Have Christians gone crazy?
I ask this question seriously and not rhetorically.
Maybe it’s the pandemic. Actually, I am sure it’s the pandemic. But the pandemic is merely the context not the cause. I’m talking about what I’m hearing my Christian friends say, what they text me, and what they post on Facebook, specifically about wearing masks.
You see, I live in Texas, and our governor, one birthed from my noble profession, a former lawyer and judge, one who should know better, has lifted the mask-wearing mandate in Texas. Some of my Christian friends are thrilled because they think masks don’t mitigate the spread of Covid-19 and actually do more harm than good (“breathing too much of your own CO2, bro”). They’ve obtained these opinions from politicians, not from health care professionals, and that, to me folks, is C . . . R . . . A . . . Z . . . Y.
I mean who among us goes to the doctor because they notice blood in their urine, and when the doctor gives his diagnoses says, “Doc, no offense, but I think I will get a second opinion from my politician”?
It would be easier to understand if they tied their belief to some Bible verse or event. Modern day Jericho marches and Daniel diets are dubious to be sure, but at least they spring from a desire to order one’s life according to the Bible. Mask-shunning comes from a different place entirely.
What has happened here is no mystery. Politicians have taken a medical issue—the spread of a deadly virus—and made it a political issue. And because people—sadly, even Christians—are more political than prudent, they have adopted the position of their favorite politician, and to hell with their physician, the CDC, and Dr. Fauci. I would expect as much from secular humanists for whom politics is their only hope, but I expect more from believers, and I am confident King Jesus does as well.
I’ve just read what I’ve written here, and I fear I have been too harsh. I have a reputation for being measured and thoughtful, a persuader not a berater, and I have clearly departed from that here. I may have offended some of my readers. I am clearly not myself. Maybe I have been breathing too much of my own CO2. GS