This grows directly out of 2020, when some governments kept liquor stores and big-box retailers open while houses of worship were ordered shut. Supporters say worship is not a hobby the state may switch off in a crisis — it is a first-freedom that should not be treated as less essential than a hardware store. Opponents, like Sen. Chris Larson, warn that a flat ban ties the hands of public-health officials in a true emergency. The question for a voter: when the next emergency comes, should worship be essential by default, or negotiated case-by-case? The Body is told plainly not to forsake assembling.
"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is."
— Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)