On November 25, 2020, the Supreme Court made a big decision that will have a huge impact for houses of worship across the country.

In this major decision, the Supreme Court sided 5-4, a decision that new Supreme Court Justice Amy Barrett's opinion was key in, with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and August Israel of America against the City and State of New York.

The case stated that New York Governor Cumo’s executive order of placing 10 and 25 person capacity limits on religious services, depending on the number of cases in that area, violated the first amendment.

The court stated that  New York’s restrictions on religious organizations far exceeded any restrictions on any other entity in the state, thus the Executive Order was ruled as unconstitutional due to the fact that it clearly violates freedom of religion, which is listed under the first amendment in the U.S. Constitution.

In a similar case, a week after this ruling, the Supreme Court sided with a California church, ordering a federal district court in California to reevaluate their ruling that upheld California Governor Newsom’s persecuting COVID restrictions on churches stating that COVID-19 restrictions on religious institutions were in violation of the Constitution.

These rulings came at a time in which religious freedoms are under heavy assault by government officials. Thankfully,  both these decisions are an exceedingly large win for religious rights across the country, as this case sets a precedent of reversing unconstitutional restrictions on religious institutions.

In recent months, the amount of religious freedoms that Americans have lost in the name of the pandemic have been disheartening, yet this ruling may prove to be a light in the darkness.

It is hard to stress just how big this ruling was. Due to the precedent set by this decision, churches across the country should soon be able to worship freely without infringement, as we will likely see the reversal of many COVID restrictions on houses of worship nationwide in the coming weeks.

This is a step in the right direction for the United States and a huge win for citizens of the United States, as the highest court in the land has chosen to preserve the freedoms that our forefathers fought so vigorously to gain and to keep.

While God’s will shall happen regardless of what any government official or lawmaker says or does, it is a huge blessing that Americans may have just dodged further religious persecution.

Ryan Weathers is a student at Texas Tech University and an active member of Raiders Defending Life, a pro-life student group on the Texas Tech University Campus in Lubbock, Texas.