To No One's Surprise, More Coronavirus Outbreaks Are Traced Back to Churches

[NeoGreen]

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/06/15/to-no-ones-surprise-more-coronavirus-outbreaks-are-traced-back-to-churches/

To No One’s Surprise, More Coronavirus Outbreaks Are Traced Back to Churches
By Terry Firma, June 15, 2020

There must come a point where the same thing happening over and over again goes from news to noise. Have we gotten there yet? Just in case, this is from the current crop of news stories:

“COVID-19 cases linked to Perry Co. church“
A Facebook post from the Kentucky River District Health Department (KRDHD) links “multiple” COVID-19 cases to a church in Perry County. The post says that the cases are linked to The Trinity Holiness Tabernacle Church. Health officials are advising anyone who might have attended the church from May 24 through June 7 that they may have been exposed to COVID-19.

“Over 100 coronavirus cases traced to German church“
A cluster of 112 coronavirus infections and one death has been traced to a church in the north German port city of Bremerhaven. … The outbreak was linked to a Pentecost service that took place in early June. The Bremen health ministry announced the cluster of infections on Friday — at the time, the number of infections was reported at 44, but the number has risen since. Around 150 people are thought to have attended the church service.

(snip)

After which, I’m afraid, the cycle can begin anew.

[Blues Heron]

1. Spreading in the name of the Lord

or are they doing the work of Satan himself? These people need to be shunned.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. And one would think everyone would have learned already, since the Catholic Church in Italy suffered

the loss of over 60 of its priests in attempting to still have services...after 60 deaths, they stopped the practice (masses etc., probably went online I am guessing, I don't really know if they did). This was at the beginning of the CV epidemic in Italy (and of course we all know what happened in Italy...massive number of deaths).

I guess that these religious services are going to be a hotbed of continued infections among cities in the US, being that they ranted and raved about not getting to have their services in person (religious services seem to have wide open approval across the US on continuing to hold in-house services). I think that if anything, this is going to drive yet even more people away from the church, being that they are so disrespectful of life, of their church members, that they're willing to kill for it, in order to still stay open (and this is still despite all of the preparations churches undertook to filter out the infected members (methods failed miserably)).

I suspect that these churches will be sued (I would, being that they placed their members in harms' way).

Churches aren't the only culprits either. Bars, and other gathering places for crowds are gaining reputations for Covid 19 infections in quite a few states too (governors at rump's urging reopened despite medical advice to not reopen so 'widely' yet). I hope that lawsuits will flow like water and bankrupt everyone of these republican-dominated governors, for (1) not listening to the medical experts (2) putting money over lives first (where is the concept of the 'public good'?).

Update (from DU article today (June 15, 2020)): Bars in Florida, Texas, and Arizona close after employees tested positive amid spike in new coronavirus cases

[I_UndergroundPanther]

3. One thing I learned about

Assemblies of god church
Is they became a full time job. They had Bible class,prayer circles,meetings at random people's houses,church work,
And of course big ass megachurch sermons.
3 times a week.

Some churches use sophisticated manipulation techniques to keep people believing and attending and paying tithes.

One way they control is by using the peer pressure and spectacles to keep doubts from creeping in.
They keep you so busy you have no way to question the religion or if it's even helping by church meetings sermons and busywork making it feel like you are participating in a mission. When you are part of a megachurch
They need to fill pews to fill pews more and peer pressure has to be maintained.

I found when I had private time I realized how exhausting it was. I began to skip classes. Soon I began to feel exploited.
Started looking at x Christian sites,and as I read the Bible and saw how they applied it ,there was a rupture, I couldn't believe in it anymore.
When we were involved my ex was working he maintained his beliefs until one day over Chinese food I told him why I was avoiding church.

He was irritated too with every single day occupied by church stuff and he too was exhausted.

Religious groups that manipulate people use up all your free time for a reason. It's to reinforce the
Pattern of control.

People start questioning thier beliefs like they should when they have the time to reflect on what's going on.

For me feeling manipulated ,certain things preachers said and did,the peer pressure and basically feeling disgusted and really reading the Bible the parts the church swept away and ignored is why I could not sustain belief.

Also I couldn't bring myself to yell at people with a megaphone or work to convert strangers to the church. But believe me there was pressure to do it.

[thucythucy]

4. This is similar to how most cults--including those political--seek to control their members.

The example that comes immediately to mind is Nazi Germany.

Children were enrolled in the Hitler Youth (for boys) and the League of German Maidens (for girls). Constant meetings, field trips, lectures, "community work"--anything to keep the kids busy.

Adults were expected to join one or more Nazi associations. Carpenters, teachers and university faculty and students, lawyers, doctors, all had to be members of a Nazi professional association. Block monitors kept tabs on who attended meetings and who didn't. Scams like "winter relief" kept people working as "volunteers" to raise money for the needy--which of course went into Nazi coffers. Two personal accounts stand out--a woman visiting her gynecologist had to listen to Nazi programming on the office PA. A young man reported how relieved he was to be drafted into the army, because basic training meant an actual relief from the constant pressure of the Nazi state.

Similarly, Stalinist Russia used much the same techniques.

Parades and rallies filled the role of church services. Tight control of all media meant the message was never diluted.

All of these are pages from the textbook of totalitarian control and manipulation.

[Iggo]

5. Dumbshits. (n/t)

[Voltaire2]

6. Why do their gods hate them?

Or maybe their gods are utterly indifferent to what the stupid humans are doing?