‘No problem.’ KY AG Cameron’s stance on drive-thru church differs from some local officials
Attorney General Daniel Cameron disagreed with officials in Kentucky who are banning drive-thru church services held this Easter weekend.
Cameron said in a release that he has “no problem” with such services if they comply with federal guidelines for social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has said no to drive-thru services.
Fischer said on Wednesday that drive-thru church services in the state’s largest city will not be allowed this week, reported WDRB-TV in Louisille. He said he could not allow “hundreds of thousands” of people to be out when they need to be home.
Hopkins County Judge-Executive Jack Whitfield Jr., who had been weighing such a ban, could not be immediately reached Friday for comment.
Gov. Andy Beshear, who has been sounding the alarms for social distancing for several weeks, has not called for a ban on the drive-thru services but said Friday he understood why local officials in hard-hit areas have said no to them.
The Democratic governor said he is not opposed to the drive-in services as long as the cars stay at least six feet apart and contain no more than a single family that lives together. He said no one should leave the car and no one should pass anything between cars.
He said persons who attend an indoor worship service will have their license plates recorded by Kentucky State Police troopers and reported to local health departments. Health departement staffers will contact people at the services and tell them they must stay in quarantine for 14 days, Beshear said.
He noted that this new restriction will not apply to drive-thru services.
Cameron’s position on the services came in a release his office distributed to the media a few hours after a Kentucky Baptist publication reported that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Louisville sent a letter to Fischer urging him to allow the services if they comply with federal guidelines.
McConnell helped Cameron win election to become the state’s chief law-enforcement official last November.
In his release, the Republican attorney general said he is “aware that some Kentucky jurisdictions are discussing a prohibition of drive-in church services for the upcoming Easter holiday.
“As long as religious groups and worshippers are complying with current Centers for Disease Control recommendations for social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19, we see no problem with these drive-in services.”
He added, “Religious organizations should not be treated any differently than other entities that are simultaneously conducting drive-through organizations, while also abiding by social distancing policies.
“As long as Kentuckians are permitted to drive through liquor stores, restaurants and other businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the law requires that they must also be allowed to participate in drive-in church services, consistent with existing policies to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“We must all continue to work together and do our part to fight against COVID-19. However, individuals who wish to celebrate religious holidays using a format that follows social distancing policies and CDC guidelines should not be unnecessarily banned from doing so.”
Kentucky Today, an online publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, reported Friday that McConnell wants Louisville Mayor Fischer to allow religious gatherings that comply with CDC guidelines.
The publication said McConnell told Fischer in a letter that it “important that we continue to respect and protect the constitutional rights of our citizens” and that includes the right to freely exercise their religion.
“When the government permits people in vehicles to gather in parking lots for secular purposes but prohibits them from doing so for religious purposes, it raises the specter that the government is singling religious people out for disfavored treatment,” McConnell wrote in the letter.
McConnell added that he believes “churches should be following CDC guidelines on mitigating the transmission of COVID-19 and support temporary government regulations consistent with that guideline. Religious organizations share the national responsibility to right the disease’s spread.”
He called the churches not following the CDC guidelines “troubling and disheartening.”
Beshear said the safest place to worship is at home. He invited Kentuckians to watch worship services online from his home church of Beargrass Christian in Louisville if they do not have a place to worship.
