Having Two Legs

The blog of Toby J. Sumpter, Pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, ID

Cheerfully Difficult

A Careening Introduction
To mask or not to mask. That is the question. 

C’mon people, it’s just a mask. Christians in other countries are being gunned down for gathering for worship. Can’t you “suffer” a little for the sake of the weak? 

The problem is we are being played. We are being gamed. Remember, the same people who breathlessly proclaimed that up to 2 million Americans could die from the “pandemic” with extreme measures taken, and we had to shut everything down this minute, are now the same ones telling us that wearing a sock around your face could save one life. 

Look, um, we’re not very impressed with your track record.

We listened to data models that were wildly — cosmically — off base. We should have known. We listened to data models that make their living scamming the populace into enviro-frenzies. The same geniuses that say that the world is cooling, I mean warming, I mean shut up. It’s just bad and you have to stop driving cars, running air conditioners, and flushing your toilets and you have to use these reusable shopping bags that are infested with germs. Except not now. Stop using those bags. Those same geniuses are the ones we based these shut downs on. And they’re the same ones running the panic hysteria mobs demanding more rules.

And remember: we didn’t just shut down nursing homes, isolating the sick and the vulnerable. No, we shut everything down. Everything “non-essential.” What does that mean? It meant everything except liquor stores. And abortion clinics. Because if we’re all going to die, we definitely want to die drunk and killing our babies. 

Some states were so fascist, they roped off sections of grocery stores to make sure no one bought something “non-essential” like seeds for growing vegetables because then someone might get the idea that they don’t need the government for everything. 

Walmarts and Costcos continued functioning at full capacity while churches were ordered closed. Pizza Hut could deliver to your doorstep, but technically, pastors were not allowed to visit parishioners, and certainly not celebrate small communion services with the faithful. That’s not essential, people. Remember, it was the US Surgeon General who told everyone back in February that there was no need for face masks, that they do not help much with Covid-19, and to leave them for health care professionals. And now you’re a heartless idiot if you don’t wear one. 

And The Numbers
But the numbers continue pouring in. The numbers are admittedly squishy, untrustworthy, and haphazard, but given the narrative being shoved down our throats, we can assume they are the worst numbers they can come up with. And what do we see? The numbers of new cases spiking and the numbers of new deaths plummeting. What does that mean? It means this disease is definitely not as deadly or lethal as many feared. It means we are building up a herd immunity, and the virus is losing its potency, like most coronaviruses do. Turns out the epidemiologists at Stanford and Johns Hopkins and Oxford have been right all along. But their research and papers were largely ignored by the media because non-sensational science doesn’t scare up the populace, and it isn’t as useful for tinpot dictators to use on their credulous citizenry.

So who are the weak in this scenario exactly? The numbers tell us that people over 65 or 70 are the most vulnerable and those with other pre-existing conditions. They should be free to take extra precautions as they wish. But the most helpful way to protect the most vulnerable is for 10-20% or more of the young, healthy populace to just get this disease and move on. Upwards of 50% of healthy folks will barely notice they have it. This is part of what’s happening with the spike in new cases. A bunch of people are getting tested, a number of them are testing positive, and the hospitals are not being flooded. How could that be? It’s because COVID-19 isn’t a deadly killer for most healthy people. Herd immunity is what will protect our elderly and most vulnerable. 

Who Are the Weak?
But in actual fact, the largest group of weak people in this nation at this moment are those who want to preserve their freedom in Christ. And when we ask whether Christians should wear a mask or not, we must recognize that we are dealing with an area that theologians routinely refer to as “Christian liberty.” We’re talking about Christian freedom. The Bible does not require or prohibit face masks per se, and therefore, God requires Christians to use their freedom for good and for edification — for building up the saints, not as an occasion for the flesh. The real tricky thing is that the flesh comes at us in every direction. It comes through fear of death, fear of accusation, lust for approval, lust for peace, outrage over abuses, outrage over folly (or perceived folly), and the list keeps going. When we define good and edification, we need to define those terms biblically and not let the same Wahoo’s who told us that 2 million Americans would be dead if we took extreme action immediately — we shouldn’t let those same exegetes give us a Sunday School lesson on loving our neighbors or submission to authority. 

So a quick review: we live in a constitutional republic, not an empire, not a monarchy. Romans 13 means that the highest authorities in our land are constitutions — both at the federal and state levels. We have elected servants who take oaths to uphold those constitutions. And our constitutions were (and remain down to this day) self-consciously limitations to our civil magistrates. They are, for the theologians in our midst, regulative principle documents. They gave specific powers to government officials and apart from those specified powers, all other matters of power and freedom were retained by the people. 

All of this means that mayors and governors and congresses and supreme court justices are not allowed to just make up new laws that seem good to them. They may act to protect citizens in moments of true emergency. They are free to quarantine the actual sick and infected. But they are not free to make up emergencies, they are not free to treat the healthy as if they are sick and infected, and they are not free to make up stupid solutions for make believe problems. There is no pandemic emergency for young and healthy Americans. And random pieces of fabric do absolutely nothing to prevent the spread of viruses. Regular fabric is to a virus what volley ball nets are to mosquitoes. And that means everybody is going around wearing something because it makes people feel better and does not a lick of good. Chances are also decent that these pieces of cloth actually encourage the spread of a lot more sickness and bacteria. Just watch everyone touching their masks everywhere they go. Think of that as a little Petri dish growing exotic colored mold fuzz. Now breathe deeply. Mmmmm.

Words Matter
In other words, our constitutional republic presupposes the fixed meaning of words. Lex is rex (“the law is king”) is the foundation of the Western Christian law tradition, and it means that particular words and what they mean is what Christians are committed to submitting to. We are committed to submitting to the written Word of God above all other words, and we are committed to submitting to the constitutions of our nation and states and cities, according to the meaning of the words written down. We are not committed to submitting to an infinite revisionism of definitions of words. Christians need not submit to some sophist who claims that freedom now means living in a refrigerator box or wearing gold stars pinned to your shirt. Likewise, words like “emergency” and “health crisis” cannot be bent around to apply to a fairly normal flu season or even a bad one. One mayor in Richmond, Virginia has ordered the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue for health and safety reasons. On that basis, mayors and governors might also remove churches and crosses and American flags because they cause psychological harm to the fragile egos of the rioters. Honoring our civil fathers means honoring what they set down, what they wrote, and what they meant by the words they wrote, which, incidentally, is why they need those statues down now.

Apart from legitimate science-based use of medical face masks in, you know, actual medical scenarios, the current random-piece-of-fabric-face-mask frenzy is nothing less than virtue signaling submission to the Statist gods. Matt Williams has called them Marxist Burqas, and that seems about right. They are symbols of submission to the high priests who just a few minutes ago were praising the looters burning down Target because of “systemic racism.” They were praising the antifa riots and protests mixing thousands of people in close quarters for their courage and virtue. By what standard? The standard is revolution and statism. The standard is shut up and submit. These are fickle and arbitrary gods. But make no mistake: the same dictates that arbitrarily consign some businesses as “essential” and others as “non-essential,” the same arbitrary dictates that praise the mobs pulling monuments down but condemn Christians for gathering for worship (and singing!) are the very same dictates currently ordering face burqas for the masses. This is not about science, it’s about solidarity. It’s about submission. It’s about keeping people in a tight, manipulatable mass. 

My Plan
Moscow’s mayor just ordered a seven day emergency mandatory servility badge here in our town. And chances are good the city council will extend his order. I have not worn one yet, and my goal is to avoid it as much as possible. My plan is to simply ignore the stupid decree, but if someone asks me to put one on, I plan to be cheerfully difficult. I will probably start with a simple “no thanks, I don’t believe in that,” but if they are somewhat insistent, I will let them know that I have a religious exemption. If they need to know more than that, I will explain that my Christian religion teaches me not to bow down to idols. If they still need more, the mayor’s order also made it clear that the masks are only required where social distancing is not possible. Of course I believe private businesses should be free to require certain things of customers. I want to love them toward resisting this tyrannical law, but if they are not interested in my encouragement, and they have something I need, I will happily comply. I’m free to wear a piece of useless fabric across my face, but I will do everything in my power to indicate that I don’t believe in that statist religion, nor am I afraid of COVID-19.

Conclusion: Challenges & Encouragement
All of this is a challenging moment to live in. The temptation for most Christians is to break in one of two directions simplistically: either toward revolutionary revolt or compliant apathy. But turns out faithful courage looks a lot more like being cheerfully difficult. The thing they are counting on is either belligerence or servility. But we need to be gracious and uncompliant. It’s certainly not necessarily a bad witness to get a citation and pay a fine, but I believe the tip of our spear, the point of our fiercest resistance is worship. If we are to practice straight forward civil disobedience it ought to be in obedience to God in worship. We have been patient with the virus scare and deferred to our magistrates for several months, but now that it is clear that the statists only approve of gatherings that are violent and anti-Christian, it is high time for Christians to gather peacefully for worship to protest the insanity. And if they try to interrupt us, or require us to put something over our mouths to muffle our praises, we should cheerfully refuse. And if you live in a state (ahem, California) that has explicitly prohibited singing in worship, you need to attend worship tomorrow and sing at the top of your lungs. If your church cancels worship or complies with that wicked decree, you need to find a new church. The state does not have the authority to make up fake emergencies to limit Christian worship. 

But there is encouragement in this moment. These ridiculous edicts are targeting Christians and Christian worship and Christian freedom. In many places, this targeting is not conscious, but there are strong currents driving this cultural storm: Marxist currents, Darwinian currents, secular Statist currents and whether the captains on the various ships know what that means or not, we do. Those currents are driven by hatred of God, hatred of His Christ, hatred of His creation, and hatred of His people and His freedom. All of this goes together. There is no true freedom apart from Christ. We have enjoyed great freedom in this country for so long because Christ has been honored, though imperfectly, in this land. Next to honoring God in worship, the next greatest command is to love our neighbors, and the first way we do that is by honoring our fathers and mothers, acknowledging how God has piled up blessing for us down through the centuries. It is no accident that the same storm is currently tearing down the ancient landmarks of our land. If you don’t think they will come for churches soon, you haven’t been paying attention. And besides, mobs are not thoughtful creatures. 

And here is the encouragement: we are nearly beyond all the B.S. The real conflict is nearly out in the open. And the real conflict is between Christ and every alternative. Will we worship Him and serve Him or will we keep dabbling with idols and false gods? It’s Christ or nothing. Christ or chaos. Do we want Christian freedom or statist solidarity? Only Christ died for our sins. Only Christ is risen from the dead to make all things new. The statist idols are all deaf, dumb, and blind. They have mandated worthless pieces of fabric be worn on your face. That is their current sacrament, but that feeling you’re getting isn’t Christian peace. It’s probably just a lack of oxygen and all those extra bacteria you’re sucking in. And you haven’t helped anyone really. But the water of baptism was given by God Himself. The bread and wine is the new covenant in the blood of Christ. The Spirit is real. The forgiveness of sins in Christ is real. 

So Happy 4th of July. Happy Independence Day. Raise your glasses high, sing loudly, grill good meat, shoot off illegal fireworks, and with uncovered faces let us honor our fathers and feast our King.

And tomorrow we worship. Tomorrow we fight. 

Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash

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Comments

  1. Excellent article. I have yet to don a mask, will not go into an establishment wherein a mask is required. Do not line up with those saints who say wearing a mask is sharing a burden or showing love. It’s manipulation, plain and simple.

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  2. Dear Toby,
    Thank you for this article. Would you be able to share the sources you referenced from Stanford, Johns Hopkins & Oxford? And if there is a 4th source referenced from which you derived the statistic about the best way to protect the most vulnerable being 10-20% of the young, healthy populace contracting COVID, could you share that as well?

    Thank you!

    Grace & Peace,

    Allison

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  4. In one breath, you doubt the new research coming out on a new virus. In the next, you form your own scientific conclusions based on that same lack of evidence. What makes your insufficiently substantiated theory more trustworthy than those of the virologists doing actual research?

    Secondly, herd immunity has been achieved mainly through vaccines. We didn’t eradicate smallpox and polio through letting everyone catch them.

    Thirdly, how can you claim we will gain herd immunity from a virus that mutates so rapidly, as you admit? Next time there’s a significant mutation, immunity is gone- and it’s only the grace of God which lets us hope the next mutations are less fatal, not more.

    Finally, since there is so much doubt, many Christians are using their liberty to act in a pro-life way. Just as there is some evidence that contraception could cause miscarriage so many Christians avoid it, there is some evidence that wearing a mask (which can help containing globs of phlegm and saliva which carry the virus) protects the lives of the vulnerable– so many Christians wear them.

    To err on the side of love for God-created life, wear a mask. It might take some humility to appear to be obeying a mandate you actually disagree with politically, but obeying our Lord by loving life is a more noble statement to make.

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    • Sooo many things I want to say to this, but I’ll leave most of them alone because they aren’t really relevant to the article, and I’ll stick with this:

      Other people don’t love their neighbors by treating them the way YOU believe is best. So if you believe that masks work and that it’s beneficial to pursue the dubious goal of completely preventing spread of an already-widespread virus, go for it. Love your neighbor your way. But those of us who disagree with both of your premises are not choosing *against* “loving our neighbor” because we disagree with you about what is best for him.

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      • Okay, but Toby really hasn’t left us this option here, has he? You say, while pointing out your dubiousness, “…go for it. Love your neighbor your way.” But this seems to be an attempt to have the cake while eating it. Toby says it’s actually *idolatry.* Just to be clear, there’s never a time when idolatry is justified, right? (Unless, perhaps, we need some groceries, and that’s the only way to get them…or something.) Either it’s idolatry and it’s forbidden, or else there’s some gray in there we’re all trying to navigate given what we do and don’t know. What appears to be happening here, and I’m willing to be corrected, is a thundering of “idolatry!” followed by several asterisks and some small-print disclaimers.

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        • Fair point. I can’t speak for Toby, obviously, but to ME, the distinction that makes it idolatry or not is the motivation. If you have decided, based on the science, that in your own opinion, the best way you can love your neighbor is to wear a mask, that’s different from someone who’s wearing a mask to virtue-signal, or wearing a mask to be obedient to the wrong authorities, or wearing a mask because they’re too lazy to do the thinking for themselves to determine what’s best, etc. In each of those cases, the thing(s) being held up as important are different.

          (Also, “I’m wearing a mask because I believe this is best thing for those around me” is different from, “I’m wearing a mask because I care about people, and you’re a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad person if you disagree with me” are different. Not saying you’re doing the latter, just pointing out that distinctions like this reflect what people are — or are not — placing on proverbial pedestals.)

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          • Rachel: Thanks, and I largely agree. The thing that concerns me about the article (and I am a fan of Toby’s) is that it leaves no room between idolatry and Christian imperatives. It seems to equate wearing a mask with taking the mark of the beast, when one can easily imagine a few positions where it is no such thing. As a people, we have unquestionably been jerked around by those giving the public mandates. And on the other hand, it would be difficult to argue that masks (especially if properly worn by both parties) are completely useless and only symbols of submission to Baal. But that’s where this piece seems to want to take us.

    • I am pregnant & will not wear a mask as I need oxygen to breathe. No thankyou.
      I trust in Gods complete ability to judge hearts, heal ailments. If, I did get a new strain of flu & if it were my time to go home, I would be very content& joyful. Since it isnt and God has promised a child to be born to me, I trust Him only through this & will not bow down to global-elite individuals whos goal is to stop the truth& churches etc. God has better plans. We shouldn’t be surprised if our countries go through something difficult in order to wake people up, with the sin& wickedness allowed& practiced in & outside of the church. God has every right to allow the caldeans or locusts, because people have loved & allowed sin. If we would pray for our countries, that there would be repentance… hearts changed toward God, then…our land would have a healing. It’s the same throughout history til now. People will do what they want& when they want but God is just, wise, and as a parent would do… who wouldn’t chasen a child because of love? If you don’t correct errors then you aren’t caring for your child.
      Let’s trust fully in the Lord first individually. For health, conception, relationships, etc & lets stop relying on pharmaceuticals to get us through when God is the great physician. May we rely on him not man.

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  5. My sentiments exactly and exactly what I have been espousing all along regarding this fabricated covid bs response.

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  7. I really don’t have anything to add, and I don’t think I’ve yet managed to formulate any questions. I do think you’re did Square correct though. And I took notice of the one response that is contrary to what you have written. It was put forth the exceptionally kindly and well. And I certainly don’t have anything to ask or say to that. Bottom line, being older and having been around for a long time, I have come over the years to be exceptionally skeptical of the politics of various things, and certainly of our government at all levels. I want to keep up here, and I do hope that each comment made is done with kindness and concern or the truth. After all, Christ is both the truth and the life. It is significantly important for us all make sure we keep both together.

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  8. While I generally agree with the sentiment os resisting government tyranny, the last part of the article confused me. If you say you are not going to wear a mask because you don’t bow down to idols, but then comply when Costco has the milk you need, are you not bowing down to idols for milk?

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    • John, my line about bowing down to idols was one of the lines I’m prepared to use in my attempt to resist the mandates. I do believe there are idols involved and the masks are being used to bow down to them, but if pressed, I would say it’s closer to the NT question about eating food sacrificed to idols. As I said in the article, it really is a matter of Christian liberty, so there’s nothing evil in a piece of fabric over your face in itself. So Paul says if someone invites you for dinner, eat whatever is put in front of you asking no questions, but if the guy invites you over and puts on a show, explaining how he got the steak from Aphrodite’s little whore hut, then you should definitely abstain — not because the steak is contaminated, but for that guy’s conscience. I think wearing face masks has definitely become more of the latter (ie. idol worship) with everyone putting on elaborate shows of devotion to the health and safety gods of the state, but I certainly grant that depending on the situation it could be the former.

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      • Thank you, Toby. I can’t seem to reply back on my original thread, but am able to here. This clarification is helpful.

        I have no doubt that some people are merely serving idols by putting on a mask. And for the record, I don’t think the church has *any* obligation to obey the dictates of the state on any of this at this point. But still, you seem to take away with the one hand what you give with the other.

        “…the current random-piece-of-fabric-face-mask frenzy is nothing less than virtue signaling submission to the Statist gods. Matt Williams has called them Marxist Burqas, and that seems about right. They are symbols of submission to the high priests…”

        This is a phrase designed to strike at the conscience of a Christian, and doesn’t leave a lot of room for honest prudential differences. I understand the need for bombastic language sometimes, and often enjoy it myself. But this places a pretty strong certainty on issues that are at the very least the subject of a scientific debate right now, and even makes them tests of Christian faithfulness.

        Certainly, not all masks are equally effective (and we all agree that a t-shirt over the mouth is pointless). But there is still a basic scientific question about whether the virus is airborne or droplet-borne. If it’s airborne, yes, masks are basically pointless. But as we’ve seen, any conclusions on this stuff are very provisional, and there are some non-idolatrous, even decent evidential reasons to currently believe that, if both of us are wearing masks during our interaction, I am unlikely to transmit the virus to you.

        That said, you’re really not leaving any room for honest, God-fearing, non-idolatrous Christians who think the government has gummed it all up AND that it’s nevertheless prudent to wear masks at the current moment in order not only avoid giving offense, but to actually attempt protect the most vulnerable among us, at least as long as the modes of transmission remain murky. There are reasonable Christian positions here between Baal-worship and “do your Christian duty and go lick elevator buttons to hasten herd-immunity.”

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  9. I do not know everything about this illness, nor do you. I will continue to use a mask in hopes it will alleviate the suffering of some. It is a small thing to do.

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  10. You’re all fucking psychopaths that literally can’t even muster enough empathy to put on a LITTLE MASK for the time you’re out in public. I can’t wait for you all to die and face your God, because I can guarantee he won’t look favorably on someone so willing to put others at risk.

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  11. You’re so right that masks are a form of government oppression, Toby, but why stop there? Why do we continue to wear artificial, chemical-ridden, Marxist clothes when we know so well that the natural, unfallen state of Man (as modeled by Adam & Eve) is completely & totally nude? Shirts, pants & underpants have been forced upon us by the Darwinists & Globalists, trapping our disgusting, germ-ridden flatulence on our bodies with nowhere to go. Gross! God created my butthole and everything in it. What right does “the government” have to force me to keep my all-natural, God-given farts off of other people? If we don the unnatural attire forced on us by the Statists, don’t we admit defeat to the devil & submit ourselves to our sinful ways? WE CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE GOING FULLY NUDE AT ALL TIMES – except, as you point out, to patronize stores that require shoes & shirts as is their right in our free market economy.

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  12. A rejoinder as sensationalist as the people it criticizes.

    Christians — math is a wonderful, God-given tool, and you should use it. Even if the mortality rate is 0.1%, and I believe it is, covid is still more dangerous than the flu since the reproduction number is higher. Since April, its been mathematically impossible to say that covid is no worse than the flu. People with underlying health conditions and those who come into frequent contact with them should care about covid, because they are the ones dying from it.

    Just because some or all mandates are extreme or the CDC’s numbers are wrong doesn’t mean that covid is a fairy-tale (which is implied by your claim that masks are useless). We’re allowed to approach the topic with nuance without becoming a church-shuttering SJW Marxist, *I promise*.

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  13. What about situations where it’s our own church leaders telling us we must wear a mask for neighbor-love in order to attend services?

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    • Christina, It would depend on the general health of the church. Are the leaders going woke? Are they generally apprehensive of addressing LGBTQ issues or abortion from the pulpit? In other words, is the church led by men with backbones, with houses in order (obedient, faithful children)? Or not? If they are otherwise faithful, courageous men, then I would counsel patient, cheerful discussion and appeal for an exception. Presumably, if they are really good men, this will be a short, temporary request to submit to. If there are other options, you might ask their blessing to worship elsewhere temporarily. On the other hand, if you’ve been having concerned discussions with your family on the way home after church every week for a while, and the pastor’s kids are cautionary tales, then I would take this as the Lord’s leading to find a new church, and be willing to move if you need to.

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      • We felt it would be unloving for us to mask our little ones (my 4 year old in a mask for 2 hours?? Pointless and impossible!), and as our appeals for an unmasked area (since we already live-stream to the fellowship hall at the moment and have 2 services to allow for fewer people in the service at a time) was completely brushed aside and there was no response at all to any of our presentations of data on masking risks & lack of benefit (especially to children & the elderly)… we decided to just tune in virtually or else attend elsewhere until the mask mandate is lifted. :/ I also personally feel it is inappropriate for church elders to be making health/medical decisions for the church… it’s a slippery slope I don’t care to start down. Sure, offer advice and examples of how such advice was reasoned from Scripture, but ultimately that seems firmly under the jurisdiction of the family, not the church.

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  14. Toby, I have a high level of respect for you and the work you do and have for quite some time. I agree w some of what you said here, but please allow me to explain how you’re making it difficult for some churches to have unity.

    On one side you say, “The Bible does not require or prohibit face masks per se, and therefore, God requires Christians to use their freedom for good and for edification.”

    But then you say, “Apart from legitimate science-based use of medical face masks in, you know, actual medical scenarios, the current random-piece-of-fabric-face-mask frenzy is nothing less than virtue signaling submission to the Statist gods.”

    But what if my elders have implemented a mask policy at my church? Now people in my church who respect you will struggle and wonder, “Am I bowing down to the State and disobeying God by just virtue signaling w the culture? What’s wrong w my elders?” You’re making it difficult for some churches to have unity when you speak this way.

    Im not against you having your opinion and I praise God for it and will fight for your freedom and liberty to make your judgments of what’s right/wrong and lead your people regarding masks, the virus, etc, but please be careful to help others in different congregations w different authority to live at peace w their elders and pastors. God bless you and keep up the good work.

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    • Thanks much, Joel. I do sympathize with the concern. This is why I added the line at the end of my subsequent post on masking that I am not counseling rebellion against otherwise good elders who have made a different call on this matter.

      The other thing to keep in mind is that the vast majority of churches that are implementing mask policies are very unhealthy churches. It is a unicorn of a church that is very healthy and has chosen this path (though I acknowledge that they exist!). So the message I’m trumpeting is the one I’m convinced the vast majority of Christians need to hear. The masking mandates are just the next woke badge of cultural compromise, not merely a mistaken (in my view) misstep.

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      • I’m also finding, in my own circles, that “loving our neighbors” seems to be one-sided. People want to demand that I love my neighbor who wants me in a mask (even without a concrete reason to believe it would BENEFIT that neighbor), but they don’t want to have to love ME, when I have observed measurable negative effects from wearing a mask.

        When this is what the thought process looks like, things are not as they seem, and neither science nor love of neighbor is REALLY the priority.

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  15. I have major issues with government mandated masking because although there may be “exceptions” listed in fine print for those of us with physical or mental health restrictions with masks, the businesses are not following or allowing for those exceptions….and people like the ones who commented earlier also seems to deem all people who are not wearing masks as simply those who chose to “be rebellious” There are people out there who cannot wear a mask for legitimate reason and still do have the health and care of our neighbor as a high concern. The assumption of motive and the weaponizing of the masks to judge peoples motives is what is most disconcerting to me. I walk into a store with the copy of our governor’s executive order mandating mask, with the exceptions marked, a copy of the ADA and HIPPA law stating they have to give me service and they cannot ask me my condition. Even with the exception duly noted, I am still denied service. We as Christians and all people need to have some grace…we do not know peoples stories, both why they are not wearing a mask or why they are. This is what I feel is missing from this entire COVID situation.
    And for the record, I do agree with you. Another big issue I have is the mixed and inconsistent information. One expert (virologist) say one thing and another stated something totally different. Both with the same credentials and experience, but on different spectrums. People believe what suits their worldview narrative. There is science on both sides, but the side we dont agree with we says its not real science. Its frustrating.

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  16. Hi, I was wondering if you would be able to drop the links to some sources stating how masks don’t actually help? Thanks!

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  17. Super helpful! My sister works in a hospital so I’ll advise her not to wear a mask for her medical procedures because to do so would be idolatry. Good take.

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  19. Question: why did you say “shoot off illegal fireworks” in the closing paragraph? I’ve shared this with a few people and someone questioned the statement to me. So, I’m asking for them. Since I’m guessing they agree with you, or at least see your point, but then that comment throws up a red flag and discredits or calls into question your whole opinion on masks. Can you clarifying or shed light on that statement, please? Thank you so very much!

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    • Lou: Fair question. The first and most obvious example of what I’m talking about was seen in the pictures/videos of the LA City nightscape on the 4th of July. Their grand poobahs tried to cancel all 4th of July celebrations and the people of the city gave a holy raspberry to the whole thing and lit up the night. But secondly, I view many of the regulations of fireworks as made of the same cloth as all our nanny state restrictions and rules. While I would ordinarily counsel supreme caution on breaking such regulations (counting the cost, etc.), on the 4th of July it is almost universally understood that law enforcement looks the other way. And I say we should at least celebrate that. Our independence from Great Britain was fought over far less tyranny than we have surrendered to today. Hope that helps!

      Reply

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