The rightwing Christian preachers in deep denial over Covid-19's danger

[KY_EnviroGuy]

This article is a good summary of a huge issue in America we've been discussing here for a while but it seems only reporters across the pond have the guts to put it in the public spotlight in full view.

The rightwing Christian preachers in deep denial over Covid-19's danger

A number of American religious leaders have endangered their flock by holding services – and by claiming the virus can be defeated by faith in God

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/04/america-rightwing-christian-preachers-virus-hoax

Excerpts:

Last Sunday in Tampa, Florida, the Pentecostal pastor and conspiracy theorist Rodney Howard-Browne conducted two services for full houses at his River church. A sometime guest on Infowars and at the White House; a multi-level marketing kingpin who has alleged that Hollywood celebrities sacrifice children and that New Zealand’s Christchurch mosque attack was a so-called false flag event; Howard-Browne described Covid-19 as a “phantom plague” on 15 March.
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Roy Moore, a pastor, former Alabama supreme court judge and failed Trump-backed Alabama Senate candidate who lost amid allegations of sexual misconduct with underage girls, told Facebook followers he would write a letter to his fellow pastors on what he called their “duty to continue church assemblies, even in the midst of these trying times”. Moore added: “Our faith requires it, our duty demands it, and no law or government can prohibit it.”
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Kenneth Copeland, a Texas-based “prosperity gospel” preacher who once defended his ownership of three private jets on the grounds that commercial flights would require him to “get in a long tube with a bunch of demons”, told viewers of his Victory Channel in early March that coronavirus was a “weak” strain of the flu, and that fearing the pandemic was a sin. “Fear is a spiritual force. Fear is not OK. It is sin. It is a magnet for sickness and disease … You are giving the devil a pathway to your body,” Copeland said. He also criticized pastors who had suspended in-person services and moved to online streaming.
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In a blogpost last week, Ralph Drollinger, who has led Bible study for Trump cabinet members, suggested the virus was an instrument of divine judgment, and appeared to blame LGBTQ people. Drollinger later claimed that this was a misinterpretation. Another would-be prophet, Jeremiah Johnson, claimed last week to have had a prophetic dream in which God had spoken to him.

Trump could put a stop to all this evil behavior in a matter of seconds if only he gave a shit about anything beyond maintaining power for himself and the GOP.


KY.......

[dem4decades]

1. But he doesn't.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. They can't even connect the dots. Trump obviously has stopped his rallies, which are a form

of religious revival. If he's not speaking to the Believers, why should they?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

3. You make a good point.

The right, and in particular the Christian right are paying dearly for their personality defect of heavily relying on an authoritarian structure for all knowledge and guidance. Right-wing structures are weakening and collapsing as time passes with this pandemic. There's clear signs of this in other nations as well, such as the UK.

I've noticed a pattern in them where one element of their structure goes silent (or occasionally dies or goes to jail), they seem to default to the next lower leader in the structure. In this case, it's the preachers. I doubt if they are listening much to their Senators and Representatives. Republican governors probably have about equal sway with megachurch preachers.

Most likely, Republican governors could put a stop to this practice as well if they only had the guts.

[Luz]

4. They're scared sh*tless of the collection plate being empty.

Nothing more, norhing less.

[Raster]

6. Ding! Ding! Ding!

It's all about the money.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

5. Copeland yields to the devil.

From his church website:

EMIC Currently Meeting Virtually
Posted March 13, 2020 by Eagle Mountain International Church

EMIC Family,

We have spent time praying and monitoring the situation as it pertains to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). In response to state officials and Tarrant County Public Health’s (TCPH) declaration to limit large gatherings, the leadership of EMIC has decided to move Sunday and Wednesday church services to online viewing only.

Since church services will only be held virtually, and there will be no child care available (including Nursery, SuperKid Academy, and 14Forty).

Link: https://www.emic.org/blog/emic-services-online-only-sunday-march-15-and-wednesday-march-18/

Seems it took them quite a long time of "praying and monitoring the situation" to come to a simple decision. Responsible church leaders would have educated themselves and came to the right decision to protect the thousands of men, women and children of their flock regardless of what Trump or Gov. Abbott said.


KY..........

[gibraltar72]

7. Prayer causes Corona Virus.

[beachbumbob]

8. all i can say, the issue is self-solving

[Midnight Writer]

9. Saw Franklin Graham playing the old "Punishment From God" tune last night on FOX.

[Mr. Ected]

10. The Lord works in mysterious ways

Maybe the Lord means to call back the most extreme lipservers of His flock by allowing them to gather together in closed, tight spaces, spraying hallelujah's and coronavirus genomes and mixing it into a godly potion that tastes a lot like jim jones kool-aid.

[mshasta]

11. Is money

Is all about money, they are panicking they will loose thousands of dollars per week

[KY_EnviroGuy]

12. I can't imagine what the overhead would be....

just to keep one of those megachurches running.

I looked over Copeland's facilities on Google maps yesterday and the number of buildings there is unreal. A huge church, large office building, large TV studio building, a complete airport and many more.

KY............

[Blue_true]

13. If they didn't infect people that are unaware of the choice they made, I would say

let them have all the services that they want.