In the midst of the most dangerous moment for national security and health in our lifetimes, we are witnessing crazy religious lunatics insisting they have the right to conduct Easter and other weekly services, and Orthodox Jews saying the same for Passover services!
They argue freedom of religion, ignoring the dangers they are presenting to their congregants, who in many cases, seem to think that if a clergyman speaks, it is God personified!
Sorry, but the right to worship is not primary over safety, security, and public health, and it will lead to a massive number of unnecessary deaths!
It has already occurred in the South, where the hold of evangelical Christianity is strongest, and also occurred in Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn, New York, as well as in Israel.
When will common sense finally come to the minds of these congregants and their clergymen? Only when many have died out of pure cultish behavior?
The answer is to shut down all churches and synagogues for worship, and lock the buildings, and arrest anyone who defies this emergency!
Your right to worship exists only as long as it does not affect the public safety and health, as worshiping in large numbers at this time is “a clear and present danger to others”, quoting a Supreme Court decision of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Schenck V US (1919)!
RF: “In the midst of the most dangerous moment for national security and health in our lifetimes, we are witnessing crazy religious lunatics insisting they have the right to conduct Easter and other weekly services, and Orthodox Jews saying the same for Passover services!”
What about Ramadan, which starts in two weeks? Or is this just about Christians and Jews?
RF: “They argue freedom of religion, ignoring the dangers they are presenting to their congregants, who in many cases, seem to think that if a clergyman speaks, it is God personified!”
They also argue freedom of speech and assembly. And if they think their clergyman is “God personified,” they will argue freedom of consciousness and belief.
RF: “Sorry, but the right to worship is not primary over safety, security, and public health, and it will lead to a massive number of unnecessary deaths! It has already occurred in the South, where the hold of evangelical Christianity is strongest, and also occurred in Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn, New York, as well as in Israel.”
“Massive numbers of unnecessary deaths!” [sic] have already occurred where? Go back and look at the numbers, Doc. [https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-united-states-coronavirus-outbreak/]
The highest infected and death zones are NOT in areas where “evangelical Christianity is strongest,” in the South or anywhere else. And what percentage of New York’s ill and dead are from Orthodox Jewish Communities in Brooklyn, as opposed to outside those very small neighborhoods? And how many have been taken ill and died in Israel?
Heh. You might have had a tiny bit stronger of an argument if You had used Iran, rather than Israel, in Your example. But, that’s probably not quite politically correct, is it? [See question about Ramadan above.]
RF: “When will common sense finally come to the minds of these congregants and their clergymen? Only when many have died out of pure cultish behavior?”
Why don’t You leave that up to them to decide?
RF: “The answer is to shut down all churches and synagogues for worship, and lock the buildings, and arrest anyone who defies this emergency!”
That seems to be Your [and lots of other power-grabbing politicians’, bureaucrats’, intellectuals’, and mouthpieces’] answer to everything: “Shut ‘Er Down!!!” While we’re at, why not seize those churches and synagogues [what about mosques?], and turn them into emergency medical facilities or homeless shelters? Or whatever else our rulers determine that that property could be better put to society’s uses than mere worship by a bunch of, as You termed them, “crazy religious lunatics”?
RF: “Your right to worship exists only as long as it does not affect the public safety and health, as worshiping in large numbers at this time is “a clear and present danger to others”, quoting a Supreme Court decision of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Schenck V US (1919)!”
How, exactly, is “worshipping in large numbers at this time a clear and present danger to others” who are not at that worship gathering, and who do not have subsequent contact with anybody who was? And who sets the definition for Your “large numbers”? Trump? The Governor? The National Guard and State Police? The local city council?
Also, i find it deeply ironic that You chose Schenck v US as Your legal justification for Your suspension of freedom of assembly, religion, consciousness, belief, and speech.
1. That case involved the prosecution of two socialists who were convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 for presenting “a clear and present danger to others” by distributing pamphlets urging draft-age American men to refuse to register or to go into the Army if drafted for Wilson’s “War To End All Wars.”
That You, “The Progressive Professor,” would champion such a judicial decision in quite interesting. My only guess is that because it was that great Progressive Woody himself who crafted that Espionage Act and got us into that War in the first place, that it was okay, what with his scheme for a League of Nations, and all. I’m curious: how did You feel about the young men ignoring and/or avoiding the draft during Viet Nam?
2. The standard modern liberal, proto-progressive, neo-social democrat/democratic socialist use of Schenck revolves around Justice Holmes’ declaration that freedom of speech does not guarantee the right to yell “Fire!!!” in a crowded theatre; that public safety, health, and well-being trumps free speech.
First of all: How did Holmes come to equate yelling Fire!!! in a crowded theatre with passing out anti-War/anti-Draft pamphlets?
Second of all: A far different perspective offers a completely different reason as to why yelling “Fire!!!” in a crowded theatre is a criminal act that is not protected by the First Amendment. And that is that by yelling Fire, the criminal is violating both the property rights of the owner of the theatre by disrupting his business, and the property rights of the people who paid good money to be in that theatre and watch a show uninterrupted by some evil-doer.
Even if nobody gets physically harmed in the chaos that follows the false cry of Fire!!!!, the owner’s Right to use his property as he wishes has been violated, and the patrons’ Right to get what they paid for when they bought their tickets has been violated.
Freedom of Speech does NOT trump the Rights to Life, Liberty, or, especially, Property. Nor does Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Press, Freedom of and from Religion, or any Freedom of Anything enunciated in the Bill of Rights trump those Rights.
And to think that the Prime Minister of New Zealand has declared The Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy to be “essential employees.” Maybe there’s hope yet, eh?
Jeffrey, you just love to be ornery and argumentative, and attack for the sake of attack! You have too much free time on your hands, clear and simple!
The fact I did not mention the Muslim faith, or other religions, is not a slight, just reporting what has been made evident, that a major health emergency is occurring by the refusal of people in evangelical Christian and Orthodox Jewish communities to avoid large gatherings in the name of their faith, when one can do so by teleconference or at home alone!
It does not make one more “religious” by just showing up in the best clothes, as being truly “religious” is how one treats other people on a daily basis!
That means showing respect, kindness, compassion, empathy, which sadly, often is not the mission of many who instead promote racism, nativism, misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, etc, while preaching about Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, etc!
Public precautions in what is clearly the most dangerous single time in a century requires sacrifice and limitation of some of our freedoms on a short term basis, and those now about ten Governors who refuse to do so regarding religious attendance, have blood on their hands, as people die!
I did not know that you were a constitutional scholar, an expert on Supreme Court decisions! I well know the context of Schenck V US, but it still applies, more on this situation, than the one it was crafted for!
RF: Jeffrey, you just love to be ornery and argumentative, and attack for the sake of attack! You have too much free time on your hands, clear and simple!
Yeah; i guess challenging You to look at the numbers and see if You can still maintain Your position is being “ornery and argumentative.” i know how You like all those “I couldn’t agree with You more, Professor!!!”accolades that is the standard fare here. And yes; as a 74 year old retiree, i do have lots of free time on my hands to challenge bogus blather, be it on Briefbarf, or here at “The Progressive Professor,” or anyplace else I find it.
RF: The fact I did not mention the Muslim faith, or other religions, is not a slight, just reporting what has been made evident, that a major health emergency is occurring by the refusal of people in evangelical Christian and Orthodox Jewish communities to avoid large gatherings in the name of their faith, when one can do so by teleconference or at home alone!
Made “evident” by whom? Again: Is a “major health emergency” occurring in any of the following states that have not banned religious gatherings: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, Arkansas, and South Carolina? Again; i invite You, i challenge You to look at the numbers, look at the maps, and see if You can maintain Your argument. For a look at the County-level all across America, see https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html .
Again; look at the numbers. The highest 20 States with infection and death are none of those eight States, and none of those Top 20 are strongholds of either evangelical Christianity or Orthodox Judaism. The only Top-20 state that could be classed that way is Louisiana, and that probably has less to do with the number of crazy lunatic Christians there, than the fact that Mardi Gras went on as scheduled in late February.
RF: It does not make one more “religious†by just showing up in the best clothes, as being truly “religious†is how one treats other people on a daily basis!
If You honestly think and believe that these people wish to continue to gather in worship so they can show off their “best clothes,” You are as confused and muddled about why people go to church, synagogue, etc, as You are about libertarianism.
RF: That means showing respect, kindness, compassion, empathy, which sadly, often is not the mission of many who instead promote racism, nativism, misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, etc, while preaching about Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, etc!
And what percentage of all those Evangelical Christians and Orthodox Jews promote all those things? Got any numbers on that; or is that another one of Your assertions based on nothing but personal opinion and ideology?
RF: Public precautions in what is clearly the most dangerous single time in a century requires sacrifice and limitation of some of our freedoms on a short term basis, and those now about ten Governors who refuse to do so regarding religious attendance, have blood on their hands, as people die!
Are those Governors FORCING people in their State to go to church? Or are they leaving that decision up to the Adults in the room who are perfectly capable of knowing what is happening all around them in their communities, and are perfectly capable of evaluating the risks involved in gathering for worship of their God in the manner that they choose? If anybody dies, how is that blood on those Governors’ hands?
RF: I did not know that you were a constitutional scholar, an expert on Supreme Court decisions! I well know the context of Schenck V US, but it still applies, more on this situation, than the one it was crafted for!
One needn’t be a Constitutional scholar or an expert on SCOTUS decisions to know what Schenck v. US was all about. All it takes is being a student. And all it also takes is just a little bit of logical, rational thinking to realize that Justice Holmes’ dictate about crying Fire!!! in a crowded theatre has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with what we are talking about.
You’d probably do better citing Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), the SCOTUS ruling on the Constitutionality of the internment of American citizens of Japanese-American descent during World War II. That’s much closer to the spirit and intent of Your “Close ‘Em Down and arrest any miscreants” recommendation.
i look forward to the trial of that pastor in Louisiana arrested for holding services; i wonder if the prosecuting attorneys will use Schenck v. US as the basis for their case.
Heh. Thinking on it further, Professor, if anybody is yelling Fire!!! in a crowded theatre, it might just be You.
Our governor has given law enforcement the right to fine the pastors for not following the social distancing guidelines.
With no vaccine and no treatment and lack of testing, the only way to keep the virus under control is to limit human interactions.
Exactly, Leia. That’s what the social distancing guidelines are all about.
The virus can spread asymptomatically. The people in their houses of worship are endangering each other because you don’t know who has the virus. It’s safer to do your own worshipping at home at this time.
Because of the lack of testing, you don’t know for sure how many cases there truly is in those 10 states. I suspect the numbers are actually higher than what those states are reporting.
Because of the lack of testing, NOBODY knows for sure how many cases there truly are in any of the 50 states. One can reasonably suspect that the numbers are actually higher than what Eevery states are reporting. What does that have to do with the issue at hand?
PR: “The people in their house of worship are endangering each other because you don’t know who has the virus. It’s safer to do your own worshipping at home at this time.”
Like i asked the Professor: Is anybody FORCING those people to go to those places of worship? They know the situation and they know the risks; do they really need The Nanny State to tell them what they should and should not do?
Liberty won’t do you much good if you’re dead, or in a hospital with a machine breathing for you.
Very true but not very profound. And it totally avoids the question, again, yet, and still: Is anybody FORCING those people to go to those houses of worship? Is anybody being threatened with excommunication [or whatever Evangelicals and Orthodox Jews do] if they don’t go to those gatherings?
Way to go, Former Republican!
We wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place if the Orange Fool in the White House had been prepared, rather than downplaying the virus, claiming it’s a hoax. If he had taken the virus more seriously, then maybe governors and mayors wouldn’t have had to resort to draconian measures.
Exactly, Rustbelt Democrat, as our right to live in good health is much more important than others’ rights to have to pray in large groups, as being close to the deity does not require company!
And many of these so called “religious” people can instead work on overcoming their hatreds, prejudices, and hypocrisy in so many cases!
My advice to all of you is let Jeffrey pontificate all he wants, and just ignore him, and do not respond, as his libertarianism prevents him from understanding that we are not individuals with our own selfish needs and wants to be fulfilled, but rather part of a community that must be out to protect each other!
RF: Exactly, Rustbelt Democrat, as our right to live in good health is much more important than others’ rights to have to pray in large groups, as being close to the deity does not require company!
So not only do we have a “right” to Health Care; we also have a “‘right’ to live in good health.” Boy; that opens up all kinds of opportunities for more domination, control, and unchallenged and unchallengeable authoritarian rule by a loving, caring government, even if we weren’t in a Pandemic, eh?
If I’m a pontificator, Ronald, what does that make You?
And fret not; nobody on this blog has ever responded to anything i’ve posted here. Least of all You.
So I will leave You all with this final thought introduced by Martin Luther King. Y’All have a wonderful Easter, Passover, Ramadan, or whatever it is You do when You want to get close to Y’All’s “diety.”
COVID-19’s Challenge to the Christian Church: What Would Jesus Do?
“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.â€â€”Martin Luther King Jr. (A Knock at Midnight, June 11, 1967)
In every age, we find ourselves wrestling with the question of how Jesus Christ—the itinerant preacher and revolutionary activist who died challenging the police state of his time, namely, the Roman Empire—would respond to the moral questions of our day.
For instance, what would Jesus do in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic?
Would he disregard social distancing guidelines to visit and tend to the sick and dying? Would he take the assets belonging to those massive megachurches—the expensive real estate, the lucrative bank accounts—and put them to work where they can do the most good right now, tending to the sick, housing the homeless, and providing for the needy?
Would he advocate, as so many evangelical Christian leaders have done in recent years, for congregants to “submit to your leaders and those in authority,†which in the American police state translates to complying, conforming, submitting, obeying orders, deferring to authority and generally doing whatever a government official tells you to do? Or would he defy government shutdowns to hold church worship services as some have done?
It’s a quandary, all right: what would Jesus do?
Suddenly, that evangelical message of abject compliance to the government, no matter how immoral or unjust that government may seem, is running up against government mandates that test not only how far the religious community will go to exercise its religious freedoms but what that even means in a COVID-19 world.
As the world prepares to spend Holy Week and Easter Sunday in a state of near-isolation, varying degrees of lockdowns imposed by world governments to blunt the deadly impact of this novel coronavirus pandemic have all but ensured that there will be no massive Easter Egg hunts, no Easter parades, and no flower-bedecked church services this year.
We can debate and litigate and legislate whether churches have a lawful right to remain open during this pandemic and allow their congregants to worship in person, but surely Jesus would have us fight an altogether different battle.
Study the life and teachings of Jesus, and you may be surprised at how relevant he is to our modern age.
A radical nonconformist who challenged authority at every turn, Jesus spent his adult life speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo of his day, pushing back against the abuses of the Roman Empire, and providing a blueprint for standing up to tyranny that would be followed by those, religious and otherwise, who came after him.
Those living through this present age of militarized police, SWAT team raids, police shootings of unarmed citizens, roadside strip searches, invasive surveillance, and government lockdowns might feel as if these events are unprecedented, but the characteristics of a police state and its reasons for being are no different today than they were in Jesus’ lifetime: control, power and money.
Much like the American Empire today, the Roman Empire of Jesus’ day was characterized by secrecy, surveillance, a widespread police presence, a citizenry treated like suspects with little recourse against the police state, perpetual wars, a military empire, martial law, and political retribution against those who dared to challenge the power of the state.
A police state extends far beyond the actions of law enforcement. In fact, a police state “is characterized by bureaucracy, secrecy, perpetual wars, a nation of suspects, militarization, surveillance, widespread police presence, and a citizenry with little recourse against police actions.â€
Indeed, the police state in which Jesus lived and its striking similarities to modern-day America are beyond troubling.
Secrecy, surveillance and rule by the elite. As the chasm between the wealthy and poor grew wider in the Roman Empire, the ruling class and the wealthy class became synonymous, while the lower classes, increasingly deprived of their political freedoms, grew disinterested in the government and easily distracted by “bread and circuses.†Much like America today, with its lack of government transparency, overt domestic surveillance, and rule by the rich, the inner workings of the Roman Empire were shrouded in secrecy, while its leaders were constantly on the watch for any potential threats to its power. The resulting state-wide surveillance was primarily carried out by the military, which acted as investigators, enforcers, torturers, policemen, executioners and jailers. Today that role is fulfilled by the NSA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the increasingly militarized police forces across the country.
Widespread police presence. The Roman Empire used its military forces to maintain the “peace,†thereby establishing a police state that reached into all aspects of a citizen’s life. In this way, these military officers, used to address a broad range of routine problems and conflicts, enforced the will of the state. Today SWAT teams, comprised of local police and federal agents, are employed to carry out routine search warrants for minor crimes such as marijuana possession and credit card fraud.
Citizenry with little recourse against the police state. As the Roman Empire expanded, personal freedom and independence nearly vanished, as did any real sense of local governance and national consciousness. Similarly, in America today, citizens largely feel powerless, voiceless and unrepresented in the face of a power-hungry federal government. As states and localities are brought under direct control by federal agencies and regulations, a sense of learned helplessness grips the nation.
Perpetual wars and a military empire. Much like America today with its practice of policing the world, war and an over-arching militarist ethos provided the framework for the Roman Empire, which extended from the Italian peninsula to all over Southern, Western, and Eastern Europe, extending into North Africa and Western Asia as well. In addition to significant foreign threats, wars were waged against inchoate, unstructured and socially inferior foes.
Martial law. Eventually, Rome established a permanent military dictatorship that left the citizens at the mercy of an unreachable and oppressive totalitarian regime. In the absence of resources to establish civic police forces, the Romans relied increasingly on the military to intervene in all matters of conflict or upheaval in provinces, from small-scale scuffles to large-scale revolts. Not unlike police forces today, with their martial law training drills on American soil, militarized weapons and “shoot first, ask questions later†mindset, the Roman soldier had “the exercise of lethal force at his fingertips†with the potential of wreaking havoc on normal citizens’ lives.
A nation of suspects. Just as the American Empire looks upon its citizens as suspects to be tracked, surveilled and controlled, the Roman Empire looked upon all potential insubordinates, from the common thief to a full-fledged insurrectionist, as threats to its power. The insurrectionist was seen as directly challenging the Emperor. A “bandit,†or revolutionist, was seen as capable of overturning the empire, was always considered guilty and deserving of the most savage penalties, including capital punishment. Bandits were usually punished publicly and cruelly as a means of deterring others from challenging the power of the state. Jesus’ execution was one such public punishment.
Acts of civil disobedience by insurrectionists. Starting with his act of civil disobedience at the Jewish temple, the site of the administrative headquarters of the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish council, Jesus branded himself a political revolutionary. When Jesus “with the help of his disciples, blocks the entrance to the courtyard†and forbids “anyone carrying goods for sale or trade from entering the Temple,†he committed a blatantly criminal and seditious act, an act “that undoubtedly precipitated his arrest and execution.†Because the commercial events were sponsored by the religious hierarchy, which in turn was operated by consent of the Roman government, Jesus’ attack on the money chargers and traders can be seen as an attack on Rome itself, an unmistakable declaration of political and social independence from the Roman oppression.
Military-style arrests in the dead of night. Jesus’ arrest account testifies to the fact that the Romans perceived Him as a revolutionary. Eerily similar to today’s SWAT team raids, Jesus was arrested in the middle of the night, in secret, by a large, heavily armed fleet of soldiers. Rather than merely asking for Jesus when they came to arrest him, his pursuers collaborated beforehand with Judas. Acting as a government informant, Judas concocted a kiss as a secret identification marker, hinting that a level of deception and trickery must be used to obtain this seemingly “dangerous revolutionist’s†cooperation.
Torture and capital punishment. In Jesus’ day, religious preachers, self-proclaimed prophets and nonviolent protesters were not summarily arrested and executed. Indeed, the high priests and Roman governors normally allowed a protest, particularly a small-scale one, to run its course. However, government authorities were quick to dispose of leaders and movements that appeared to threaten the Roman Empire. The charges leveled against Jesus—that he was a threat to the stability of the nation, opposed paying Roman taxes and claimed to be the rightful King—were purely political, not religious. To the Romans, any one of these charges was enough to merit death by crucifixion, which was usually reserved for slaves, non-Romans, radicals, revolutionaries and the worst criminals.
Jesus was presented to Pontius Pilate “as a disturber of the political peace,†a leader of a rebellion, a political threat, and most gravely—a claimant to kingship, a “king of the revolutionary type.†After Jesus is formally condemned by Pilate, he is sentenced to death by crucifixion, “the Roman means of executing criminals convicted of high treason.†The purpose of crucifixion was not so much to kill the criminal, as it was an immensely public statement intended to visually warn all those who would challenge the power of the Roman Empire. Hence, it was reserved solely for the most extreme political crimes: treason, rebellion, sedition, and banditry. After being ruthlessly whipped and mocked, Jesus was nailed to a cross.
As Professor Mark Lewis Taylor observed:
The cross within Roman politics and culture was a marker of shame, of being a criminal. If you were put to the cross, you were marked as shameful, as criminal, but especially as subversive. And there were thousands of people put to the cross. The cross was actually positioned at many crossroads, and, as New Testament scholar Paula Fredricksen has reminded us, it served as kind of a public service announcement that said, “Act like this person did, and this is how you will end up.â€
Jesus—the revolutionary, the political dissident, and the nonviolent activist—lived and died in a police state. Any reflection on Jesus’ life and death within a police state must take into account several factors: Jesus spoke out strongly against such things as empires, controlling people, state violence and power politics. Jesus challenged the political and religious belief systems of his day. And worldly powers feared Jesus, not because he challenged them for control of thrones or government but because he undercut their claims of supremacy, and he dared to speak truth to power in a time when doing so could—and often did—cost a person his life.
Unfortunately, the radical Jesus, the political dissident who took aim at injustice and oppression, has been largely forgotten today, replaced by a congenial, smiling Jesus trotted out for religious holidays but otherwise rendered mute when it comes to matters of war, power and politics.
Yet for those who truly study the life and teachings of Jesus, the resounding theme is one of outright resistance to war, materialism and empire.
Ultimately, as I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, this is the contradiction that must be resolved if the radical Jesus—the one who stood up to the Roman Empire and was crucified as a warning to others not to challenge the powers-that-be—is to be an example for our modern age.
After all, there is so much suffering and injustice in the world, and so much good that can be done by those who truly aspire to follow Jesus Christ’s example.
We must decide whether we will follow the path of least resistance—willing to turn a blind eye to what Martin Luther King Jr. referred to as the “evils of segregation and the crippling effects of discrimination, to the moral degeneracy of religious bigotry and the corroding effects of narrow sectarianism, to economic conditions that deprive men of work and food, and to the insanities of militarism and the self-defeating effects of physical violenceâ€â€”or whether we will be transformed nonconformists “dedicated to justice, peace, and brotherhood.â€
As King explained in a powerful sermon delivered in 1954, “This command not to conform comes … [from] Jesus Christ, the world’s most dedicated nonconformist, whose ethical nonconformity still challenges the conscience of mankind.â€
We need to recapture the gospel glow of the early Christians, who were nonconformists in the truest sense of the word and refused to shape their witness according to the mundane patterns of the world. Willingly they sacrificed fame, fortune, and life itself in behalf of a cause they knew to be right. Quantitatively small, they were qualitatively giants. Their powerful gospel put an end to such barbaric evils as infanticide and bloody gladiatorial contests. Finally, they captured the Roman Empire for Jesus Christ… The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists, who are dedicated to justice, peace, and brotherhood. The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific, and religious freedom have always been nonconformists. In any cause that concerns the progress of mankind, put your faith in the nonconformist!
…Honesty impels me to admit that transformed nonconformity, which is always costly and never altogether comfortable, may mean walking through the valley of the shadow of suffering, losing a job, or having a six-year-old daughter ask, “Daddy, why do you have to go to jail so much?†But we are gravely mistaken to think that Christianity protects us from the pain and agony of mortal existence. Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear. To be a Christian, one must take up his cross, with all of its difficulties and agonizing and tragedy-packed content, and carry it until that very cross leaves its marks upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way that comes only through suffering.
In these days of worldwide confusion, there is a dire need for men and women who will courageously do battle for truth. We must make a choice. Will we continue to march to the drumbeat of conformity and respectability, or will we, listening to the beat of a more distant drum, move to its echoing sounds? Will we march only to the music of time, or will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul saving music of eternity? ~ by John W. Whitehead April 6, 2020
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/covid_19s_challenge_to_the_christian_church_what_would_jesus_do
He’s going to leave us! Good! Good riddance to him!
Even if i could, why in the world would i want to “save” the likes of Y’All? Whatever “save” means.
Y’All have Unca Joe, The Hillary and BillyBob, Obomber, The Bern, and “The Squad” to save You. You certainly don’t need me.
I think in someways if your community hasn’t been touched with the virus, it’s probably easy for the virus to seem unreal and the quarantine to seem unreasonable until you lose people you love, know or work with or they become ill.
Death and sickness are scary things to face, but we are in this together and face it we must.
One thing Jesus would be doing is safely handing out lunches to poor families, like food banks in our area are doing.
https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/coronavirus/the-coronavirus-what-would-jesus-do.html
The Coronavirus: What Would Jesus Do?
We’re living in unprecedented times to say the least; an unpredictable, highly contagious virus that knows no borders wreaking havoc across the globe.
Here in the West, we’re still in the very early stages. As a result, people are fearful and anxious as to what’s to come. The other day, while on my usual 5-mile run, I wondered to myself, “If Jesus were physically here today, what would He do? What would He say and how would He guide us?”
Upon further reflection, and based on scripture, I came up with five spiritual principles that I believe Jesus would share with us:
1. Have Faith in God
Fear is useless. What is needed is faith. (Mark 5:36)
I think for most Christians it’s fairly easy to have and profess our faith—especially when life is running smoothly. The real test of faith is when the going gets rough. Take for instance the account of Jesus walking on the water:
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’ (Matthew 14:25-31)
I keep this image in mind every time my faith begins to falter.
Peter had faith enough in Jesus to step out on the choppy waters. As long as his gaze was fixed on Jesus, he was fine. But once he started to pay attention to the raging winds and water he panicked and began to sink.
What a great lesson Jesus teaches us here, even while facing a global pandemic.
Indeed, the waters are dangerously choppy and uncertainty abounds. But fear is useless. It only leads to panic, worry, and anxiety. Think of it this way, fear will not prevent us from contracting the virus.
If anything, it may make us more vulnerable as fear and worry lowers are immune system. Instead, when life’s challenges begin to close in on us, we need re-fix our gaze on Jesus—and trust him. Faith and trust go hand-in-hand.
2. Love Your Neighbor
Faith requires that we go out into the world to share our gifts with others—also known as “faith in action.†As Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven†(Matthew 5:16).
Tumultuous times can bring out the best in people. Unfortunately, it also brings out the worst. As the virus made its way to the U.S., panic ensued.
People flocked to grocery stores and pharmacies buying up (and hoarding) everything from surgical masks and hand sanitizer to tissue and toilet paper. Yes, toilet paper! As a result, this left many other people and organizations, such as hospitals, nursing homes, and first responders without necessary supplies.
Xenophobic behavior is sadly on the rise. Just recently, a hate-filled woman in Manhattan attacked an Asian woman blaming her for the coronavirus outbreak. Gun sales have apparently spiked as well. I guess people are afraid someone might steal their toilet paper?
This is absolutely contrary to Christian teaching.
Jesus would have us treat others as we would like to be treated. He would expect us to treat everyone with respect, kindness, and compassion. He would admonish us to think of others, by buying only what we reasonably need.
He would encourage us to share not only from our surplus but from our scarcity as well. He would tell us to reach out to others—especially the elderly, isolated, and lonely. Even though we’re required to self-isolate and practice “social distancing,†it shouldn’t prevent us from picking up the phone.
Take a moment to think of a friend or relative in need of comfort and consolation. When you do, avoid dwelling on all the bad news. Instead, be uplifting. Speak words of encouragement. Share scripture passages and pray with them.
3. Connect with Self and Family
The current crisis now has millions of people working from home. As a result, it seems to have freed up some recreational time. In my own town and neighborhood, I’m noticing families out walking and playing together. I’m seeing people I’ve never seen before; and we’ve lived on the same street for 23 years!
More people than ever are riding bikes, running, hiking, rollerblading. It’s truly amazing. I just recently received this message from an Innkeeper friend who’s worried about how “quiet†her business has gotten:
“And yet, within the quiet, there are silver linings. I have spent many hours with my son, Owen, walking and talking – and at 14-years old, getting him to do that is a minor miracle. I have walked with Luna every day in our beautiful woods and am watching our early Spring arrive and the animals wake up with renewed delight. I have talked to more friends and family “just because” recently and am feeling closer to them all, since we are all in this together. When I manage to keep the anxiety at bay, the simplicity of life right now is beautiful.â€
This is a great opportunity to reprioritize what’s important in life. The meaning of “success†is changing for the better. Due to unexpected circumstances out of our control, we’re in a sense “forced†to redefine what success looks like.
On the whole, the emphasis is shifting from quantity to quality. Put another way, in this day and age, success is becoming less about how much we have in life and more about how well we’re living our lives.
Growing numbers of people are realizing that they’ve been missing out on the important things in life. Fortunately, we are waking up from our slumber. This is a great time to reflect on all aspects of life—especially faith, family, friends, and career.
4. Count Your Blessings
I have a morning ritual that involves stopping by my favorite coffee shop to grab a “cup of joe†to go. I enjoy chatting with the folks that work there and also seeing the “usual†customers. On Friday, due to the lockdown in my state, they abruptly closed.
I’m ashamed to say that my first thought was, “poor me, what will I do without my favorite coffee?†Thankfully the self-pity was very short-lived. I quickly thought of the many minimum-wage workers who likely live paycheck to paycheck. Who knows when they’ll be able to return.
Then I thought about the millions of people in similar straits not to mention the impact on small businesses. Of course, I thought of the number of people afflicted with the virus, their healthcare providers, and the many people serving on the front lines.
Finally, I thought of the thousands globally who have succumbed to the illness.
It made me realize that I should ignore the minor pinpricks of the day and focus on the many blessings in my life. There’s a great song that has helped me to develop an “attitude of gratitude.†It’s titled, “Blessed,†by Lucinda Williams. I’ll share just a sampling of the lyrics,
We were blessed by the mystic
Who turned water into wine
We were blessed by the watchmaker
Who gave up his time
We were blessed by the wounded man
Who felt no pain
By the wayfaring stranger
Who knew our names
We were blessed by the homeless man
Who showed us the way home
Blessed by the hungry man
Who filled us with love
By the little innocent baby
Who taught us the truth
We were blessed by the forlorn
Forsaken and abused
The song reminds me how we are blessed by people we don’t often give thought to. Let’s all be more mindful in giving thanks to God for all blessings, large and small.
5. Strengthen Your Faith
Please take a break from the 24/7 “breaking news cycle.†This is an excellent time to draw closer to God and deepen our relationship with Him. I suggest reading scripture, inspirational literature, virtual Bible study and most importantly, prayer.
The following are insights and tips on prayer.
– There’s no one formula – discover what works best for you. Ask God for discernment.
– Sometimes the words simply don’t come so turn it over to the Holy Spirit, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.†(Romans 8:26)
– Make prayer a habit daily in your life, but don’t approach it as ‘routine.’ Formulaic or rote prayers can be helpful but sometimes lose there meaning. Change it up and pray what’s on your heart today.
– Match the intensity of prayer with the gravity of the situation. In Mark’s Gospel, there’s an account of the disciples unable to heal a young boy tortured by an unclean spirit. When Jesus heals the boy “his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive the spirit out?†He told them, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.†(Mark 9:28-29) This is a time where intense prayer is vital.
– Pray and worship in “spirit and truth.†Jesus reminds us in a sense not to be casual in our worship of God, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.†(John 4:23-24)
These insights and tips are based on a combination of Biblical principles and through my own experience during my faith journey. I’ve drawn from many different sources over the years and suggest you do the same. The one thing I can say for certain is that effectiveness and quality of your prayer life is equal to the proportion of time and energy you invest in developing it.
Yes, this crisis will eventually pass.
In the meantime, let’s all use our time wisely and behave in a manner pleasing to God!
Thanks for posting that, Rational Lefty. That’s good advice.
Many churches in our area are adapting to new ways of worship. Some are having online services. Some are having drive-in services, where you sit in your car, like drive-in movie theaters of the past. Nobody is getting rid of the right to worship, just do it safely.
Exactly, Southern Liberal.