by Daniel Schmidt, Christian Post
Nathaniel Hawthorne famously opined that “no man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.” There is, no doubt, truth in that statement as it pertains to man.
Fortunately, however, the same cannot be said of federal statutes.
The federal FACE Act, Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, does indeed have two “faces.”
One face prohibits the use of force or threat of force to obstruct, injure, interfere, intimidate, or attempt to do any of those things to women seeking access to clinics. 18 U.S.C. §248(a)(1).
The second face prohibits the use of force or threat of force to obstruct, injure, interfere, or intimidate “any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of worship.” 18 U.S.C. §248(a)(2).
It is the latter that pertains to the mulishly malevolent Marxist mob who stormed the hallowed ground of a church sanctuary in St. Paul on Sunday to disrupt a religious worship service.
Violations of the statute result in imprisonment for six months, a fine of $10,000, or both. The United States Department of Justice needs to shackle every one of the so-called “protesters” who stormed the holy sanctuary of religious congregants, prosecute them, and seek the harshest penalties allowed by law.
Recall, during the Biden administration, the Department of Justice arrested, tried, and imprisoned an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor for alleged violations of the FACE Act. In fact, the Biden administration charged her twice — once in Michigan and once in Tennessee for her alleged crime of obstructing entrance to an abortion clinic.
Did she join with other individuals to premeditate a plan to storm the doors of the abortion clinic and prevent women from obtaining anything? No. Did she accost the leader of the abortion clinic? No. Did she harass and harangue little children present at the facility? No. What this 89-year-old Holocaust survivor did was sing hymns, pray, and read Scripture in a public space outside of a clinic. Despite all this, Eva Edl (among many others) was hauled before the federal court systems in two different states to answer for her alleged crimes.
Here, the Marxist mob did not quietly sit on the sidewalks outside the church to advocate for their alleged views, which (though unseemly) would have been protected expression under the First Amendment. Rather, the mob stormed the doors, raided the sanctuary, intimidated women and children, disrupted a worship service, accosted the pastor, and threatened to injure every congregant in attendance.