Big Brother—er, I mean—the Mendocino County, California Health Department has issued an Order mandating the following for streaming church services:
No singing or use of wind instruments, harmonicas, or other instruments that could spread COVID-19 through projected droplets shall be permitted unless the recording of the event is done at one’s residence, and involving only the members of one’s household or living unit, because of the increased risk of transmission of COVID-19.
This Order applies to streaming church services even if “Only four individuals” are present and they observe the 
social-distancing requirements that include,
maintaining at least six feet of physical distancing from other individuals … , frequently washing hands with soap and water for at least twenty seconds as frequently as possible or using hand sanitizer that is recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as effective in combatting COVID-19, covering coughs or sneezes (into the sleeve or elbow, not hands), regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces, not shaking hands, and, for those who are not on camera, to wear facial coverings as much as possible.
Could a church even have a streaming service that included music with fewer than four people? Remember, the off-camera persons managing the technical aspects of streaming a service would need to be present.
While singing may be deemed non-essential to non-Christians, they have no moral right to impose their non-Christian beliefs on Christians—including on four Christians in a nearly empty church who are standing six feet apart with bleached hands during a pandemic.
God’s holy Word has a lot to say about singing:
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! (Psalm 100:1-2)
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! (Psalm 95:1-2)
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. (Psalm 104:33)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him! (Psalm 68:4)
While the U.S. Constitution expressly protects the free exercise of religion and the right to assembly , “progressives,” many of whom have stated they respect neither religion nor the U.S. Constitution, are discovering in the penumbras formed by emanations from the Chinese Communist coronavirus (and the “LGBT” ideology) rationalizations for the erosion of our most precious rights. As the Bill of Rights is being devoured right before our eyes, the ravenous, slavering “progressive” blinkered beast who was once known by the gendered name Big Brother grows.
What happens when politicians and unelected government bureaucrats with barely concealed contempt for theologically orthodox Christians discover that pastors project droplets when they preach?
Laurie Higgins is the Illinois Family Institute’s Cultural Affairs Writer.
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