“Escalating its defiance of Los Angeles County public health orders, an evangelical megachurch in Sun Valley is gearing up to host an indoor conference expected to draw thousands of men from across the country in what officials fear could become a potential superspreader event.
Grace Community Church, whose pastor has preached for the last six months to his congregation of mostly unmasked members that the pandemic is a hoax, is expected to draw at least 3,000 people to its sprawling campus.”
Los Angeles Times
White evangelical Christians and their fanatical loyalty to their autocratic messiah, Donald Trump, are an existential threat to democracy. The January 6, 2020 Insurrection, led by Christian Nationalists, failed to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s landslide victory, but evangelicals still pose a threat to our democracy.
Grace Community Church poses a challenge to the spiritual integrity of the Gospel, a health risk to Los Angeles County, and a threat to the rule of law and order.
The evangelical megachurch is in an area that has the highest case rates of COVID-19 within the county, and neighbors have pleaded with churchgoers to wear masks. But taking their cue from their anti-masker pastor, John MacArthur, parishioners are as likely to wear a mask as racists are likely to wear a yarmulke at a Klan rally.
When church members are challenged to wear a mask to stop the spread of the virus, they are likely to respond with pablum like, “Jesus in my vaccine” or “The Holy Ghost protects me from the coronavirus.” But it’s instructive to note that attendees to the conference are required to sign a liability waiver that included:
“I understand that each activity poses inherent risks of exposure to and/or contracting the COVID-19 virus,” The legal staff of Grace Community Church isn’t relying on the power of the Holy Ghost to protect them from litigation; they don’t want to be liable when some of the maskless idiots succumb to COVID-19.
Although the Supreme Court recently ruled that indoor services are permitted under certain restrictions, a conference where attendees must pay a $300 admission fee doesn’t qualify as a worship service. Christians aren’t special and they aren’t exempt from the rules and laws that apply to everyone else.
The American people had the good sense to vote the racist buffoon Donald Trump out of office, but our work isn’t done. We must continue to expose the racism, hateful spirit, unscientific views and undemocratic tendencies of white evangelicals.