.
Can we arrest people for crying “no fire” in a burning theater?
How many parishioners kicked the bucket?
These preachers were telling folks that GOD TOLD THEM their flock would be safe, sittihg in church.
~VOW
Heh…you made me think if this:
“Are you going to paint your doorway with lamb’s blood??”
“What??? NO. Don’t be stupid! Its just more security theatre.”
“Its people like you keeping these plagues going!! Don’t be selfish! Paint your doorway!”
I mean, they probably could, but they won’t.
Alabama sheriff won’t enforce order on virus protections
The sheriff is also a pastor…
Darwin wins.
I knew some atheists out there would find delight in this.
My church, and every other one I know, hasnt had inside services for several weeks now and dont plan to until they say its ok. However we have been worshiping online and its been going well. My bible study is thru zoom. They do youth meetings and sunday school thru zoom.
Yes, I’m sure their are those out there who dont use common sense but thats in every group.
Would you say the same thing to gay men having unprotected sex in the late 80’s even when they knew it could kill them? People do reckless things in the face of danger all the time.
I’m really hating this kind of comment right now.
Not because I care at all about the pastors who died. I don’t give a fuck about them. But I do care about the innocents that these pastors possibly infected. Think about the folks who made the mistake of standing behind them in the grocery store and are now laid up in the hospital, unable to breath on their own. Would you say “Darwin wins” for them too?
But the comment irks me for another reason. The stupid protestors are also making an appeal to Darwinism. SuRviVaL oF tHe FiTTeSt! And they say this with a straight face despite being poster children for all the lifestyle diseases in the book. They say shit like this while also claiming that evolution is lie.
I wish everyone would stop with this bullshit.
Do you actually know any atheists? :dubious:
I know a bunch. None of them “find delight” in people dying, even if those people were idiots.
I know a few who do. But it’s like any big population. Some are jerks but most are reasonable, empathetic human beings.
But more importantly, it’s a stupid comment. With any sufficiently large group of people, you can always find a few jerks.
“I knew some <group> out there would find delight in this” is just plain stupid. You can insert any label in there, and it would be true.
“I knew some Christians preachers out there would find delight in this”
“I knew some Packers fans out there would find delight in this”
“I knew some 55 year old pharmacists from the western half of the country would find delight in this”
These are all literally true, because “some” is a qualifier that renders the statement valueless when taken literally because you’ll find somebody who fits that statement.
But of course, that’s not the point. The point is to use a literally true statement with low semantic value as a pejorative to denigrate an entire group.
That said, I don’t mind painting these preachers with a broad brush. Many, if not most, are prosperity gospel types, who somehow find that the option that is best for themselves financially also happen to preach that God’s preferred option for their congregations is the one that keeps that income flowing potentially at the cost of the very health and well-being of those congregations.
And there’s no “delight” even in the OP above.
In fact, from what I’ve seen, atheists are almost universally calling on churches to act to protect their parishioners, because we understand the issues at stake. We kept telling them that this is what would happen, and will keep happening, and imploring them to get a clue.
If we really did “delight” in them dying, we’d be encouraging them to gather together even more often, not asking them to stay home.
The problem in “finding delight” in their dying is that they are killing themselves in ways that put everyone else at risk. Any risk-taking in a careless church community can spread the virus to everyone else.
Before AIDS was discovered? No. Doing it afterwards? Hell yes.
“Dozens” really isn’t very many. I mean, how many pastors are there in the Bible Belt? How many ordinarily die in any given month?
Are you for real?
Are you seriously suggesting that these pastors would have died anyway if it weren’t for the virus?
Well, some of them, probably.
But yes, some people are dying of this virus. Some people die of lots of things. The question is, are a significant number of people dying of this virus? Would anyone write an international news story about dozens of pastors dying of heart disease, or in car crashes? Would we wonder if atheists would take glee at that fact?
This pretty much sums up how I feel. The pastors? A bunch of dumb ass Trump bootlickers, as far as I’m concerned. Can’t muster up a whole lot of sympathy there. Everyone else they’re putting in danger, though, that’s the real worry, and the reason people shouldn’t be overly flippant about this.
That may be comforting for you to think that, but you won’t convince me of it without any evidence that these individuals were more liable to die over the last couple of months than anyone else in the absence of this virus.
70,000 Americans have died of this virus. More than that, actually. In the seven hardest hit states, the total number of deaths for March 8 - April 11 was 50% higher than normal. I would say that counts as “significant”, wouldn’t you?
I can’t even.
In some sense, I respect the religious people who didn’t change their behavior in the face of the virus. If they really feel God has a plan, then they are showing their devotion and compliance to him. And in the big picture, what does death mean anyway to them? They get to go to heaven sooner and God will be more pleased with them for having unwavering faith. It’s very common for religious people pick and choose whatever they find convenient from their faith according to their mood at the time. Rather than stick to their faith and take the hard path, they twist the religion to their own needs and conveniences. But if someone really believes God will keep them safe or that God intends for them to get sick and die, then it demonstrates integrity to follow that path and accept the consequences. A tenant of the Christian faith is that God has a plan and that there are some things that humans aren’t meant to understand. So if God commands these preachers to hold services, the faithful should gather and accept the consequences whatever they may be.
If dozens of pastors died in car crashes because they were driving on freeways with their eyes closed to show their trust in Jesus, hell yeah there would be international news stories.