Turkish Earthquake, COVID, And Ukraine

Turkey

The international response to the earthquake that has affected Turkey has been very supportive, as it should be. There is a great humanitarian crisis there, and thus, great need for those affected. As such, it’s vital to lend a helping hand to those who have been unfortunately affected by the quakes. 

With that noted, something does need to be brought up. Regardless of how we feel, when we start acting like we know what goes on in God’s Control Room, then we start to become obnoxious about our religious beliefs. The fact is that from a spiritual perspective, we don’t know why Turkey was hit. Disasters are an unfortunate part of life’s experience, regardless of one’s background. Plate tectonics are a natural process of the Earth, and thus, earthquakes are a part of life’s experience unfortunately. As like when massive hurricanes constantly strike the Philippians. The islands are in a warm climate that makes it highly susceptible to constant strikes. Florida too. Thus, for those and other areas that have warm tropical climates, hurricanes are also going to be an unfortunate part of life’s experience. When warm, humid gulf air collides with dry, cold Rocky/Canadian air/ tornados happens. For those who live on the plains, tornadoes are going to be an unfortunate part of life’s experience.

When we become obnoxious with our faith, we can say some very dry things (pun intended). Who is it for those to determine what God’s will is! So, if a natural disaster destroys New Orleans, then God is punishing the city for its perceived Godlessness. Yet, if a tornado levels Oklahoma City, then God is “testing” the city for its perceived Godliness. One quickly sees a problem when one tries to determine God’s will.

Contradictions are created, making hypocrites out of those who are in the business to determine who will. The fact is that there are Christians in New Orleans and Atheists in Oklahoma City. What does that mean to the eyes of the disaster itself? Absolutely nothing! Disasters know no labels. Disasters don’t care if one is a Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Atheist. Disaster doesn't care about political affiliation either. Disasters don't care if one is straight or LGBTQ+. Thus, everybody is going to be affected by them, regardless of their background. As such, everybody will need immediate care as well, regardless of their background. 

I believe that there is a purpose for everything. What that purpose is though, I don’t know. It’s not in our place to pretend that we know though. As such, when we start to act as if we know God’s will, then we become blind hypocrites who know nothing of him. We become blind to our own hubris and obnoxious with our faith. Again, we don’t know why the earthquakes occurred from a spiritual perspective. Regardless, that’s irrelevant though. What's vital and important is to lend a helping hand to those in need, regardless of those affected by it. At the end of the day (and especially in face of a natural disaster), we are ALL in the same boat. We need to rely upon the help of each other at the end of the day, regardless (Maybe that's the spiritual purpose of a disaster. To allow anyone who wants to demonstrate love and compassion to those in need while proving that one shouldn't lose faith in humanity. Of course, I could be wrong too!) 

COVID

I'm not a fan of vague generalizations, fallacies or emotional hyperboles. The claim that the abortion clinics and bars remained open while churches were forced to close was sensationalist clickbait. While their may have been isolated places where bars and abortions clinics remained opened while churches were closed, this was not the norm. They were places where churches could remain open while bars and abortion clinics were forced to close. This also was not the norm. The fact that the vast majority of places, regardless of intent, were closed because of the effects of COVID. This included Synagogues, Mosques, and other temples and places of worship as well. The COVID outbreak was a public health crisis that affected us all, regardless of our political or religious affiliation.

Regardless of political party, when the politicians enacted the health regulations in place, it wasn't because they were being a bunch of meanies. The health regulations were put into place for a very real reason. because of a very real threat. COVID is a real thing. At its height, people were dying from the virus by the thousands on a daily basis. I've known people personally who died from it. The fears and concerns that people had towards COVID were real and justified, and not sensationalized fear mongering. By the end of the pandemic, over a million people in this country died from it. The fact that after such horrific loss of life, many still see COVID as a simple inconvenience just shows how much disregard one has for the outbreak. The fact was that COVID was much bigger than any of us. 

Preachers throughout the country predicted that many many Christians would die. This did happen. Many Christians would die. However, they didn't die from some imaginary demon conjured up by hands of the conspiracy theorist and promoted by the preachers who embraced them. Thousands upon thousands of them died at the hands of the conspiracy theorists and preachers who fanned false claims about the virus and later vaccination. Many brought into absurd conspiracy theories about how the virus (and later vaccine) was a made up conspiracy that was intended to bring on the quote "New World Order".

Many Christians embraced lies that were designed to kill them. Others didn't get the vaccine because of absurd claims that it changed human DNA, had a hidden microchip, made out of human fetus, manipulated women's menstrual cycles, or other pseudo-scientific claims that had zero-merit. Many Christians throughout the country died when preachers who viewed COVID as made-up crap filled their congregation to the full, showing complete disregard to the health and well-being of their congregation. Scores took the word of their church leader at face-value without checking the validity of the claims presented. Thousands would pay with their lives.

The responsibility of the deaths of those in the congregation as a result of COVID fell on the preachers who showed complete contempt for their health. Responsibility for the deaths of those Christians fall on the preachers who promoted the falls claims. Are those preachers going to be held accountable for the deaths that resulted in their reckless actions? Some of them did pay from their own ignorance with their lives. At the end of the day, the virus doesn't recognize political or religious affiliation.

At its height, the mask was worn constantly on my mask. This was because I didn't want to get sick. At the same time, it was also because I didn't want to inadvertently get someone sick and potentially killed, knowing that someone's life could end because of my actions. I would be responsible for that death. Such, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that someone's life was ended because I showed such disregard and carelessness for one's life. For Christians, "Love Thy Neighbor" meant showing utmost respect for those who didn't want to get sick from the virus.

It's iconic that when the AIDS outbreak occurred; despite the fact that one couldn't get AIDS from simple human contact, Christians (and many others) wouldn't get within 10 miles of someone who had it. Yet in contrast with COVID that could easily spread with simple human contact, many screamed at the top of their lungs that nobody was going to force them to wear that damn mask, as if their selfish and self-centered act of disregarding the health of everybody else was seen as making a grand statement of defiance. My how times have changed.

For the preachers who crammed their churches during the outbreak, was consideration taken for the health of those who didn't want to get sick from the virus? Or was the virus dismissed as some simple and manufactured inconvenience, even as those in the congregation died by the score. Did they demonstrate God's love for their neighbors by putting their lives in constant danger? As mentioned earlier, I've known people who personally died from the virus. As such, when one passes off COVID as just some annoying distraction, I find it highly offensive. The fears held by those who didn't want to get sick were very much justified for real reasons.

Even if they were preachers who thought that COVID was a complete load of crap, they should have recognized that many of those in the congregation didn't feel that way. As such, they should have recognized those feelings by wearing the mask as a sign of respect and solidarity for those who didn't want to get sick instead of peddling absurd conspiracy theories exploiting the fears and anxieties of those in the congregation. At the end of the day though, when one embraces conspiracy theories (especially in regard to COVID), they make a very mockery of the unfortunate victims who died from the virus.

Lastly, Ukraine

The invasion of Ukraine is unjustified. Ukraine didn't do anything to provoke an attack from Russia, but the Russian Government still invaded it anyway. Regardless of how one feels about Ukrainian politics and society, it's up to the Ukrainians to decide their direction, not Russia or anybody else for that matter. A functional democracy was invaded unjustly. As such, as the leading democracy, we're obligated to lend a helping hand to those who have had their lives horribly disrupted by the invasion. Also, we have to remember that at the end of the day, my disdain is directed against the Russian Government, not the people. They simply have been caught up at the hands of a diabolical megalomaniac who has no regard for human life. This monster simply uses religion as a label to justify his horrible crimes. Putin is not a Christian. A Christian wouldn't carpet bomb civilian areas or commit crimes against humanity. A Christian wouldn't bomb women and children trying to escape knowingly in a cold-blooded manner. One who feels that Putin is doing God's work has a horribly distorted and superficial notion on faith. 

Articles Of Interest (Covid and Faith)

Patheos : 3 Reasons Evangelical Christians Fall for Conspiracy Theories - https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jaysondbradley/2020/05/3-reasons-evangelical-christians-fall-for-conspiracy-theories/

Wikipedia - Rodney Howard-Browne : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Howard-Browne

Rodney Howard-Browne Used His Sunday Service to Spread Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/rodney-howard-browne-used-his-sunday-service-to-spread-coronavir...

Snopes - Is Kansas City Ordering Churchgoers To Register with the Government? : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kansas-city-churches/

Pastor: I’m Holding Services Because I Have Machines That Shoot Down Viruses : https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/03/27/pastor-im-holding-services-because-i-have-machines-th... 

BBC : 'They want to throw God's wonderful breathing system out' - https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-53174415 

BBC : Man who believed virus was hoax loses wife to Covid-19 - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53892856

BBC : 'Hundreds dead' because of Covid-19 misinformation - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-53755067

BBC : Coronavirus: Pastor who decried 'hysteria' dies after attending Mardi Gras - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52157824

NYTimes : Pastor Who Defied Social Distancing Dies After Contracting Covid-19, Church Says - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/14/us/bishop-gerald-glenn-coronavirus.html

Covid vaccine: Fertility and miscarriage claims fact-checked (BBC) : https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57552527

Does J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Contain Aborted Fetal Cells? (Snopes) : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/covid-vaccine-aborted-fetal-cells/

Are People With Type-A Blood More Susceptible to COVID-19? (Snopes) : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/blood-type-covid-19/

Did ‘Head of Pfizer Research’ Say COVID-19 Vaccine ‘Is Female Sterilization’? (Snopes) : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/covid-vaccine-female-sterilization/

Misinformation related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation_related_to_the_2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic

The Coronavirus Collection: Conspiracy Theories and ‘Predictions’ (Snopes) - https://www.snopes.com/collections/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories/

The Verge : Bill Gates is now the leading target for coronavirus falsehoods, says report - https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/17/21224728/bill-gates-coronavirus-lies-5g-covid-19

Coronavirus Is a Breeding Ground for Conspiracy Theories (Snopes) - 

https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/02/28/coronavirus-is-a-breeding-ground-for-conspiracy-theories/

PolitiFact - No, Democrats aren’t pushing microchips to fight coronavirus : https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/apr/23/facebook-posts/no-democrats-arent-pushing-microchi...
PolitiFact - No, the Gates Foundation isn’t pushing microchips with all medical procedures : https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/may/20/facebook-posts/no-gates-foundation-isnt-pushing-mi...
PolitiFact - No, the US isn’t developing a vaccine or ‘antivirus’ with a chip to track people : https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/apr/03/facebook-posts/no-us-isnt-developing-vaccine-or-an...