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Wouldn't it be nice to hear religious leaders just once telling their followers that Covid-19 is a serious and present danger to us all and, as good, caring people they are going to be doing everything they can to reduce its spread and so reduce the number of people dying or made sick buy it. That they'll willingly close their doors and forego the usual income from passing the plate around during services, because no sacrifice is too good much for the people they love.
I'm not saying there aren't Christian leaders who think and say those things, but they are silenced by the loud whining and clamour for the right to ignore the lockdowns and social distancing orders and put anyone and everyone at risk just to maintain their income and their grip in the local community.
This is no less true in Manitoba, Canada than it is in the US Bible Belt where defiant churches are becoming Covid-19 hotspots.
Manitoba is slowly emerging from lockdown and is proposing doubling the maximum permitted gathering of 25 people in doors and 50 outdoors to 50 and 100 respectively.
This is not good enough for Manitoba's Christian leaders however, and (so far) 69 churches have got together to petition the government to remove all restrictions as they relate to church congregations. They have even opened a website to support their campaign.
In their letter, which was clearly not penned by a literary genius, the churches claim:
As you are aware, churches have not been able to assemble freely since mid-March. We were told this was necessary to “flatten the curve” to save thousands of lives and to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. The data is now in and the curve is flat. Active cases peaked months ago on April 4. In Manitoba and indeed around the world, the models used to try to justify the lockdowns have proven inaccurate by the order of magnitudes [sic]. The infringement upon our constitutional freedoms is unjustified. Therefore, the limits to our guaranteed freedoms have not been demonstrably justified and must be immediately removed. Without demonstrable justification, limits to fundamental freedoms cannot be legally imposed.
The free assembly of the church is not incidental to Christian worship but is an essential component of our worship. It is not the role of the state to determine that online resources substitute as a peaceful assembly. The church exists by the authority of Jesus Christ himself and not by the authority of the civil government. We are thankful to live in a country where the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the freedom of conscience and religion and the freedom of peaceful assembly to all Canadians. These freedoms are “subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” The limits have not been demonstrably justified. [my emphasis]
Evidently, these church leaders don't regard people suffering and dying as a result of a serious global pandemic to be demonstrable justification for restricting their freedoms, and anyway, Jesus said they can ignore the law when they want to! Evidently, they have forgotten St Paul's instructions to the Romans that they were to obey all the laws because all governments are ordained by God.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
Romans 13:1-2
Readers wishing to add their names to this petition should refrain from using fictitious or humorous names, as this would show disrespect for the selfishness and arrogance of these church leaders. Tweet
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