Protestors Disrupt Church Service
Protesters interrupted a worship service at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, this week. The disruption was livestreamed by Black Lives Matter Minnesota and caused the service to be canceled. The protestors were objecting to the ongoing operations being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and are believed to have targeted Cities Church because one of its pastors works in a local ICE office. The incident is the latest in an ongoing string of clashes over ICE’s enforcement operations.
Analysis and eternal perspective: Last week, we considered several truths that will remain constant throughout the turbulence of this story. In brief, they are: 1) God loves all involved, 2) The authority of law enforcement should be respected, 3) Unpopular speech and protest is legally protected but acts of violence are not, and 4) We are to pray for those in authority.
The framework above provides us a stable—if not always popular—place to begin our consideration of this week’s developments. It is important, however, to zoom in briefly on point number three, because it is well-established legal precedent in the U.S. that the First Amendment protects the right of unpopular speech and protest, but does not confer a right to deny the similar speech of another, particularly in a religious worship setting. In other words, the churchgoers have a First Amendment right to gather and worship, and the protestors have a First Amendment right to protest, but there is not a First Amendment right for the protest to deprive the churchgoers of their right to gather in worship.
These are tricky but important legal nuances to consider amid a story like this one. The First Amendment provides sweeping-but-not-unlimited freedom, and this is a prime example of a situation where the law draws a limiting line on that freedom in order to preserve the rights of all.
As a Jesus follower, you should gather to worship even when it’s unpopular (Heb. 10:25). You should also respect your governing authorities (Rom. 13:1-7) and be vigilant in your pursuit of justice for the oppressed (Is. 1:17).