HeMANT MEHTA |
Back in October, I posted about Calvary Chapel San Jose, a church that ignored local Covid restrictions by hosting large indoor services, not requiring face masks, and not forcing people to socially distance. Even beyond that, Pastor Mike McClure openly bragged (during live-streams) about how the church is non-compliant, saying in May, “God doesn’t want us to isolate ourselves. All of us need to be in the sanctuary. I don’t care what they say, I’m never again going to close the doors, ever.”
To the county’s credit, they didn’t let any of this slide. They fined the church more than $350,000 for violating the law… but the church never paid up. So they filed a lawsuit and demanded the court shut the place down.
The church has still not shut down and the fines are now over $1 million.
But here’s an interesting twist to the story: The local ABC affiliate found that Calvary Chapel received over $340,000 in Paycheck Protection Program loans from the government earlier this year.
Continue reading @ Friendly Atheist.
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