A lot has been said about the right to protest being a staple of democracy, thus causing the government to allow protests to continue almost unhindered while limiting all other social activities with very strict restrictions.
It is considered so sacred that I think it has become a sacred cow.
I do understand it though, even though I personally would not participate in a protest at this point. I also understand it even though I think anyone who does participate in such protests, especially without taking care for social distancing and wearing masks, is taking undue risks and could very well be causing the spread of the virus.
However, I am not sure why the right to protest is the only right given that status. Democracies are built on the rights and liberties of the people, with those rights including a lot more than just the right to protest.
If the rights of the people are so sacred,. what about the right and freedom to worship? I am not one to fight for shuls to open against the recommendations of health officials, nor in greater numbers than what they recommend, but why is the right to protest any more sacred than the freedom of worship? There is no right to go to a restaurant or a concert, so I won't compare it to that directly, but there is personal freedom and liberty and if a person should choose to open his restaurant or organize a concert and should I choose to go to it, why should that be any less than the freedom to protest?
If the government has the right to shut down everything else due to public health concerns, why not protests? I just don't get it. Why is the freedom of assembly, the right to protest, any more sacred than all the other rights a democratic society provides?
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