Predatory preachers, pastors, priests, prelates are killing more people with their mincing messages than any tyrant of dictator from ancient potentates to Donald Trump.
Ignorance and stupidity has led to an increasing number of deaths from COVID.
Pastor Tim Parsons died with COVID-19
Tim Parsons, pastor of Center Point Church in Lexington, Kentucky, died of COVID two weeks after catching it after Parsons ridiculed it on the church’s webpage.1 On its FAQ page the church screamed: “We don’t want to be worried because the Bible tells us not to worry. We know that God is in control and He can use all suffering to draw people to Himself. … We can also look for opportunities to turn Coronavirus conversations into gospel conversations.” All the prayers and fasting did not save Tim Parsons.2
Liberty University lockdown addressed by Friesian Girl
Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, a fundamentalist, right-wing “christian” campus, that has been denouncing COVID as a hoax generated by Satan belatedly announced a campus-wide quarantine until September 10 because there are currently 159 cases at the school: 124 cases being students.3 It has no mask mandate and does not require vaccinations.4 Surprisingly, students are against the lockdown and freshman Landon Nesbitt (@landonnesbitt) demanded it be rescinded and in-person classes resumed to show their faith in Jesus.5 Yet COVID cases are rising dramatically, and Lynchburg General Hospital is at 100% capacity because of COVID positive students. Unfortunately, Nesbitt has not be tested.
COVID victim Raymond Cardinal Burke placed on ventilator for virus he claimed did not exist.
Right-wing homophobe, 73-year-old Cardinal Raymond Burke who was demoted in 20146 by Pope Francis, argued in March 2020 that churches should remain open and packed with praying parishioners despite all evidence that the virus would spread quickly through large gatherings,7 and argued that “a kind of microchip needs to be placed under the skin of every person [getting the vaccine], so that at any moment he or she can be controlled by the State“.8 continuing his upfront raw racism attacking Asians as being the spreader of the “Wuhan virus” aping Donald J. Trump’s misinformation who he roundly supported9 while comparing LGBTQ people remarried Catholics to “murderers”10 while blaming women for the problems the church is facing.11
Catholic nuns and priests die of COVID and are buried rapidly in India
Roman Catholic priests and nuns around the world were hard hit by COVID, killing hundreds of them in a handful of the hardest-hit countries alone. In India, roughly two priests and nuns were dying every day in April. 350 Catholic priests and nuns died in the second wave of April-May, 2021.12 The rate doubled in May, when Mathew recorded the deaths of 129 nuns and 116 priests.13 Sister Josephine Ekka of the Surya Nagar convent at his parish. She had traveled to bury her father in the village of Jharsuguda in eastern India, only to fall ill herself and die of COVID.
Felician Sisters convent in Livonia, Michigan died of COVID. The oldest was 98.
In the USA the toll includes dozens upon dozens of nuns who lived in congregate settings across the country,14 from upstate New York to Milwaukee and Detroit suburbs and beyond. Many were older retirees who dedicated their lives to teaching or nursing. One order alone, the Felician Sisters, lost 21 nuns at four convents.15 Among Protestants, the toll is spiking, with Senior Pastor George Davis at Impact Church in Arlington, Florida stating: “In the last 10 days, we have had six members of our church who passed away from COVID. Four of them were under the age of 35. All of them were healthy, and the only thing they had in common was they were not vaccinated,” with 15 to 20 members no in the hospital and another 10 at home. Florida is the epicenter for COVID among evangelicals.
Parents of Catholic elementary school slams face mask as denying god the right to see the face of children and file lawsuit to help god see
In October 2020, two parents (Christopher Mianecki and Stephanie Smith) sued the state of Michigan for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services mandate that all students, ages five and up, were required to wear a mask during the school day, claiming the mask mandate violated their Christian faith because their god could not see their children’s faces.16 From the lawsuit: In accordance with the teachings of the Catholic faith, Resurrection School (a private, unaccredited Catholic elementary school17) believes that every human has dignity and is made in God’s image and likeness. Unfortunately, a mask shields our humanity. And because God created us in His image, we are masking that image. Masks also make us anti-social. They interfere with relations. As the Catholic faith teaches, we are relational beings. And our existence as relational beings points to the Holy Trinity. As mask is disruptive to this essential element of the Catholic faith, and it is disruptive to the teaching of young children for these and other reasons. Plaintiffs share these deeply held religious beliefs.”18
Holy Trinity in Egyptian theology: Horus-Osiris-Isis
The “Trinity” is far older than Christianity that started as a monotheistic faith before its transmogrification.19 The Trinity was earlier in Egyptian theology is Osiris (God the Father, creator with Isis who also created waters and the Nile), Isis (the Queen of Heaven and mother of humankind), and Horus (the son and God of the sun) who in the Kemet, the ancient language of Egypt, were known as Asar, Aset, and Heru, that, most likely, came with traders from India who also had a Trinity in their religion that was hundreds of years or older. Kemetic culture relied on the principle of Ma’at, or order. This included the grouping of deities in families or pairs, such as the Asar-Aset-Heru Trinity that had a theology that gave birth to Judaism and Christianity.
The Trinity of ancient India from the Vedic Period
The Hindu trinity comprises Brahma, the creator or Father God (Brahma is the antecedent for the Hebrew Abraham that can be seen in the names conjecture: brah; Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva (or Mahesh), the Destroyer. These three deities represent the cyclical nature of our existence from birth, preservation (growing up) to subsequent regeneration through death. They can be identified by representational icons commonly associated with them. Vishnu is the preserver and protector of the Hindu pantheon who descends to the earthly plane of existence whenever it is threatened by chaos or evil. Popular avatars of Vishnu include Rama and Krishna. The blue-skinned Shiva is the destroyer of the Hindu trinity. In contrast to Vishnu, Shiva is described as a hermit or ascetic being dressed in animal skins with matted and dreadlocked hair. His common identifying features in artworks include his third eye, a damaru (drum), a Trishul (trident), the serpent around his neck, and the crescent moon with the holy river Ganga flowing through his hair. Brahma, the creator is usually depicted as an old man with four heads facing in each direction. It is believed that each of the four heads recited one of the four Vedas of Hinduism. Unlike the other two gods in the triumvirate, Brahma is not portrayed with any weapons of war but instead holds symbols of knowledge, wisdom, and creation. His icons include tools to perform yagnas or religious rites such as a water-pot, spoon to pour ghee into ritual fires, Vedic texts, and a rosary. It should be noted almost all religions clutch rosaries (beads) when they pray (it is not unique with Catholicism).
Taoist Trinity: the Three Pure Ones
All ancient Asian societies also had aTrinity of gods: San Qing: 三清 (Taoist Trinity) refers to three supreme Gods respected by Taoism, including Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure and Celestial Worthy of the Tao and its Power. Worship for the Taoist Trinity dates back to the 4th century. In fact, it is an avatar of philosophic idea, and the reflection of the cosmism supported by Taoism. In the Taoist classic Tao Te Ching, it was held that “The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three; Three produced All things.” It is further developed in the Hundun: 混沌無極元始天王 that records “a great void” that manifests itself in the First of the Taoist Trinity: Yuánshǐ Tiānzūn who oversees the earliest phase of Creation of the Universe, and is henceforth known as Dàobǎo (道寶), and the emergence of Yin and Yang and the manifestation of Lingbao Tianzun who separated the Yang from the Yin, the clear from the murky, and classified the elements into their rightful groups. Therefore, he is also known as Jīngbǎo (經寶) “Treasure of the Law/Scripture”. (In popular scriptures, Jīng means “scriptures” but not in the creation narrative it means “passing through” and the “Law” of all things and the “giver of law” is also known as Shībǎo (師寶) “Treasure of the Master”.
There is not a religion that has not had a Trinity. Even Islam started as a polytheistic religion as I detailed in a previous essay, based on the Qu’ran 53:19-20f: أَفَرَأَيتُمُ اللّاتَ وَالعُزّىٰ and وَمَناةَ الثّالِثَةَ الأُخرىٰ
The original lawsuit was thrown out, but the conservative pro-COVID-deaths Christian American Freedom Law Center filed an appeal so that more students could catch COVID and trust their god to save them.20 The CAFLC knows nothing about religions as they do not deny medicines or “measures to insure health of protect life. The Christian American Freedom Law Center is, in fact, the enemy of religion and their gods and conspires to kill more people with genocidal law suits.
Foursquare church remains maskless after 40 parishioners get COVID
The insanity continues to grow killing church goers and their children. Stanwood [Washington] Foursquare Church openly encourages people to “find a group” to “learn and grow in your walk with Jesus.” It even holds a “couples’ night” where they share everything they have with other couples.21 to share the “culture of the cross.” On July 2, 2021, more than 40 members of the church returned from a two week mission trip in Montana; some were showing symptoms of COVID. The church a Fourth of July event without notifying anybody about the COVID outbreak. On July 7, 2021, a church supervisor tested positive for COVID, but there was no warning from the church. On July 8, 2021, Pastor Tim Poetzl sent an email to church members letting know of “the problem”: “… I want to update you to let you know that several of the team members have come back and tested positive for Covid-19 … we would ask you to pray for the healing and safety for the team as the complete their quarantine.” It said nothing about the community or children that attended, but continued to hold maskless meetings with congregants.22 This stupidity was capitalized by Pastor Grayson Fritts of All Scripture Baptist Church of Knoxville, Tennessee who told his congregation that he would never get vaccinate because he didn’t want to “let you all down.”23 He called the vaccination the “Mark of the Beast”–a mythology from ancient India. He left his position as a Knox County Sheriff’s Office detective after giving a sermon in which he claimed on of the jobs of police officers “should be executing gay people“24 whom he called “freaks”.25
A list of clergy around the world who died of COVID is found here.26 One thing about current deaths from COVID is no one was vaccinated and neither wore masks or social distance. What has increased COVID cases the last week in August 2021, was the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota that its Republicanazi Governor Kristi Noem bragged would bring tourists dollars flooding into the state. When the motorcycles and rock shows had hardly cleared the Black Hills of South Dakota, infections among the rallygoers were shooting up with 178 cases across five states reporting a rise in cases. In the three weeks since the rally kicked off,27 coronavirus cases in South Dakota have shot up at a startling pace28 — six-fold from the early days of August. South Dakota state health officials have so far reported 63 cases among South Dakota residents who attended the event.29
On March 24, 2020, Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana Health Commission answers COVID questions as Gov. Eric Holcomb listens in silence.
In Indiana, the COVID crises is more acute. The more than 20,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in Indiana since Monday include spikes across all age groups, but pediatric cases have risen most steeply, with largest growth among those aged 10 to 14.30 Indiana Governor Eric Holcolm, since May, maintains he will leave decisions about restrictions including mask rules, to local officials31–many evangelicals and Trump supporters who are antivaxxers and antimaskers. Masks are still not required in state government buildings or for state employees, a spokesperson for the governor told The Journal Gazette.32 Inside the Statehouse, there is no signage about face coverings except outside a House Democratic office that asks for masks to be worn before entering. Holcomb also isn’t following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation himself. He attended an indoor event in Hancock County without a mask on Tuesday 31 to confirm his bona fides as a Trump supporter and the Delta Variant continues to spread throughout the state.34 In Iowa, a rural state, backward state with a small population that is hemorrhaging more people in record numbers, the corrupt and Trump loving governor Kim Reynolds is opening all businesses as the death toll soared past 6,000 (as on May 14, 2021; on August 29, 2021 it rose to 6,268 with an increase of 2,643 new cases, bringing the total to 403,000)35, as the Republicanazis in who control the legislature demand no mask mandates and other measures to save the lives of Iowans. Unvaccinated Iowan, antimaskers, and antivaxxers accout for more than 80% of all individuals hospitalized with a primary COVID-19 diagnosis, whereas 88% of all patients in the ICU wards were not vaccinated before becoming infected.36
Caleb Wallace, San Antonio, TX died denying COVID
Another senseless loss of life that did not need to happen: a man. Caleb Wallace age 30, and a father of three children and his wife pregnant with their fourth child, led efforts in his Central Texas community against mask-wearing and other preventative measures during the coronavirus pandemic died on August 29, 2021, from COVID-19, one month after being admitted to the emergency room.37 In April, he wrote a letter to the San Angelo school district, demanding it rescind all its COVID-19 protocols. On July 4, 2020, Caleb Wallace helped organize “The Freedom Rally” in San Angelo.38 People at the event carried signs that criticized the wearing of masks, business closures, the science behind COVID-19, and liberal media. He also organized the group “The San Angelo Freedom Defenders.”39 Caleb Wallace was not unique. Wallace’s story follows similar incidents across the country, in which those who opposed COVID-19 safety precautions or called the virus a hoax contracted severe cases.40 Only 47% of Texas has been vaccinated.41 I can have no sympathy for those who die or their families who did nothing to get them to follow CDC guidelines or are stupid to believe social media wackos who trot out Invermectin and other commercial anti-parasitic medicines.42
Positive COVID cases in Iowa 08 23 to 30
As of August 30, 2021, their were 356,826 positive tests and 328,341 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 and variants: 8.4% positive increase in the last 14 days; 8.3% average in the last 7 days. Those who make up more than 50% of all COVID cases are between 0 and 39 years of age, and live in rural communities where most are white evangelicals believing that they are vaccinated with the blood of Jesus, reject masks and vaccinations that can save their lives and the lives of their children.43 Gov. Reynolds, defying the CDC, July 27, 2021, continues to bray false information, arguing that mask guidance is not grounded in reality and denies the rise of COVID cases and COVID deaths: “Telling fully vaccinated Iowans to now wear masks is not only counterproductive to our vaccination efforts, but also not grounded in reality or common sense.”44
Coronavirus Riskiest Activities
COVID-Kim has ever been accused of having common sense. Only 46.6% of
GOVID-Kim Reynolds and Donald tRump
Iowa’s population has completed their vaccination course, according to the state’s once-weekly-updated coronavirus dashboard.45 Reynolds continued bizarre rants on COVID in Iowa are taking more lives, as she is without a clue to reality, so similar to Annette Sweeney of rural Hardin County, Iowa.46 The idiocy of Reynolds and Sweeney, like that of the Republicanazis in the legislature led to the highest rate of COVID cases in the Des Moines, Iowa schools with 59 positive cases among the school population. 25 of the COVID victims are students and the other 34 are teachers and other staff members. Not a word from the ill-advised governor. There is frustration within the district about the inability to require masks among students and staff, a recommended step from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which is illegal in Iowa. However, Des Moines Public Schools has put up signs encouraging masking up on school property.47 Fortunately, the US Department of Education is launching an investigation into Iowa and four other GOD-led states (Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Utah) that banned mask mandates in schools: the first major federal intervention into how states, like Iowa, handle COVID mitigation. Reynolds senseless bans put students, especially those with disabilities or underlying medical conditions, at unnecessary risk and prevent them from accessing in-person classes, the department’s Office for Civil Rights argues.
Reynolds signs transgender and Planned Parent restrictions into law and rejects measures to save children from COVID
The OCR on Monday sent letters to education chiefs in the five states48 that have prohibited schools from mandating masks for students and staff, contradicting the CDC’s guidance on universal mask-wearing indoors.49 If Iowa or the other states are found to have discriminated against students with disabilities, they could face sanctions that put their federal education funding at risk. Angry parents, fed up with Reynolds high-handed overreach, and claiming that she is working for parental rights, have filed suits against her and the state–as was done by Frances Parr, a Council Bluffs mother of twin boys.50 Parr agues that Reynolds had a “gross overreach” to ban masks and that the mask bans threatens her children’s health and lives especially with the spike in COVID cases and deaths.51 As of August 11, 2021, Iowa COVID cases have risen to a dangerous high–leading to an epidemiologist stating that deathly “surge” may becoming.52 57% of those attacked with COVID are in the age group 0f 17 or younger to 59.53 90% of all new infections are of the Delta Variant.54 Parr made a demand to the Iowa Department of Education to issue a mandate, but the department “responded to the demand by stating they have no duty to protect plaintiffs or students,” the lawsuit says. Infections in children nearly doubled in one week and are spiking up, even though Reynolds falsely claimed that children can not get the virus.55 Children can even pass the virus more quickly than adults. 203,962 child COVID-19 cases were reported the past week from 8/19/21-8/26/21 (4,593,721 to 4,797,683) and children represented 22.4% (203,962/910,826) of the weekly reported cases.56 Iowa may become even worse than Missouri with the spike in COVID. Ninety-one of Iowa’s 99 counties are reporting high enough COVID-19 transmission rates that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone in the county should wear a mask when indoors, regardless of vaccination status. The worst action was Iowans attending the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines: it has proven to be a superspreader.57
Reynolds insists that bars, nightclubs, churches, plays and theaters remain open as they contribute the most to her campaign. A surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant58 has prompted some businesses and local governments to adopt pandemic protections that are either in direct violation of, or run counter to, the spirit of the laws. Iowa is among 20 states that have banned vaccine passports, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy.59 The consequence here and in many states is the possible revocation of grants or contracts. Reynolds signed the laws earlier this year, before the highly transmissible Delta variant had been widely detected in Iowa. Supporters said they were necessary to protect residents’ medical privacy and to discourage businesses from discriminating against employees based on vaccination status.60 Reynolds rushed to sign legislation banning mask mandates by schools and cities in the name of freedumb within hours of it passing claiming that it would parents “back in control” even if their children sicken and die,61 and to win the white evangelical vote. Pat Grassley, the grandson of Iowa’s Senator Chuck Grassley, hailed the law as a way to boost business profits. The homophobic racist governor then called on the Republicanazis in the legislature to to ban trans-athletes putting the LGBTQ community in risk of rising violence and death.62
Texas (Abbott, l) and Iowa’s (Reynolds, R) racist and homophobic governors are begging for anti-trans legislation.
Reynolds makes no excuse for her homophobia or devotion to Nazi politics.63 Reynolds celebrated her victory over transgenders in Iowa by signing a bill barring Medicaid from paying for transgender health care. The provision, which was added by Republican lawmakers at the last minute, amends the state’s Civil Rights Act to clarify that government officials are not required to pay for gender confirmation surgery.64 The Iowa House approved the legislation, which would overrule a unanimous March decision by the Iowa Supreme Court65 that found that the Hawkeye State’s Medicaid program may not discriminate against transgender people by refusing to cover the costs of any gender confirmation surgery that has been deemed medically necessary.66 The bill passed on a party-line vote, with all Democrats voting against passage. The bill was passed by the State Senate just a day earlier, on Friday.
NOTES
- https://www.facebook.com/CPCLex/. ↩
- Ibid., and https://www.wkyt.com/2021/08/26/lexington-pastor-dies-after-being-hospitalized-with-covid-19/. ↩
- https://www.fr24news.com/a/2021/08/liberty-university-students-frustrated-with-campus-wide-quarantine.html. ↩
- https://currentpub.com/2021/08/28/members-of-the-liberty-university-community-speak-out-about-covid-19-spike-and-move-to-online-learning/. ↩
- https://www.change.org/p/liberty-university-end-the-liberty-university-lockdown. ↩
- https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2014/10/18/in-explosive-shakeup-vatican-demotes-homophobic-u-s-cardinal-raymond-burke/. ↩
- https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/catholic-cardinal-burke-says-faithful-should-attend-mass-despite-coronavirus. ↩
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/raymond-leo-cardinal-burke-catholic-ventilator-covid-19-misinformation/. Cf. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-pfizer-conspiracy-theories/. Cp. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9898003/Outspoken-COVID-vaccine-critic-Cardinal-Burke-ventilator-catching-coronavirus.html. ↩
- Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOCyqWsVkr0&t=7s. ↩
- https://religionnews.com/2015/03/27/cardinal-raymond-burke-gay-remarried-couples-like-murderers/. Cp. https://www.towleroad.com/tag/raymond-burke/ ↩
- https://www.towleroad.com/2015/01/anti-gay-cardinal-raymond-burke-blames-catholic-churchs-woes-on-womankind-video/. ↩
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/350-catholic-priests-and-nuns-died-of-covid-19-in-2nd-wave/articleshow/82893654.cms. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/europe-health-religion-coronavirus-pandemic-7a1c85ae32750c4a255312360fbf6cf3. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-north-america-wisconsin-religion-understanding-the-outbreak-a3155e87ad8a6ad00d3f600bad91bcf1. ↩
- https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/us-left-catholic-nuns-face-loss-pain-76967714. https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2021/04/how-many-of-us-will-be-left-catholic-order-loses-21-nuns-to-covid-19.html. Cp. https://apnews.com/article/us-news-greensburg-coronavirus-pandemic-prayer-40553351d838e164f6db122c6e54aa9d. Cf. https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/coronavirus/news/our-most-tragic-time-felician-sisters-bear-loss-13-sisters-covid-19, and https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/21/us/felician-sisters-covid-deaths-trnd/index.html. ↩
- https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/catholic-religious-freedom-mask-mandate-covid19-b1888242.html. ↩
- https://www.corlansing.org/school/accreditation. Cf. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thefreethinker/2020/10/michigan-lawsuit-claims-covid-19-masks-are-offensive-to-god/. ↩
- https://www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Complaint-Filed-w-Exhibits-1-5.pdf. ↩
- https://daily.jstor.org/a-holy-trinity-in-ancient-egypt/. ↩
- https://www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Opening-Brief-Filed.pdf. ↩
- http://www.4sq.church/. ↩
- https://www.facebook.com/StanwoodFoursquareChurch/photos/a.1206970949402842/3992940797472496. ↩
- https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1414616743855677448%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffriendlyatheist.patheos.com%2F2021%2F07%2F12%2Fpastor-to-church-i-wont-get-vaccinated-because-i-cant-let-you-all-down%2F&in_reply_to=1414616743855677448. ↩
- https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/448257-authorities-looking-into-pastors-church-sermon-calling-for-execution-of. Cf. https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/06/12/pastor-who-works-for-tn-police-dept-says-gays-should-be-executed-by-police/. ↩
- https://www.wvlt.tv/content/news/DA-looking-into-East-Tennessee-pastors-sermon–511197261.html. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/new-york-coronavirus-pandemic-sierra-leone-africa-brooklyn-6b3429c6638f9255da962b808ac890b8. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-health-coronavirus-pandemic-south-dakota-sd-state-wire-b729c1e92cb7e0f74c12343c483f9474. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-south-dakota-sd-state-wire-033ae7a5d0953fcf34849ba7873dc417. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-entertainment-music-health-coronavirus-pandemic-6446e345441fe62c74ec88de5bd9ae3d. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/health-indiana-coronavirus-pandemic-67356ff0dd96ff921779c4e4bff6fb71. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/health-indiana-coronavirus-pandemic-9c09bfb5ded70831be2af770914b7766#:~:text=Eric%20Holcomb%20has%20not%20imposed,community%20spread%20of%20COVID%2D19. ↩
- https://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20210804/state-unchanged-on-mask-guidance. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/health-indiana-coronavirus-pandemic-9c09bfb5ded70831be2af770914b7766#:~:text=Eric%20Holcomb%20has%20not%20imposed,community%20spread%20of%20COVID%2D19. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/health-indiana-coronavirus-pandemic-6c09fe354f33217b505414ddb0cf72ae. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2021/05/14/iowa-covid-19-coronavirus-deaths-nears-6000-pandemic-enters-new-stage/5072108001/. Cp. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/in-depth/news/iowa-mourns/2020/10/11/obituaries-iowa-covid-deaths-coronavirus-victims/5799639002/. Cf. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/in-depth/news/health/2021/02/12/covid-iowa-hospital-mary-greeley-medical-center-coronavirus-patients/4366910001/. See also https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/iowa-covid-cases.html and https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/. ↩
- https://twitter.com/IAPublicHealth/status/1432044125730267140?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet. ↩
- https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/08/29/texas-man-who-worked-against-covid-measures-dies-from-virus/?campaign=coronavirus&utm_email=B41944342455E4F63479D4EE7D&g2i_eui=yvre3nDM9fCUWKJVmqHD%2bWg0XRiymbW3&g2i_source=newsletter&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mercurynews.com%2f2021%2f08%2f29%2ftexas-man-who-worked-against-covid-measures-dies-from-virus%2f&utm_campaign=bang-mult-nl-coronavirus&utm_content=curated. ↩
- https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/caleb-wallace-anti-mask-organizer-and-co-founder-of-the-san-angelo-freedom-defenders-dies-of-covid-19/. Cf. https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/caleb-wallace-anti-mask-organizer-and-co-founder-of-the-san-angelo-freedom-defenders-dies-of-covid-19/. Cp. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article253831623.html. ↩
- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-anti-mask-covid-caleb-wallace_n_61285af4e4b0f562f3dc5224?d_id=2545250&ncid_tag=fcbklnkushpmg00000046&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=us_women. ↩
- https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/9/2044692/-Anti-vaxx-Florida-radio-host-urged-audience-to-get-vaccinated-just-before-his-own-COVID-19-death. ↩
- https://tabexternal.dshs.texas.gov/t/THD/views/COVID-19VaccineinTexasDashboard/Summary?%3Aembed=y. ↩
- https://twitter.com/intent/like?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1429050070243192839%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2021%2F8%2F27%2F2048614%2F-People-won-t-stop-believing-in-horse-paste-and-sheep-drench-causing-surge-in-poison-control-calls&tweet_id=1429050070243192839. ↩
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/k-12-guidance.html?emci=16c3e605-a409-ec11-981f-501ac57ba3ed&emdi=70b05090-b409-ec11-981f-501ac57ba3ed&ceid=7107190. ↩
- https://www.kcrg.com/2021/07/27/reynolds-new-cdc-mask-guidance-not-grounded-reality-or-common-sense/. ↩
- https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/pages/vaccineinformation. ↩
- https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2020/08/31/kim-reynolds-set-young-people-up-to-fail-now-shes-setting-them-up-to-blame/. ↩
- https://who13.com/news/des-moines-public-schools-reports-59-covid-19-cases-among-students-and-staff-amid-start-of-school-year/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_desmoines&stream=top. ↩
- https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/correspondence/other.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_thoughtbubble_desmoines&stream=top. ↩
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/k-12-guidance.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_thoughtbubble_desmoines&stream=top. ↩
- https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-iowa-dc24eafb125919d11f045f9cd0f3add5?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_thoughtbubble_desmoines&stream=top. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2021/08/22/cdc-covid-guidelines-iowa-mask-spread-substantial-high-all-counties/8234829002/. Cf. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2021/08/18/iowa-covid-vaccine-cases-deaths-delta-variant-coronavirus-update/8166991002/. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2021/08/11/iowa-covid-19-cases-hospitalizations-climb-august-surge-missouri-arkansas-state-fair-delta-variant/5551450001/. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2021/08/04/iowa-covid-19-reporting-500-new-cases-delta-variant-august-vaccine-data/5482792001/. ↩
- https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions. Cp. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2021/08/04/covid-mask-mandates-delta-variant-vaccine-cdc-who/5477581001/. ↩
- https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/. ↩
- Ibid. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2021/08/04/iowa-covid-19-vaccinations-rising-infections-getting-scary-again-delta-variant-polk-county-cdc-mask/5457526001/. ↩
- https://www.axios.com/america-delta-coronavirus-cases-43db0419-db2a-4257-9830-c0e3d6f370c9.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_desmoines&stream=top. ↩
- https://www.nashp.org/state-lawmakers-submit-bills-to-ban-employer-vaccine-mandates/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_desmoines&stream=top. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/20/iowa-gov-kim-reynolds-vaccine-passports-law-limiting-use-prove-covid-vaccination/5074442001/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_desmoines&stream=top. ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/19/covid-19-mask-mandates-iowa-house-votes-ban-schools-local-governments-coronavirus-public-health-cdc/5167025001/, ↩
- https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/30/iowa-governor-kim-reynolds-says-she-hopes-sign-transgender-athlete-bill/7410547002/. Cf. https://www.iowapublicradio.org/state-government-news/2021-05-03/reynolds-says-she-wants-to-sign-a-transgender-sports-ban-lawmakers-working-on-legislation. Cp. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/06/trans-women-girls-lgbtq-iowa-criticize-kim-reynolds-proposed-transgender-athletes-sports-ban-gender/4970813001/. Rev. https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/local/local-politics/iowa-governor-kim-reynolds-transgender-sports-ban-gender-rights-groups-push-back-iowa-safe-schools-lgbtq-gay-rights-athletes/524-b860006e-3c12-4c06-aacc-e9de95ac01e1. Also, https://apnews.com/article/iowa-2abb952d65979c58052fb29815bf7965. ↩
- https://littlevillagemag.com/birds-of-a-feather-steve-king-embraces-kim-reynolds/. Cp. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/11/13/iowa-gov-kim-reynolds-steve-king-campaign-house-election-democrats-iowa-politics-republican-scholten/1988933002/. Cf. https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/03/05/killer-kim-reynolds-and-the-fascist-state-of-iowa/. Rev. https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2018/11/13/the-tiresome-kim-reynolds-two-step-on-steve-kings-racism/. Also: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=113164794254157&id=107157258188244. Id. https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2021/05/06/reynolds-plan-to-restrict-transgender-childrens-role-in-school-sports-faces-opposition/. https://qctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/reynolds-defends-call-for-ban-on-transgender-girls-in-girls-sports-advocates-call-it-cruel/article_f990946d-5a59-51fd-aa8a-97be6956536e.html. https://nonpareilonline.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/reynolds-defends-call-for-ban-on-transgender-girls-in-girls-sports-advocates-call-it-cruel/article_2ea91188-afe5-57eb-a430-9f4ee5968afe.html. ↩
- https://www.metroweekly.com/2019/04/iowa-lawmakers-vote-to-prohibit-medicaid-dollars-from-paying-for-transgender-surgery/. ↩
- https://www.metroweekly.com/2019/03/iowa-supreme-court-rules-medicaid-can-cover-gender-confirmation-surgery/. ↩
- https://www.aclu-ia.org/sites/default/files/good_beal_order_sup_ct.pdf. ↩
Survival of the fittest. Isn’t that how it goes? Natural selection. Weeding out the idiots. Darwin rules!
So very true… but when a specie realizes that it is almost extinct, it fights back with what little it has. I still dies.
I had to read part of this twice, because it was stunning. For example: “the mask mandate violated their Christian faith because their god could not see their children’s faces.” What kind of puny god cannot see through a paper mask? I thought the Christian God could see all. I guess I stand corrected.
“Resurrection School (a private, unaccredited Catholic elementary school) believes that every human has dignity and is made in God’s image and likeness. Unfortunately, a mask shields our humanity. And because God created us in His image, we are masking that image. Masks also make us anti-social. They interfere with relations. As the Catholic faith teaches, we are relational beings. And our existence as relational beings points to the Holy Trinity. As masking is disruptive to this essential element of the Catholic faith, and it is disruptive to the teaching of young children for these and other reasons.”
What a load of utter nonsense! The only thing a mask shields is the wearer from disease. A mask does not make one anti-social or interfere with personal relationships. It does not disrupt any essential element of any true faith. If someone’s humanity can be hidden by a paper mask, it was never present to begin with.
As usual, Sami, you “hit the nail on its head”. Christians who utter such nonsense have nothing in common with the Jesus of the New Testament (initial writing in the second century CE [of the Current Era]. The common statement “God helps those who help themselves”–penned by Algernon Sydney (1623-1683), who wrote it in Discourses Concerning Government, written in response to Sir Robert Filmer’s Patriarca (1860).who made the statement in his Patriarcha (although its roots of this idea go all the way back to ancient Greece) it still is quoted today but not by white “evangelical christians” (who are neither). The greatest threat to democracy, as defined by the Founding Fathers who authored the Constitution and were not Christians, are white evangelical christians who ignored the injunction attributed to Jesus: “Render unto the king the things that are king’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Ἀπόδοτε οὖν τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ Θεῷ)–an old Aramic saying long before any Jesus was born, being a slogan on ancient Roman coins (https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/roman-coins-the-tribute-penny-render-unto-caesar-what-is-caesars/) as testified in Matthew 22:19-20: επιδειξατε μοι το νομισμα του κηνσου οι δε προσηνεγκαν αυτω δηναριον 20 και λεγει αυτοις τινος η εικων αυτη και η επιγραφη. It is also found in Ketab El Hayat: 19 أَرُونِي عُمْلَةَ الْجِزْيَةِ!» فَقَدَّمُوا لَهُ دِينَاراً. 20 فَسَأَلَهُمْ: «لِمَنْ هَذِهِ الصُّورَةُ وَهَذَا النَّقْشُ؟»