Posted on 04/03/2020 11:02:18 AM PDT by Kaslin
I am deeply opposed to the government shutting down churches and arresting preachers. But I am also deeply opposed to churches meeting right now. Let me tell you about Albany, Georgia.
There are 490 cases of COVID-19 in Dougherty County, Georgia. The county seat is Albany. There are 29 deaths in the county. For perspective, I started writing this piece on Wednesday, and there were 466 cases and 26 deaths. By the time you read this, the number will be over 500. Dougherty County has 89,000 people, making it, per capita, the hardest-hit part of Georgia and, again per capita, on par with New York City.
All the COVID-19 cases in Albany can be traced back to an unknowingly infected preacher who preached a funeral there on Feb. 29. The virus spread among the attendees, who then spread it to the community before anyone realized they were infected.
Ninety percent of the deaths are African American. The youngest victim was a 34-year-old male. The oldest was a 92-year-old female. The local hospital is out of resources, out of doctors and out of bed space. The Georgia National Guard is shuttling resources to the area, but the situation is dire with only one significant hospital. Outpatient facilities are being converted rapidly.
The models so many are relentlessly trying to undermine got it wrong in Albany. The models undercounted the expected spread of the virus and rates of hospitalization. According to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, though the state has relied on several projection models to help figure out hospital capacity and spacing concerns, the models got it wrong in New York City; they underappreciated the toll the virus would take.
Let me tell you about Evans, Georgia. There are over 20 cases there. Though epidemiologists are still tracing the viral spread, at least some cases come from a man who drove 190 miles away to Bartow County, Georgia to bury his father. He attended church in Bartow County, and several members were unknowingly infected. He got infected and carried the virus back home, where it began to spread.
In Bartow County, there are now 147 cases and 4 deaths. Almost every single one can be traced back to that one church and one church service. In neighboring Floyd County, there are 71 cases and 2 deaths. Most of those can also be traced back to that one church service at that one church.
Most of the churches have stopped worshipping in their buildings now. But for some, the church building has become their prideful idol. A pastor in Florida got himself arrested by not only openly defying a general ban on assembly but also bussing people in to give the government the middle finger.
Churches are not being singled out for closure. The whole nation is going on lockdown. But at a time when Christians need to show Christian humility, some pastors have decided to engage in false bravado in defiance of the common community good.
The character and nature of many of these churches is not to serve but to bring in crowds and cash. They are not demonstrating Christian humility and seeking the welfare of their cities. They are not even demonstrating faith. They are demonstrating disrespect to their communities and showing a very weak faith more grounded in a building than a body of Christ.
Where the law does not clash with Christian conscience, the law should be obeyed. The church is a people, not a building, and the gates of hell will not prevail against the body of Christ, but a virus can cull a herd of congregating idiots.
The government should not be targeting churches. But churches should be responsible. Go volunteer in the community, and seek the welfare of your cities. On Easter, join a Livestream to worship together with the global body of Christ. Christians need to reject false bravado for Christian humility right now, and they need to seek the welfare of their communities through service and by staying away from in-person gatherings.
My concern is that Democrat governors will modify the complete shutdowns and impose limits on meetings to 40 max, or 100 max, for months after the virus subsides.
I have mixed feelings as well. It is very concerning that the government can violate constitutional rights by using means that were not provided for in the constitution. That is a slippery road that can lead to a very bad place.
On the the other hand “Christians” who go into a large public gathering at a time like this are of an extremely selfish nature, and maybe don’t deserve to be called Christians at all. They should not need the government to tell them to stop it.
most church ‘services’ aren’t ‘shut down’- most are doing online services-
The way out of this I am convinced is to force everyone to contract the disease, then treat them to keep the death rate low. Without national immunity, this will never go away. Can anyone imagine the November election with unemployment at 50%? If Trump does not lose, I will guarantee that the House and Senate will be rock solid Blue. They are already planning this to go on until July, then come back in September.
When you have two forces aligned against each other like Antifa and Patriots, Libtards and Patriot, Patriots and Republicans et al, all you need is a trigger. People with no income, and the very rich living in the same society??? That is a recipe for a Civil War.
We must return to work, full scale. Keep to yourselves if you are old, have co-morbidities, or your immune system is compromised. The healthy group from 16-60 will be just fine. They must though be immune, and vaccinations will not bring that no matter what “they” say. I fear the plan is for a prophylaxis drug to be taken daily, like that which they give to AIDS patients is what is in our future.
They may be doing us a service by spreading the “rona” and becoming immune for life. It will happen anyway, why stretch it out for years? What I see is a return to semi-normal in July, then September it comes back, and stays here until June of 2021. This benefits the Commies who want a revolution, and the best way to get one is just what is going on. We are like Venezuela but for one thing...we can print money......for now.
I have been praising Governor Kemp up to this point because with Atlanta airport being one of the busiest in the country for domestic and international flights, Atlanta could’ve become Italy a month ago. He was quick to shut down the Final Four, Atlanta Race, Masters, and start of baseball season when there were only a few cases.
Boy was I wrong.
Little Albany, Ga 3 hours to the south of Atlanta, with no interstates and little air travel, barely trails Atlanta in numbers and deaths, and is amongst the worst nationwide per capita.
While Atlanta’s numbers are good compared to other major cities, there are several rural counties with higher numbers than those that border Atlanta, and the entire state is saturated now.
Then, yesterday, Governor Kemp publically proclaims he didn’t find out about asymptomatic transmission until a couple days ago.
Really? I’m a self employed contractor with no college degree and I knew that before the first case popped up in the US.
Sorry Governor Kemp, you have a highly paid medical expert on your virus task force, and you are responsible for the lives of every one in this state.
I knew about asymptomatic transmission, there is no excuse for you just finding out. Fail.
He has shut down the state and banned all but “essential” travel by force of law. My county is enforcing this pretty seriously with tag readers as are others.
My brother in law has been unable to walk or work for over two months after emergency surgery to relieve pinching of his spinal cord. My dad is not long for the earth and my sister takes care of him too. They live in the same county I do but on the opposite side, and I’ve already been pulled over and given a warning because it is not essential travel.
That’s bullshit.
It really pissed me off when I went on my walk tonight, same one I been taking for over the last month, through my neighborhood to the main road and the store next door, picking up trash being a good citizen, and there was a freshly planted “Loffler for Senate” sign littering up the main road I have been picking up.
So, I can’t go help my sister who now has a paralyzed husband on top of our elderly father to care for on top of two young sons, because it ain’t essential. Millions of Georgians are sacrificing sitting their asses home yet the Loffler campaign is out driving around planting signs?
Then, also tonight, an off duty Atlanta police got pulled over doing 130 in a 65, in his own car, 15 odd miles north of Atlanta on 75 north in cobb county, by Georgia state patrol. Verified Positive and breaking isolation.
65 over alone is way beyond a super speeder ticket, and should’ve resulted in an angry snatch, slam, and cuff arrest by the state trooper. Reckless endangerment, blood tests for impairment, 2 or 3 grand in fines. 1 year probation. 1 year license suspension. Like multiple people I know of that got caught going 40 or more over.
Not to mention breaking isolation verified by a positive test.
https://www.wsbradio.com/news/crime—law/atlanta-cop-with-covid-caught-speeding-possibly-exposed-trooper/ZPw4nkNaVn8ddG2FLcrFUP/
Meanwhile, also today, some poor girl in Haralson county got locked up for breaking quarantine who has been exposed, but ia not yet showing symptoms or testing positive.
Unlike the police officer, the media had no problem naming this girl.
This is not gonna end well for the Governor or the state of Georgia when word gets around that some nobody APD officer is above the laws us citizens are being forced at gunpoint to obey.
Nope. Not gonna end well at all.
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