Evangelical Leaders Ask Congress to Grant Religious Organizations Immunity from COVID-19 Lawsuits
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Evangelical leaders have asked Congress to grant religious organizations immunity from potential negligence suits arising from decisions to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Christian Post reports. Evangelicals joined some 300 interfaith leaders in signing a letter to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary last week, in which they suggested immunity granted could be similar to that given health-care workers.
Organized by the religious freedom law firm First Liberty Institute, the letter was signed by numerous prominent evangelical leaders including Kirk Cameron, Franklin Graham, James Dobson, televangelist John Hagee, radio host Eric Metaxas and Hispanic Action Network President Marc Gonzales, the Christian Post reported.
In the letter, the leaders said they were each concerned about a “new threat” to faith communities in the country. This threat, they said, was “a swarm of lawsuits blaming houses of worship and religious ministries for any person who attended a religious gathering or received food or shelter from a charity or ministry and subsequently contracted COVID-19.”
The leaders said that even if such lawsuits were defeated under constitutional rights to freedom of religion and assembly, the cost of defending them would have “devastating consequences” for the churches or non-profit organizations involved. The letter explained: “Many of the same religious organizations who rushed to provide aid and comfort to those affected by COVID-19 now find themselves struggling financially. And a wave of lawsuits would force many to cease their operations, whether due to the cost of litigation, or the mere specter of it.”
In proposing a solution, the leaders said: “Such protection could be modeled generally after the COVID-19 laws and orders that limit liability for medical professionals and commercial entities that manufacture and sell protective equipment by establishing a gross negligence or willful misconduct standard. This simple, common-sense solution will provide religious organizations desperately needed protection from simple negligence lawsuits.”
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