By Harmeet Kaur, CNN
Updated 9:02 AM ET, Sun May 24, 2020
(CNN)The rush to reopen churches has become the latest front in the coronavirus culture wars.
President Donald Trump has declared places of worship “essential” during the pandemic and said he’d override governors if they didn’t allow in-person services. Analysts have countered he doesn’t have the constitutional authority to do that.
But long before Trump ordered churches reopened — and long after how this battle plays out politically — some ministers and congregations have and will likley continue to defy state mandates. Because for many of them, the reasons go beyond partisan politics.
Some see it as a religious freedom issue
For the most part, American mosques and temples have not wrestled with the question of whether to hold services or not.
But for many Christian churches, the issue goes straight to what they view as their constitutional right to free exercise of religion.
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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/24/us/churches-reopening-state-orders-trnd/index.html