Proposed religious exemption constitutional amendment is flawed

The authors of a proposed state constitutional amendment to prevent churches from being shut down during states of emergency have too much COVID on their minds.

The proposal, which was introduced by Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, and Rep. Ty Bodden, R-Hilbert aims to prevent local and state government officials from being able to restrict religious gatherings during a state of emergency. The legislation comes as a reaction to the restrictions imposed in 2020 when Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency and ordered the shut down of non-essential businesses in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stay-at-home order at the time limited indoor church gatherings with the intention of reducing the transmission rate of the disease. This is the same sort of common sense restrictions on gatherings that have been used to battle epidemics of infectious diseases for decades. It is an admittedly blunt tool, but history has shown it to be an effective one in preventing needless illness and death.

A proposed constitutional amendment barring local and state government officials from closing places of worship during states of emergency is fundamentally flawed and short-sighted.

There is a saying that generals always fight the last war. In this case, the legislators are overly focused on what they perceived as government overreaches during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and wanting to address those issues without taking into account the wide range of things that could trigger a state of emergency.

In a state that has tornados and flooding every spring and summer and ice storms and blizzards every winter, it is not uncommon to see a state of emergency called on a local, regional or statewide basis in reaction to the very real threat taking place.

It is routine to hear of roads being closed due to it being dangerous for crews to be out in poor weather conditions, or how in the aftermath of devastation, access to areas is restricted to emergency responders.

This ill-considered constitutional amendment would exempt religious services from these common-sense closures.

We get it, no one likes to be told what to do. Most churches are very aware of the need to look out for the health and safety of their congregations and would voluntarily accept restrictions during an emergency situation, but others would not. The state has clear responsibility to look out for the health and safety of all residents. While prayer has its place in these emergency situations, so does common sense.

While religious gatherings serve a vital role in the mental and spiritual health of the community, there are times when having people in church pews presents a health and safety risk to the community at large as well as to emergency crews.

A valid complaint of the orders put in place during the last pandemic is that they were overly broad. This proposed amendment suffers from the same fatal flaw in throwing out common sense with the COVID-19 bathwater.

All people should jealously guard their rights and freedoms. Yet when tested in time of turmoil and crisis, the focus needs to be on protecting public health, safety and property rather than on making sure there are people in pews and coins in the collection plates.