Religious freedom is critical toward our nation’s greatness, and it requires all of us to defend our religious freedom and uphold our religious virtues.
RI’s curve is approaching ZERO! States across America are opening without problem, protesters are allowed large gatherings, jobs and the economy are booming nationally… yet, our RI summer remains locked down. Why?
The Governor has just extended the “state of emergency” and the General Assembly has failed to act on its authority to end this madness, sitting idly by while the wreckage continues to mount.
Days after an executive order from the governor forbade gatherings, the East Providence police shut down a church despite voluntary plans to limit risks.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for May 27, included talk about:
I’ll be on again Monday, June 1, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
When you’re claiming to be speaking from a position of science and advocating policies that restrict our rights and that have massive implications for the real lives of millions of people, details are important.
As Ed Achorn reminds us, the Constitution is only as strong as the people’s willingness to enforce it, and too many Rhode Islanders apparently believe our founding document can be waived if they’re scared or can claim that lives will be saved.
Governor Raimondo’s detailed regulations for “faith-based organizations” to reopen should be offensive to a free people (even if not personally religious) because of what she apparently believes about religion and about us.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for May 18, included talk about:
I’ll be on again Monday, May 25, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Yesterday, the Flanders Legal Center for Freedom, an initiative of the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, released a brief analysis of the laws under which Governor Gina Raimondo has been dictating rules for all Rhode Islanders and our businesses, churches, and organizations.
In an open letter to Governor Gina Raimondo, religious leaders in Rhode Island begin to insist that engaging in religious worship is not a non-critical leisure activity, but an essential activity for human life.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for May 11, included talk about:
I’ll be on again Monday, May 18, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Protests are more-difficult during these times, but not impossible, and Monday, May 11, from 12:00-2:00 p.m., there will be one at the Rhode Island State House in Providence.
An interesting discrepancy can be observed between the way Governor Gina Raimondo’s decree that everybody must wear face masks in public places was reported yesterday and the text of the order itself.
This is to offer an important data point about COVID-19 that doesn’t get much attention. The United States has, to date, experienced 1,092,815 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19. 64,283 of those cases, or 5.88%, have resulted in death. To be clear, 5.88% of people who got the disease have died from it, not 5.88% […]
Unused mail ballots represent a fertile field that well-funded campaigns could harvest.
Two council members who have tried to act as a check on the council president’s unbridled power are Donna Cook and Nancy Driggs, and they discuss some of their concerns on the latest episode of Tiverton on Track.
The governor only has her dictatorial authority to micromanage every organization and civil right in our state if the rest of us pretend along with her.
Rhode Islanders can make decisions as adults and don’t need Constitutionally suspect impositions from our chief executive.
As “state of emergency” becomes more a legal term of art than a fact, we need our free press to challenge government authority rather than just conveying its message.
Of all the deprivations that Rhode Islanders generally and Catholic Rhode Islanders specifically have had to endure during the past month or so, the inability to collect palms on Palm Sunday is not the biggest. That said, it is critically important to note that it was patently unconstitutional for Democrat Governor Gina Raimondo to direct that they not be provided:
Cranston Police Chief Michael Winquist confirmed Sunday that officers responded to St. Patrick’s Church after someone called to report palms were being given out.
“It turned out that the doors to the church were left open with a basket of palms left in the vestibule for parishioners to take one,” Winquist said in an email. “No clergy were present.”
He said police did not take any action, as Gov. Gina Raimondo’s directive not to hand out palms did not come with an official executive order.
Raimondo announced Friday there would be no distribution of palms for the holiday, which marks the start of Holy Week for Christians.
St. Patrick’s is not part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, so the suggestion of Bishop Thomas Tobin that parishes should comply with the “directive” did not apply. Within his scope, however, it would have been preferable for Bishop Tobin to assert that the ban on palms was his decision, not the governor’s, rather than just cede his authority to her.
If the First Amendment means anything when it comes to religion, it means that the governor cannot decide what religious implements are “essential.” Fundamentally, that is the government’s chief executive implementing her own religious worldview as the law (and her support for abortion proves that her worldview is not Catholic). Flowers from the grocer are permitted. Beer is permitted. Delivery of newspapers is permitted. Pickup of sporting goods, office supplies, and more is permitted.
In other words, Governor Raimondo isn’t only saying that palm branches distributed through churches are not “essential,” but that they are uniquely dangerous. Satan, no doubt, agrees.
This is a travesty against our Constitutional rights. The governor could ask religious leaders and individuals to (please) consider whether a particular implement or ritual is “essential,” but she cannot direct that it is or isn’t. If religious Rhode Islanders don’t protect this liberty during our slow-rolling crisis, we may never recover it.
Brushing aside the responsible-government reputation he strove to build as a state representative, Tiverton Town Solicitor Michael Marcello insists the law gives every town council president or mayor the power of the governor during emergencies.
My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 6, included talk about:
I’ll be on again Monday, April 13, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.
Welcome to the world of social distancing. As a person-to-person strategy to slow a contagion, it’s absolutely reasonable, but it’s starting to sound like an ominous act by government to tear us apart.
Meet three golfers trying to walk the line between their state of Massachusetts, which closed golf courses, and the neighboring state of Rhode Island, which closed the state to outsiders who can’t quarantine for 14 days:
An Attleboro man and his two golfing partners are being charged with playing a round in Rhode Island in violation of a ban on people coming into the state for nonwork-related reasons. …
They were apprehended at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, where police say the men changed cars to drive to the course in a vehicle with Rhode Island license plates.
Taunton and Attleboro, where the men are from, are part of the regular lives of Rhode Islanders. The quarantine restrictions don’t apply to Rhode Islanders who travel across the border or to people heading in either direction for work. In this case, the three of them came to Rhode Island to give a local business some money and to walk around a giant outdoor lawn for a few hours.
Perhaps in our current environment this outcome is a matter for reasonable debate (although some would surely say no debate is allowed and I’m wrong), but this seems to me to be an indication that we’re beyond the reasonable line.
As state and local governments take action to postpone various elections and grant themselves emergency powers (and abuse those powers), the people should keep an eye on an important deadline: the declaration of candidacy.
The state forces citizens who might run for office to declare their intentions by June 22-24 in an election year. While this gives plenty of time for campaigning (and opposition research by incumbents) and prevents political surprises, it also means that voters may not be able to hold elected officials accountable for anything that happens between late June and November, especially if the incumbents are running unopposed.
Even if the coronavirus crisis subsides in time to make it reasonable for people to collect signatures following their declaration, the public is still at a disadvantage. When it comes to potential candidates, they can’t be out there right now learning the landscape and getting a feel for their chances. When it comes to incumbents, the public is too anxious and preoccupied, right now, to adequately assess their actions (or lack thereof), and this atmosphere may remain until well after the COVID-19 cloud lifts.
As much as government may have a fair claim to increased flexibility during this time, the public deserves an opportunity for increased accountability as things get back to normal. If parties can replace their candidates into September (as we witnessed when Bob Healey jumped in at the last minute as the Moderate Party candidate for governor in 2014), the people should be able to have until then to decide whether incumbents deserve competition or other declared candidates are satisfactory as the only other choices.