Religious worship and public safety

I have followed you and OffBeat for decades and have always supported your support and promotion of the NOLA music scene.

Your condemning of Lauren and Sean’s worship gathering to support and promote prayer and community around our God, Jesus the Christ is quite confusing. Our country is founded on the main principle of God the Creator, religious freedom and is the reason the three sailing ships came to the US continent. Our country is also founded on FREE SPEECH, and thus the social justice protest gathering and marches in NOLA are a great thing. 

When you condemn all the “marchers” of BLM, then you can condemn Lauren and Sean all the other prayer warriors that meet regularly to play “street music” in and around the St Louis Cathedral.

Love and Peace to you and your family this Christmas and Holiday Season.

God Bless and prayers for OffBeat’s survival and flourishing in the coming year!

—Stephen Shelton, Kenner, Louisiana

A Merry and safe Christmas to you and yours.

We didn’t “condemn” Lauren or Sean. We simply reported that Feucht performed in the city. He and his team performed, unmasked, in public, after they asked for a permit which was denied—and then they went ahead and performed anyway. That is dangerous to public safety.

But since you’ve written, this is my personal opinion: None of our local musicians have been allowed to perform in public, for months; they have obeyed the laws set out by our state and local government. They are doing their part to keep the virus from spreading, and they are suffering untold financial misery because of that. Ditto the music clubs and venues. Why should Feucht be allowed to perform? Because he’s a Christian?

Lest you forget, we are in the middle of a pandemic that is sickening and killing people all over the globe. The rules have been set up to protect everyone. It makes no difference who your Lord is; you can still get sick, die and spread the virus.

You might want to leave religion out of this, because frankly, not everyone in this country is Christian. Everyone (Christian, Jewish, atheist, Hindu, Muslim, pagans, whatever) should have the right to be protected from the spread of the virus. That’s what laws are supposed to do. That’s why all Americans are being asked to wear masks, socially distance, stay home this holiday season, and to get the vaccine as soon as they are able. It’s dangerous, if you do not heed these warnings.

Religious freedom, as guaranteed by the Constitution, is based on a separation of church and state. There is no national religion. There is no one religion that takes precedence over everything else. You are free to worship as you please. But your form of worship must not and cannot threaten others’ rights to health. Freedom of speech does not apply when you put others in danger (e.g. shouting fire—when there is none—in a crowded theater could cause injury and damage. There are limits).

Religious worship should not take precedence over public safety. Ever.

—Jan Ramsey, Editor