Amid an intense court battle between John MacArthur and Los Angeles County for the Church’s constitutionally protected right to assemble for in-person worship, the L.A. Times has published a misleading article falsely claiming that the Church has been “struck with an outbreak of the coronavirus.”
In their article, “Coronavirus outbreak strikes L.A. megachurch that defied public health orders,” the paper smeared the Church as a superspreader for pushing back against the unconstitutional lockdown order by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Issued back in July, Newsom ordered the closure of churches in 30 counties, including L.A. County, where Grace Community church has resided for over 60 years.
The “outbreak” spoken of by L.A. Times consisted of 3 worshipers out of a congregation of 7000. The newspaper in the same vain claim “3” is the minimum number of cases before public health orders require the Church to report the cases, “so the agency can determine whether there is an outbreak.” Although the public health release they appear to be referring to was discussing requirements in a “workplace,” not a church and congregation.
“0.0004% is not an ‘outbreak,'” she continued. “The LA Times and others’ grossly misleading and fear-mongering headlines aim to mischaracterize Grace Community Church as irresponsible and a superspreader. It has never been the Church’s position that it is only safe to hold services if no one ever tests positive, or for example, if no one ever gets the flu during flu season. Our position has been that L.A. County shutting down churches indefinitely amid a virus with a 99.98% survival rate, especially when state-preferred businesses are open and protests are held without restriction, is unconstitutional and harmful to the free exercise of religion.”
“We’ve been open for a couple of months now, and we’re packed out everywhere. We have never had anyone that we know of in the hospital; certainly, no one has died, and we don’t currently have any known cases of covid. There were a couple of folks in the past, in the early part of the virus, that had some sickness, but recently, we haven’t had any indication of that at all,” MacArthur explained. “We feel that this is what needs to happen in a time like this. Church needs to be open. We’re not going to kill people by being open. We may save them from a fate worse than death, and that is eternal judgment in hell by giving them the Gospel and of all times to be open and of all times to be proclaiming the truth. This is the most critical time.” [emphasis added]
The article from the L.A. Times then blasted the Pastor for not screening worshipers, social distancing, or requiring masks, blaming the Church for their vast outbreak of 3 out of 7000 congregants.
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