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While New Jersey is now facing a lawsuit for violating the Second Amendment, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio appears bent on trampling the first one by threatening to shut down churches and other worship houses permanently.
Speaking at his daily press briefing Friday, the Big Apple mayor says it can be a consequence of his government’s current ban on gatherings of more than 10 people, a measure designed to combat the Wuhan virus’s spread. Yet de Blasio “still hasn’t shut down the public parks in New York City, despite multiple complaints from the health officials,” points out Hot Air.
Note here that the “free exercise” (meaning, action) of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution; a right to recreate in public parks is not.
De Blasio, who as recently as earlier this month was telling NYC dwellers to “go about” their business normally (and was echoed by his health commissioner), now has gone to the other extreme. Mentioning Friday that most worship houses have temporarily stopped holding services, the mayor said, “No — no faith tradition endorses anything that endangers the members of that faith.”
(Really? I seem to recall one that advocates something beginning with a j and ending with a d.) De Blasio continued, Hot Air relates:
So, the NYPD, Fire Department, Buildings Department, and everyone has been instructed that if they see worship services going on, they will go to the officials of that congregation, they’ll inform them they need to stop the services and disperse.
If that does not happen, they will take additional action up to the point of fines and potentially closing the building permanently. Again, that will begin this weekend. Again, I’m sorry I have to tell you this, but anyone who’s hearing this take it seriously. You’ve been warned, you need to stop services, help people practice their faith in different ways, but not in groups, not in gatherings that could endanger people. [Video below.]
De Blasio: churches and synagogues that hold worship services may be closed permanently pic.twitter.com/kdUsdbP2YO
— Matthew Schmitz (@matthewschmitz) March 29, 2020
In fairness, de Blasio did strike a conciliatory tone. “I don’t say that with any joy,” he also told reporters of his threat. “It’s the last thing I would like to do because I understand how important people’s faiths are to them, and we need our faiths in this time of crisis.”
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Nonetheless, and allowing that the mayor could have misspoken, threatening churches is not a good look for a Marxist such as de Blasio. No, that’s not hyperbole. In his younger days, the mayor raised money for the Marxist Sandinistas and subscribed to their newsletter, and he honeymooned in Cuba.
If that’s not enough, he also bemoaned private property in a 2017 interview, saying, “Look, if I had my druthers, the city government would determine every single plot of land, how development would proceed.”
Now, while I can appreciate a man using the word “druthers” (I thought only I still did that), Bolshevik Bill’s comment is right out of the Marxist playbook. So is his threat to close churches permanently — Marxist governments are notorious for persecuting religion — an action that would be struck down in court faster than you could say Joe Stalin.
Note, too, that de Blasio didn’t mention mosques when issuing his threat — only churches and synagogues. This is interesting not just because NYC now has more than 100 official mosques and an unknown number of home-based ones; it’s also that certain Muslims worldwide have openly scoffed at Wuhan flu concerns, with some saying the disease is Allah’s wrath on “infidels” and won’t harm Muslims.
One could chalk this up to de Blasio being an older fellow who, in accordance with his upbringing, naturally thinks of churches and synagogues when speaking of worship houses. The problem?
Leftists never fail to include Muslims when showing faith consideration, and de Blasio is no exception. He even teamed with the terrorist-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to launch a far-left/Islamist endeavor called “AMPLIFY” (Advancing the Front Lines of Social Justice) and has worked with the organization “on several projects, including adding Muslim holidays as mandatory days off in the public schools system,” reported Conservative Review in 2017.
Of course, many may consider it a given that mosques violating NYC’s Wuhan virus measures would also get the iron curtain treatment. They shouldn’t — given the Left’s record of pandering to Islam. For example, it was revealed in 2014 that politically correct United Kingdom authorities had turned a blind eye to Muslim rape gangs for 14 years, thus enabling the brutal abuse of more than 1,400 native British girls.
Moreover and to the point here, Zero Hedge reports that a high official in France admitted in a leaked letter that imposing the virus-inspired “nationwide” lockdown on Muslim neighborhoods wasn’t a priority because it could spark riots. (In fairness, perhaps the measure is nationwide; only, “France” is no longer just one nation.)
Also not locked down, at least in NYC, are prenatal infanticide (abortion) mills. This is quite telling. De Blasio clearly doesn’t think that worshiping the Creator is “essential” — but is sure that destroying His most glorious creation is.
Image: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons
Selwyn Duke (@SelwynDuke) has written for The New American for more than a decade. He has also written for The Hill, Observer, The American Conservative, WorldNetDaily, American Thinker, and many other print and online publications. In addition, he has contributed to college textbooks published by Gale-Cengage Learning, has appeared on television, and is a frequent guest on radio.
