Nathan's Question About Mask Mandates and Free Exercise

 Does free exercise forbid non-neutral mask mandates from being enforced against church services?

Yes and no. The fact that the law is non-neutral, because of secular exceptions, takes the case out of Smith and under Lukumi-Fulton strict scrutiny. However, the claimant would still have to show that he has a sincerely held religious objection to masks at worship services. Some might be able to establish this. A pastor might argue that fellowship during service requires mask-free intimacy among the church family. Or he might argue that the mask mandate has significantly reduced church attendance because many people avoid going to places where masks are required.

My personal opposition to mask mandates, however, is not based upon religious conviction. It is based upon a strong sense of liberty and the fear that Americans are becoming too used to being regulated by the "emergency" decrees of public health bureaucrats. Covid-Mandate America looks nothing like the land of the free and the home of the brave. I believe that if you allow the government to take your liberty during times of crisis, it will create a crisis whenever it wishes to take your liberty. In other words, my views about mask mandates are based upon a desire to keep America free and brave, not scared and masked.

So, I do not have a Free Exercise claim against the mask mandates, because my opposition is based upon secular libertarian philosophy, not upon sincerely held religious beliefs.

 Ronald Reagan once said something profound about the extinction of liberty:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men [and women] were free.”

Whatever your views about the Covid mandates, I hope that you will not become too used to having your life so heavily regulated by government for such a long period of time. It is like boiling a frog slowly; you get used to the warm water as the heat slowly increases and the next thing you know you are boiled alive.