"And," they say, "irrespective of how long you or the courts take to vindicate our inalienable and non-negotiable rights, and return the Constitution from exile in our State, our decision is settled: we will reopen our churches on May 10, 2020."
A quick look at why these pastors and their thousands of parishioners feel so strongly about freedom.
I've spent time in Romania, not as a tourist, but in ministry with local churches and pastors.
The Romanian Revolution was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania and several other countries during December of 1989. The revolution was sparked by a Lutheran pastor in the city of Timisoara, Romania who began speaking out against the Marxist--Leninist Communist government, and its suppression of religious freedom---especially toward Christians.
The revolution started by the pastor, culminated in the overthrow of the government, a trial of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and he and his wife, Elena, being publicly executed. This ended 42 years of communist control. It was the last removal of a Marxist-Leninist government in the Warsaw Pact.
I was first there in 1990. I would return the following year. I spent time with pastors and Christians in ministry. And I talked with people in the cities and villages, including the capital city of Bucharest.
They are not violent people---they love God, and they love peace--- but they know first hand what tyranny looks like. I'm certain these pastors will not cave to political correctness from the Left or persuasion from some on the right. Nor will they grow weary in well-doing.
While religious freedom is being challenged by the Left, the Left is abolishing the rule of law and demanding prisoners be freed in the name of the virus.
The Soros-funded ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Orange County, California Sheriff Don Barnes demanding 500 inmates be freed from the Orange County jail.
Why? Chinese virus.
Barnes is arguing that the jails are not overcrowded, and precautions are being taken to social distance, etc.
He says releasing prisoners poses a threat to the public.
Not surprisingly, because some have already been released under command of the authorities, ABC 7 is reporting that "A high risk registered sex offender was arrested Thursday for allegedly exposing himself at a parole resource center, just two-weeks after a controversial early release from the Orange County Jail."
Seven inmates who were deemed "high-risk sex offenders" were released in early April by a court commissioner.
The Santa Ana police say the man arrested last Thursday, has convictions that include a sexual assault on a mentally disabled person; breaking into a home while naked from the waist down and peeking into an 11-year-old girl's room, and other things I don't want to print here.
We will likely hear from the rest of them at some point.
The takeaway.
On one hand, we are using a coronavirus crisis to suppress the freedom defined in our Constitution.
On the other hand, we are affording criminals freedoms that don't exist.
Chaos.
What's is the matter with us?
Thomas Jefferson said: "God, who gave us life, gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are a gift from God?"
To the degree that God is removed from the culture, we find a corresponding measure of chaos.
Lawlessness.
Confusion.
President Harry Truman---yes he was a Democrat---summed up our current condition quite well. He said:
"The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and Saint Matthew, from Isaiah and Saint Paul. I don't think we emphasize that much these days."
Harry was right when he said it on February 15, 1950.
And much more so today, May 5, 2020.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.