It’s a momentous victory for religious freedom…
A Seattle court ruled against the City of Seattle for infringing on Pastor Matthew Meinecke’s First Amendment rights.
It all began when Pastor Matthew Meinecke read the Bible out loud during a Seattle pro-abortion rally. He also held up a sign and handed out faith-based literature.
The pro-abortion crowd attacked him for simply reading the Bible to others because it “triggered” them. The group, which included members of the radical socialist anarchist group Antifa, pulled Meinecke’s Bible out of his hands, ripped out pages, and knocked him to the ground.
When the Seattle police arrived, they didn’t help Meinecke. Instead, they sided with the protestors and ordered Meinecke to leave. When he refused, the police arrested him… they arrested a man for reading a Bible, not the people who were beating him up.
The case went before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in Pastor Meinecke’s favor, saying:
“The restrictions on his speech were content-based heckler’s vetoes, where officers curbed his speech once the audience’s hostile reaction manifested. Meineke established irreparable harm because a loss of First Amendment freedoms constitutes an irreparable injury, and the balance of equities and public interest favors Meinecke.”
First Liberty, the legal organization that defended Pastor Meinecke, put out a statement saying:
“This result is only fitting. The government should never silence the speech of a citizen just because an audience dislikes what it’s hearing. Pastor Meinecke is thrilled to put this case behind him and get back to sharing the Gospel on the streets of Seattle.
The officers could have required the protestors to take a step back from Meinecke. They could have called for more officers — as they did after Meinecke was arrested. They could have erected a free speech barricade. They could have warned the protestors that any sort of physical altercation would result in the perpetrators’ arrests. And they could have arrested the individuals who ultimately assaulted Meinecke.”
Meinecke was exercising his First Amendment rights, and the court agreed.
It was a win for Meinecke, religious freedom, and Christians nationwide against radical secular bureaucrats and groups.
What do you think? Leave a comment in the comment section below or email me at [email protected].
Action Steps:
1) Pray for our country, the Trump transition, and court cases across America regarding religious freedom.
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