Televangelist Claims He Has Magic Machines That Will ‘Shoot Down’ Coronavirus.
Update:
Yesterday Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested, causing many of the Christian Right to go Christofascistically crazy.
(Self) Righteous Arrogance has been defined as feeling morally superior to others. We’ve written about it countless times in the past decade when writing about politics and religion. The strong, Christian Right variety, we’ve referred to as Christofascism, imposing harsh penalties of discrimination and intolerance on those who oppose its will.
Never before, however, has righteous arrogance been so deadly as today during these times of a pandemic.
In the past, we’ve referred to them as moralizing morons, but their steadfast flouting of government (read CDC) guidelines are harmful and their outpouring of misinformation may be more deleterious to the populace than Trump’s.
Sadly, they have flocks (congregants)
God's Vengeance.
In keeping with Trump's early "it-will-go-away" response to the virus, many of his staunchest CC supporters like Robert Jeffress declared the virus to be no big deal, but as the deaths piled up, so did the sermons of God's vengeance.
- As with AIDS, natural disasters or anything bad happening to groups of humanity as a whole, God’s vengeance comes into play for most of these Sacred Cows. Of course, preying on fear and guilt is the Evangelical’s stock and trade. How can they control their innocent (read: desperate and/or simply gullible) flocks?
- In the case of this pandemic, however, spending time and valuable resources telling people that God hates them (or at least hates their immorality -remember, it’s love the sinner, hate the sin) may be looked upon as immoral in times of crisis.
The Sin Of Misinformation: “If people are asymptomatic, they don’t have the cough, they don’t have the respiratory issues, they don’t have a fever, they’re not contagious. And so they don’t need to be tested.” - Byran Fischer, on Focal Point, a radio program of the American Family Association
(Pat) Robertson then proceeded to hawk products like probiotics, kimchi, and — I’m not kidding — sauerkraut as ways to combat the disease. Lorie Johnson, the “health reporter” he was speaking with, said nothing to dissuade him from doing this.
- The Righteous Arrogance of some CCs has taken the time-honored stance of flouting medical science to suit their beliefs or their own whims.* Of course, they're governed by God to do so, therefore people must take their "advice" seriously for the sake of their souls - but to the detriment of their health.
- One church's defiant stance:
We at Solid Rock Church share everyone’s concern to help keep people safe. The First Amendment of our Constitution guarantees freedom concerning religion, expression, and assembly. It specifically forbids congress from restricting an individual’s religious practices. Therefore, the government ban on large gatherings does not apply to religious worship,” the church noted in its statement.
- Hmmm.. but maybe it does:
In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that neutral, generally applicable laws are ordinarily constitutional even if they infringe upon religious exercise. Employment Div., Dep't of Human Res. v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990). Most executive orders temporarily limiting or precluding gatherings are these kinds of limitations invoking the state's broad police power to protect the welfare, health and safety of citizens that do not have as their purpose limiting religious exercise but only as their incidental effect.
"I have been exposed to people in recent days who have subsequently tested positive and I had fevers, chills and shortness of breath," he wrote. "I just hope I didn't give it to the kids and Cristina. That would make me feel worse than this illness!"
Far be it for any staunch Evangelical to wish harm upon anyone, the satisfaction of seeing one's moral enemies suffer may be too tempting. Remember: demonizing liberals, like gays, has become the Christian Right's greatest weapon in their arsenal of spiritual warfare.
"Renting Out Jesus to this moronic monster"
Former evangelist and outspoken critic of Christofacism ,Frank Schaeffer socks it to the CCs on AMJoy**
Former evangelist and outspoken critic of Christofacism ,Frank Schaeffer socks it to the CCs on AMJoy**
When we come to this time of COVID-19 overtaking our country, a literal life and death issue, we see two things very clearly, Joy. One is the utter moral bankruptcy of this leader who pits himself against governors trying to save their people, and the second is the utter moral bankruptcy of evangelicals, the white evangelical voter having rented out Jesus to this moronic monster who in this time of crisis, far from being our Winston Churchill leading us to freedom against the Axis in Germany and others and basically tells those in my day, those in their 70s, to do what the jews were were told to do by the Nazis: Put on a yellow star, identify yourself as old, we're not going to make respirators, especially for governors we don't like, just go off and die so the stock exchange numbers go up and I look good.
In the end, what Schaeffer is saying is that the "moral bankruptcy" of both CCs and Trump may be the worst virus of all.
*Did you know that there is a Saint Corona? She's been tauted as the patron saint of epidemics, but while in truth she did really exist, her title did not. She was merely a second century Roman martyr, but some Catholic CC's have given her new life - as a patron of opportunists.
** The entire slam is worth the view:
