“Louisiana Pastor Tony Spell, who refuses to close his Life
Tabernacle Church and is currently represented by attorney and alleged child
molester Roy Moore, is holding multiple services
today, putting countless people in harm’s way.
“He’s already been charged with six misdemeanors, but none of that is getting in the way of
cashing in on Jesus and his own supposed martyrdom during a pandemic.
“Spell, 42, who plans to hold three services at his
1,000-member Life Tabernacle megachurch in a Baton Rouge suburb on Palm Sunday,
has defied state orders against assembling in large groups…
“‘The church is the last force resisting the Antichrist, let
us assemble regardless of what anyone says,’ he said. Spell appeared on CNN
this morning and said he planned to bring in 27 busloads of people
for today’s services.
“He says in that
interview that he ‘believes the science’ — uh-huh — but that he has ‘a command
from God, and there are no governing bodies that can tell us we cannot worship
and gather freely.’ He sees this as a religious freedom issue, not a
my-pastor-has-created-a-death-trap issue.
“More people will
suffer because they foolishly chose to accept Spell’s version of Christianity.
And unfortunately, their theological virus will make them more likely to catch
the coronavirus, which will then spread throughout their families, their
communities, and beyond. We are all worse off because of their religious
delusions.”
“…Almost nine out of 10
churches have closed. Those that have not are a small minority. A significant minority,
it is true, but a small minority. By all means criticize them, as I have done,
but do not scapegoat all Christians, or even all conservative Christians.
“We should be
charitable, disregard the word almost, and go with a round nine out
of 10 U.S. churches having been shuttered. How many churches
does that leave?
“If the
Christian Post is right, there are about
300,000 Protestant churches in the U.S., while Catholic ones
number roughly 20,000. Ten
percent of 320,000 is 32,000. That’s right: If [this] pro-Christian,
don’t-blame-all-of us apologia is correct, thirty-two thousand churches are
still open, with congregants prepared to become vectors of disease for the
greater glory of God.
“[It] is technically correct that it is a ‘small minority’ —
[though] similar to telling a man whose hands are ablaze that technically, only
a small part of him is on fire and to focus on the bits that are not.”
"Having some states lock down and some states not lock down is like having a peeing section in a swimming pool."
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