On Friday the US Supreme Court upheld different CoVid rules for churches in Nevada, compared to those for casinos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/24/u...c0f98de1a62d42

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request from a church in Nevada to block enforcement of state restrictions on attendance at religious services.

The vote was 5 to 4, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. joining the court’s four more liberal members to form a majority.

There were a couple of dissents filed, including this one from Justice Alito, joined by Justices Thomas and Kavanaugh:

“The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion,” he wrote. “It says nothing about the freedom to play craps or blackjack, to feed tokens into a slot machine or to engage in any other game of chance. But the governor of Nevada apparently has different priorities.”

I did not see any description of the filings which specifically addressed what arguments were raised, including whether a difference in regulation was warranted. However, the dissent certainly raised the issue.

What Justices Alito, Thomas and Kavanaugh do not grasp is that one big difference is that when people are praying in a casino, they really mean it.

Good Lord

I recall that one of the nuances was that other places of business that gather people were also banned along with churches. It wasn't just casinos vs churches. It was churches don't want to be grouped with some activities that are banned and instead want to be grouped with casinos and restaurants which are allowed to open with 50% capacity. Plus churches want to be open regardless of whether casinos and everything else is closed.

Im pretty sure all Nevadians are still free to read their Bibles and pray 24 hours a day without any State punishment.

Why are casinos open? Profits are more important than lives?

This may be one of the greatest quotes of all time.

"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they like to be seen...go in your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; "
My my how modern religion has strayed from the true teachings of Jesus.
Not that I'm religious, but most of those who claim to be so called Christians are truly hypocrites. They just want the money.
And yes, that quote from Gzesh was genius.

Any link to read the article without a subscription?

Agreed.

Wait, people think praying in a casino actually works? The poker tables always seem like they are 90% atheists.

It is not an original line, however accurate.

The difference has long been noted in Las Vegas. It certainly was highlighted by Jerry Yang at the 2007 WSOP.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comme...in_church_and/

rules... Rules ARE NOT laws but merely guidelines.

At the federal level, that is certainly not an accurate description of how matters work. Congress, which passes laws, and the Executive Branch, which executes those laws, may delegate rule making power under those laws. Those rules have the force of law and may be enforced. See, the Administrative Procedures Act for some background.

I've not looked at the specific authority for what Governor Sisolak has done to make mask wearing mandatory at the State level, but I am pretty sure it has the force of law and can be enforced. (There is a litigation challenge pending, but I do not think the requirement of mask or capacity rules has been enjoined.)

I have quite often prayed to the poker gods at the table.
And I know I'm not the only one.
Poker, and gambling in general, in itself is a religious experience.

And what if one’s religion ‘requires’ public service attendance and not doing so is a sin?

Not sure of the "requirements" of the religion in the Supreme Court case regarding Nevada. Perhaps the congregation could meet in a casino ?

I'll make your query a bit more real world specific:

What if your religion requires a gathering of a minimum of 10 men to conduct prayers and the Covid rule bars gatherings greater than 10 ?

Maybe the religion will make accommodations to protect the faithful ?

https://www.ou.org/covid19/

Maybe the religion takes a different view of the health and wellbeing of the faithful and the community at large ?

https://www.christianlegalsociety.org/covid19freedom

"Challenges to in-person services are starting to gain more traction. Two courts, including the Sixth Circuit, issuing injunctions against Kentucky’s ban on in-person meetings, subject to social distancing requirements. A federal district court in North Carolina also struck down an order prohibiting in-person church gatherings. Many other challenges requesting courts to allow in-person relief have been rebuffed, especially where the shut-in orders allow for drive-in services. Where churches are proactive in alleviating the justifiable concerns of federal district judges regarding potential spread of the virus, they have been more successful."

Maybe the religious leaders see no problem if the faithful take measures to postpone meeting their makers ?

Why do churches want to open? Profit is more important than lives

Covid and churches is another unfortunate example of how partisan politics has creaped into every aspect of American life. Make no mistake about it, this is political and has very little to do with religion. Religion has long become a political tool in this country.
In Europe, most churches have switched to online services. In Europe covid is now mostly under control and life is slowly getting back to normal. In America, people are still arguing about keeping churches open. Frustrating as hell.

What is also frustrating is trying to find a route out of the US to go some place a little less toxic. Apparently, under the current failure to address CoVid 19, US persons are pariahs when it comes to international travel.

That’s the point. The city makes a lot more off casinos than churches. Nobody comes to Vegas to go to church. It’s all about profits over lives.

Deaths and cases in Nevada are way up compared to March and April. Casinos were closed then and open now. Huh?

I realize that we closed back then so we wouldn’t have to close down again. And cases were really low for a while so it seemed to be working. But now we’re seeing 1,000 new cases a day and things are obviously not going according to plan.

How bad do things have to get before the casinos close down again?

It will have to get REAL bad both health wise and politically for the casinos to be closed down again. With the Federal unemployment stipend going away or reduced the Governors will have a hard time re shutting down their states...

^ ... unless they get an offer they can't refuse from "above".

It is REAL bad already in Clark County. A number of casinos never reopened (Mirage, Mandalay Bay for example) Casino companies have begun massive, WARN Act style layoff notices already. I think they are looking to focus tourism on as few properties as they can do so profitably, while the economy here tanks ..... without any new required shutdown,

Things will be that way through Nov 3, then get a lot worse, both here and nationally.

July 1969: Americans travel to the moon.

July 2020: Americans can't even travel to Canada.

Great observation. So sadly true.