Although this post is prompted by the Supreme Court case, that is not what I’m asking about. Apparently , Nevada has allowed casinos, movie theaters and bowling alleys to reopen at 50% of capacity and at least at bowling tournaments, spectators can sit in groups of up to 50, with social distancing between groups. Houses of worship however, are limited to 50 people total, regardless of the capacity.
I don’t understand the basis for this difference- how is 200 people in a bowling alley with a capacity of 400 safer than 200 people in a church with a capacity of 400 ?
The singing and praying in unison maybe?
The importance of casinos, etc., to the economy vs the unimportance of churches to the economy?
For the ultra cynical, substitute “campaign donations” for “economy” above.
Perhaps because casinos and bowling alleys can be made to follow rules for social distancing but to do so for houses of worship would infringe on their religious liberties?
Or you could substitute “voters like having a job and doing stuff” rather than jump to pseudo bribery accusations. Though I know the Big Bowling lobby does have a stranglehold on the Vegas economy.
That’s the one thing I’m certain it’s not - I suppose it could be the singing and I’m certain an unstated part of it is the campaign donations/economy , but there’s no way that it has to do with enforcing social distancing being a bigger restriction on religious liberties than limiting religious services to 50 attendees in a building regardless of the size of the building.
The big bowling lobby doesn’t have a stranglehold - but the casinos might and I believe every bowling alley in LV is in a casino.
Come on. EVERY bowling alley is in a casino? I bet all alleys have gaming machines but not what you said without evidence.
“In Las Vegas, where all commercial bowling centers are housed inside casinos, there is something of a gray area since casinos will not be allowed to reopen until June 4, under Sisolak’s current timeline.”
why are you cherry picking businesses to compare?
Here is the Phase 2 regs
“Nightclubs and day clubs, Adult entertainment establishments, Brothels, Live sporting events and live performances with spectators” are all to remain closed. Why do churches get better treatment than those? And movie theaters are also limited to 50 persons.
My guess as to why churches fall in the middle is for several reasons:
First, it is not necessary to hold services in person; it can be done virtually (yes, I know the argument that fellowship is essential to worship, but TPTB may not agree)
Second, it’s not a business, and so churches are not harmed economically in ways that others like bowling alleys may be.
and then, all of the businesses that are allowed to reopen in some form are not allowed to reopen common areas that are not essential to the financial well being of the business, churches are one big common area.
The short answer is churches are not “harmed” by the tighter regulations while other establishments are.
A church gathering is a mass social event, where the entire group tends to be known to one another to varying degrees, and where an attendee might naturally tend to want to move around and mingle - to socialize with a large proportion of the other attendees. A wedding would be in a similar category.
At a bowling alley there are generally small separate social groups who are not know to one another. Provided there is sufficient space within the building for separation between groups (alternate lanes, for example) there will be far less natural inclination for a member of one small social group to interact with anyone outside that small group.
I’m not sure about casinos, they don’t really fit the bowling alley model. There’s much less natural tendency in a casino to separate into separate social groups.
I’m not cherry picking- those were the businesses i saw described in coverage of the court case that prompted my question. And movie theaters are not limited to 50 people. It’s 50 people per screen according to your link - so a theater with 5 screens can have 250 people
Movie theaters, like bowling alleys, are usually attended by small separate social groups with little natural tendency to mingle if there’s enough space allowed to separate the groups.
Bowling alleys don’t often fit the “bowling alley model” - one of the reasons I knew that all the bowling alleys in Vegas are in casinos is because I accompany my husband to a bowling tournament that is held in Vegas every 3rd year. People just going bowling on a Friday night doesn’t involve much mixing of social groups - but people bowling in leagues and tournaments are another story.
I live in Las Vegas. Not all bowling alleys are located in casinos. And not all casinos are enormous resorts.
I know not all casinos are giant resorts, but even searching for “bowling alleys in Las Vegas” the only one I found that wasn’t in a casino actually had an address in Boulder City.
Which is exactly what my first sentence asserted. Thanks for agreeing with me. Great minds and all that.
As to the second sentence, yes, I should have labeled that as gratuitously cynical for humorous effect. If you’ve been watching my posts in general you’ll know actual cynicism is not a look I admire in others. Although I did live in Las Vegas for 15 years so I know something of the character of local politics and business.
Nevertheless, besides the obvious debate about what amount of regulation one can apply to a church without infringing the Constitution, the fundamental difference between churches and the others is that one is fundamentally economically almost inert and the other is economically almost essential to Nevada’s unique economy.
Given that, rightly or wrongly, wisely or incompetently, every government on Earth is making some degree of health vs economy trade-off it seems clear that tradeoff is the legitimate basis of the difference in treatment. Without asserting that the NV government has chosen wisely or stupidly, I am asserting that’s why they chose.
Finally, as @Riemann wisely points out, the nature of the interaction between e.g. 100 total strangers in a casino, 24 sets of 4-person friends/teams competing in 12 pairs in a bowling alley, and 100 mutual friends / acquaintances gathering in a congregation will be very different. Even though each is “100 people in a big room”.
Is there any documented evidence that a church of 100 people will follow the rules? They would have to enter separately, stay six feet apart, keep the masks on, not socialize, not sing in choir, not take communion, then leave separately. Are there churches doing this?
Wildfire is a bowling alley in Henderson; although the sign says Wildfire Casino and Lanes, it is a bowling alley. The casino is a tiny area with video poker machines. You can’t play craps; there is no poker room, etc.
Brooklyn Bowl is a bowling alley with a concert stage.
Gameworks has a small set of lanes; 4 IIRC.
There may be others; those are the ones that came to mind easily.
Henderson is not Las Vegas- but Isn’t Brooklyn Bowl at the LINQ?