# Omnibus "religious people who think they control the virus" thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 29, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616 "2020-03-29T19:40:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/241 "2020-04-15T11:17:12Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > After doing some thinking, I realized I have enough toilet paper, food, etc for a bit, maybe I should watch it vitally this Sunday. I don’t go out much but they all work. I wouldn’t mind dying, cause my sons up their, but I’d rather do it peacefully than suffer. I know she’d probably say I wasn’t having faith, but. Maybe you guys have saved my life, of course there’s no way of knowing that. I apologize for acting holier than thou. Never thought I would do that. I do wish I had some magazines. Vitally should say. virtually Don’t go just to prove to another human that you have faith. Be wary of anyone that expects that from you. I’d watch my back around a 30 member church that seems, by your description, to be largely dominated by a single family. Sometimes people that form that kind of church do it because they are delusional. YMMV. Just be careful. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/242 "2020-04-15T12:49:46Z")
I agree with Ann Hedonia. There’s a roughly thirty person church, maybe forty, here in my city, Topeka, that’s dominated by one family. It pretty much is the family. They’re the ones who carry picket signs and hate on people. At least their founder is dead. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/243 "2020-04-15T21:19:18Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > … That poster bobot. Pray for him. Hey, if any of you guys are praying for me, could you do it a little more, I don’t know, earnestly? Because nothing’s happening on my end. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/244 "2020-04-16T00:02:50Z")
Do earnest prayers start with “Hey, Vern!”? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/245 "2020-04-16T00:11:02Z")
In other news, one guy on my Facebook who I used to respect as a church teacher is putting out the meme about how restricting people who aren’t sick is tyranny. I pointed out he called the god of the Bible a tyrant, because the Bible restricted non-sick people all the time. You may agree with that reasoning, but I don’t think he did. (I also pointed out all the quarantine laws in the OT, and how they affected well people as much as sick people.) ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/246 "2020-04-16T00:34:23Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Hey, if any of you guys are praying for me, could you do it a little more, I don’t know, earnestly? Because nothing’s happening on my end. That was. A take off on your comment about me. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/247 "2020-04-16T01:29:44Z")
Hold on. You did or did not want people to pray for me? Why does it all have to be so unclear? Darren Garrison, please address your prayers for me to Vern. The results couldn’t possibly be less effective than the ones from prayers to, um, others. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/248 "2020-04-16T01:36:06Z")
[The tale of a crackpot and a cracker](https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/04/15/pastor-i-survived-a-demonic-covid-19-attack-by-holding-a-communion-cracker-2/). ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/249 "2020-04-16T02:11:10Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Get the fuck out of here. > > Suntan Lotion. > Makes note.That poster Suntan Lotion. > > Makes additional note to remember. > Notes that this has been a whiskey night, and remembering might be a thing… This is what ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/250 "2020-04-16T11:05:33Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Hold on. You did or did not want people to pray for me? Why does it all have to be so unclear? > > Darren Garrison, please address your prayers for me to Vern. The results couldn’t possibly be less effective than the ones from prayers to, um, others. Awww, fucks sake. I prayed for you yesterday, and now it turns out it was unnecessary? Dammit, prayers don’t grow on trees, you know. Go to hell, the lot of ya. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/251 "2020-04-16T23:27:37Z")
[And now Tony Spell’s lawyer has got the 'rona](https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/coronavirus/article_aaa0b8d8-7ff8-11ea-a3d0-f783addab65b.html). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/252 "2020-04-16T23:33:11Z")
You know, it occurs to me that during the Tenth Plague of Egypt it wasn’t enough to just be faithful or observe rituals or whatever, the Israelites had to do something additional to protect themselves. (Mark their doorways with lamb’s blood, specifically). Well, maybe in THIS plague God doesn’t want the faithful to just be faithful. Maybe he wants us to wear gloves and masks and attend religious services on Zoom for whatever mysterious reason God has. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/253 "2020-04-17T01:09:15Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [And now Tony Spell’s lawyer has got the 'rona](https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/coronavirus/article_aaa0b8d8-7ff8-11ea-a3d0-f783addab65b.html). > [@](#): > > Spell, who has faced criticism over his stand, has made several provocative comments about the virus and the resulting controversy, including telling TMZ that true Christians do not mind dying from the virus but from “fear living in fear, cowardice of their convictions.” n/m. mixed up assholes ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/254 "2020-04-17T13:35:31Z")
And one from Tony Spell’s flock of morons [has died from Covid-19](https://www.tmz.com/2020/04/16/pastor-tony-spells-lawyer-attended-church-service-contracted-covid-19/), though Tony insists that he died “from a broken heart.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/255 "2020-04-18T02:29:59Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > In other news, one guy on my Facebook who I used to respect as a church teacher is putting out the meme about how restricting people who aren’t sick is tyranny. > > I pointed out he called the god of the Bible a tyrant, because the Bible restricted non-sick people all the time. You may agree with that reasoning, but I don’t think he did. > > (I also pointed out all the quarantine laws in the OT, and how they affected well people as much as sick people.) Rather than have any reply, he unfriended me. We’ve known each other for years. His son was one of my best friends in high school. So God and friends–none matter to him anymore. The former men’s devotional leader until he had to move away is just gone. I mourn the loss. But it’s a loss of something that was apparently never there. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/256 "2020-04-18T06:23:46Z")
I wonder if some of these religionist leaders are afraid that without constant weekly(or more) hardcore personal reinforcement their flock may find other things are more important in their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/257 "2020-04-18T10:04:13Z")
[Or find better ways to spend their money](https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/04/16/covid-19-denying-pastor-wants-people-to-send-him-their-1200-stimulus-checks/). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/259 "2020-04-18T10:23:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I wonder if some of these religionist leaders are afraid that without constant weekly(or more) hardcore personal reinforcement their flock may find other things are more important in their lives. Oh, definitely. If the flock isn’t kept constantly mesmerized they might wake up and smell the bullshit. And if keeping them together means some catch covid … well, lose of the sense of smell is one of the effects, right? There’s also the collection plate income. Lot easier to exert peer pressure on people to give if they’re there in person. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/260 "2020-04-18T16:43:14Z")
I can’t say they aren’t so afraid, but that worry sounds silly to me. Because those online services are one of the few times that people can easily virtually get together around a common event. People crave that more than ever. They’re also more scared than ever, and thus more likely to want to turn to religion–uncertainty breeds wanting to go to places where they say that you can have faith without facts that things will be okay. I mean, my mom basically marathons preaching and singing these days, and is actually attending virtual services when she wouldn’t have gone to the real ones back when she was able. She meets up with people and gets a reassuring message. No, I think the issue is more that they don’t want to accept that this happened, because admitting that God allowed a plague on us and that we are all suceptible runs in the face of their prosperity-style gospel that bad things don’t happen to God’s people. With something this massive, the old “they didn’t have enough faith” bullshit doesn’t work as well. They preach that they can shape the world through their resolute actions (aka denial), and so they are actually practicing what they preach–to everyone’s detriment. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616/261 "2020-04-21T05:10:58Z")
[Tony Spell headed back to jail](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arrest-warrant-out-anti-social-distancing-pastor-after-incident-bus-n1188381). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-religious-people-who-think-they-control-the-virus-thread/850616.md?page=14)