Atheists & Agnostics
Related: About this forumWhen this is all over, I think there will be one demographic that will suffer far worse than others
and that is the Evangelicals and the sort of die-hard Christians. Like the types that would attend a mass service or that stupid "Woodstock" event the one pastor wants to do.
I had an interaction with a coworker the night before last, a guy who I like, great sense of humor and all, but when I told him he needs to get himself some sort of mask to wear when he is around other drivers, he told me the only mask he needed was Psalm 23; "The Lord is my shepherd"...etc.
I tried to explain to him a little bit about how this virus is transmitted, and he did listen to what I had to say, but at the end of it, his response was Psalm 23.
Now I realize there isn't likely to be any survey or research done on this specific question, but I am frankly convinced that the most severely affected groups will be Christians and other religions who are convinced their god will save them.
Note the major outbreak in Albany, GA was apparently started from folks gathering for a funeral or two.
This is a slow moving nightmare and religion is making it worse.
msongs
(70,456 posts)Aquaria
(1,076 posts)Everyone else gets tortured forever.
So don't paint him as some kind of sweetheart, when no torturer could ever be that.
lapfog_1
(30,398 posts)because, you see, there is a chance that you won't die.
God may "lift you up", etc.
And when they say "uh, no"... I say "oh, so you do believe in science and the theory of gravity".
So, if you believe in the theory of gravity, can you also believe in the theory of a virus and the destruction it can create in a human body?
A HERETIC I AM
(24,670 posts)diverdownjt
(718 posts)so they can go be with him in heaven.....the rest of us are just supposed to die
and go to hell. They are absolutely OK with that because some goat farmer 2000
years ago had a hallucination.
Fuck them....let them have their rally and kill their grandmothers and grandfathers.
Just wear a mask and gloves and watch your hygiene...you will survive.
Boost your immune system any way you know how...stay home and let this go
past you....then vote these fuckers out when there will be fewer of them.
safeinOhio
(34,615 posts)"Praying for the end of time, so I can end my life with you"
House of Roberts
(5,809 posts)The end refrain of the same song.
safeinOhio
(34,615 posts)I couldn't take it any longer Lord I was crazed
And when the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave
I started swearing to my god and on my mother's grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore, that I would love you to the end of time
So now I'm praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don't think that I can really survive
I'll never break my promise or forget my vow
But god only knows what I can do right now
I'm praying for the end of time
It's all that I can do (oh oh oh)
Praying for the end of time, so I can end my life with you
Mike Nelson
(10,443 posts)... poor people will suffer most. I know they say there will be help and there will be no cost, but I see it's harder for poor people to get tested, get treatment, etc... people with no health care may not know how to get this so-called "free" help, either...
A HERETIC I AM
(24,670 posts)for that very reason.
Consider the number of desperately poor in India and on the African continent who will contract this virus and die at home having never seen a doctor.
I fear the numbers in India alone will be staggering.
Mike Nelson
(10,443 posts)... certain he has/had it - but could not get a test. He's better, now, after two weeks. He was not counted. Also, people are probably not listed correctly on some death certificates, because they died without being tested. I think they want to keep the official numbers down... for Crooked Donald. Of course, other countries do the same thing.
barbtries
(30,096 posts)poor people always get the worst of it and this will be no exception.
i'm trying not to become poor again.
BlueMTexpat
(15,515 posts)Unfortunately!
Midnight Writer
(23,320 posts)Mike Niendorff
(3,573 posts)Evangelicals volunteering to become Exhibit A for Darwinism.
The universe may have a sense of irony after all.
MDN
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)Whatever happens to them is their own fault.
But it won't just be them.
mnhtnbb
(32,233 posts)in Charlotte, NC parks last weekend. Beautiful spring weather and way too many people out not staying 6 feet apart.
One guy who was interviewed said Jesus was going to protect him. Literally. Mecklenburg County has the highest number of cases in NC.
Undoubtedly, there will be more.
logosoco
(3,209 posts)the wearing of masks is not to protect THEM (unless it is one of those N95 masks) but it is to protect others! They think they can make decisions for others.
If they want to get together in some mass grouping, they can stay there for the duration, or they can go straight to their homes and have no interaction or contact with others.
They don't seem to get that at all.
I guess this logic does follow their idea of abortion. They seem to have no idea how being pregnant or having a baby affects the woman and her body and her life.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,670 posts)I am short of breath and coughing, but I have no other symptoms at all. None. Zero. I have Emphysema and COPD but haven't had even the inkling of an episode in almost 2 years.
That is, up until about 10 days ago! Shitty timing, eh?
So...I wear a mask when I am around others and I tell them just that: That I do this to protect THEM.
The episode is on the wane, though. Thankfully, it seems to be backing off.
But you're right. Way too many just don't seem to get it at all.
I'm waiting for a stranger to ask me why I'm wearing a mask. My answer;
"Because I paid attention in High School Biology class, that's why"
logosoco
(3,209 posts)when my husband and i went to the local Farm and Home store (i can't run out of cat litter or kitten chow and still be home with the cats!). They had some masks that the package said were N95 but they did not look...substantial at all. My husband said we should get two and I said no, leave them for the people who are at most risk. We have some plain masks and gloves that we had on hand for household tasks, like getting up in the attic (for him, not me!).
Stay safe! And well!
A HERETIC I AM
(24,670 posts)I do all I can with what I have to use.
I was in my GP's office over 4 weeks ago and they had a box of simple surgical masks sitting on the counter for patients to grab. I snagged 4.
I'm down to 2, as my retired older brother lives with me and he uses one for the occasions he goes to the grocery store that's within walking distance. I'm the one that goes out and about every day, so I'm seriously concerned about bringing it home.
But I'm as diligent as I can be and my bro and I have an understanding re: staying away from each other, washing hands, keeping the common areas like the bathroom and kitchen clean, etc.
I have been devouring any and all science about this, so I feel pretty good that I'll be OK as long as I don't do anything stupid.
But like the label on the yellow Windex I bought says;
"Kills 99.9% of germs"
Yeah...it's that one tenth of one percent that is the motherfucker!
bucolic_frolic
(48,192 posts)and those who survive will consider themselves blessed.
You can't change their minds. Don't waste your time. They like it this way. Science doesn't matter to them, they don't believe in it.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,670 posts)Oh no, not at all.
All I was trying to do with the coworker I mentioned is at least impress on him how it is transmitted, and knowing he has family, to impress on him the need to protect his kids and grand kids.
As I said, he listened. And he did so intently. I know because of the relationship I have with the man. We respect each other. But his ultimate answer was still astounding.
But there you go.
He is a good and decent sort, but he has his faith and it will not be shaken.
rainin
(3,203 posts)yell obscenities at women accessing Planned Parenthood, hate immigrants, even immigrant children, etc. They worship tRump, for some inexplicable reason.
Let the cleansing begin. I'm calling it the rapture. As an atheist, I don't define it quite like they do, of course
I don't want any one to suffer. I'm a compassionate person. I just have far less sympathy for fake christians, who wouldn't clothe or feed Jesus if he appeared before them today hungry and in need. Let them go.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,633 posts)The trend in evangelical churches for many years has been to build megachurches all over the country. We have a number of them her in north central KY.
I believe many of the congregants give their church every last penny they can spare. Considering the economic shit is now hitting the fan, who is going to pay to maintain those huge properties and buildings and pay all the insurance, utilities, etc. as they stand empty?
And, who is going to pay the mega-preacher's inflated salary along with that if the operational staff? Hell, some of them even have private jets that must be maintained.
Don't think their common folks out of work are going to be tithing for quite a while.....
KY.......
A HERETIC I AM
(24,670 posts)Hell, some of them even have private jets that must be maintained.
Don't think their common folks out of work are going to be tithing for quite a while.
Don't forget several private aircraft owning, lives on a former Marine Corp Airfield fraud Kenneth Copeland!
Better not stop sending in that money, says the multi millionaire!!
There's never a fucking 2X4 around when you need one.
And yes, he owns and lives on what was formerly Marine Corps Air Station Eagle Mountain Lake
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,633 posts)Look, he's got several tractor trailer to stash his money in...
Just looked the place over on Google maps and there's a series of huge buildings including one just for TV studios.
We Americans are a naive, gullible lot.......
No small wonder Republicans hitched their wagon to grifters like Copeland.
A HERETIC I AM
(24,670 posts)Here's a 12 min vid of him being confronted by a reporter from "Inside Edition"
If you can stomach it, he gets really defensive about his airplanes!
Here he is in 2018 when he took delivery of a 2000 model year, $10 million Gulfstream V. This video put up by his own damned ministry!! The same aircraft brand new runs sixty million.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,633 posts)in the core moral values and sense of purpose of most of our churches.
When I was attending my little country Southern Baptist church in the 50s and 60s, all the local churches embraced the ideals of love of fellow man, humility and non-evangelicalism. They were a positive element of our communities, along with schools and dozens of small home-owned businesses.
The churches were minimal and well kept, mostly by the congregants.
Preachers of those churches received little more than a subsistence salary and in fact it was so slim that once or twice a year, the congregation held what was called a "pounding" where the congregation brought in food and supplies for the pastor.
So, we can easily see how American religion has drifter far away from its roots and has in essence become a business venture.
If Copeland had walked though the door back then, he would be seen as one needing salvation.
KY.......
Aquaria
(1,076 posts)Because the Southern Baptists where I'm from were vicious snakes in the grass.
They hated brown people, and didn't hide it.
They hated every other religious group out there. The weirdest of all was that they hated rival congregations of Southern Baptists almost as much as they (openly) hated Jews and Catholics.
They went out of their way to tell people of other faiths that they were going to hell, and they used the threat of the Devil "coming to get you" towards children for any infractions. Even children who weren't their own.
They hated women, especially those who worked outside the home. Searing, visceral hatred. No one was crueler or more vindictive than the females of the Southern Baptist vipers. They were the ones who would pull their children away from my brothers and me, and tell their children LOUDLY not to play with "that harlot's" children. My mother's only "crime" was being divorced. That's all it took for those fucking hags to treat her and us that way.
They worked overtime to keep alcohol sales out of our county, because they didn't "believe" in drinking alcohol--so we all had to do without if they did. And they didn't care that their delusion was costing people their lives--that thousands were dead because they couldn't stand someone enjoying life, even a little. Because everyone in the county who wanted to drink had to drive a very long way to get alcohol, they would often pop open whatever they bought and drink it right in the parking lots of the liquor stores JUST over the county line (I'm talking one inch over). Then they would hit the road. And then kill somebody. My cousin was killed by a drunk driver. The girl I babysat when she was little was killed by a drunk driver. My boyfriend when I was 15 was killed by a drunk driver, as was his dad and a sister. And never mind how in one horrific 20 month stretch when I was 18/19 y/o, I lost over 14 friends and acquaintances to drunk drivers coming back from neighboring counties that did sell alcohol. I went to so many funerals from the time of my cousin's death until the last one I could bear, that of one of my dearest childhood friends, that I haven't been able to go to funerals since. I can't bear them anymore. I am forever scarred by the memories of the ones I attended then--thanks to Southern Baptists.
So no, they were never good and decent people. They were always monsters, and still are.
dchill
(41,008 posts)... perfectly evil that is.
Chainfire
(17,757 posts)10% of nothing is nothing.
underpants
(187,996 posts)Not a religious guy myself but those littleR churches play a much more immediate role in people’s lives. From just being a community they are more in tune with the needs of members and of members’ neighbors.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,633 posts)There's a strong parallel to that in the destruction of almost all our family-owned small businesses across the nation by big box stores. Those little stores were a huge part of the heart of our communities.
When I was young in a small farming town of 880 or 900 people in the 50s and 60s, all businesses in town were locally owned and we could get most everything we needed in town.
My memory is foggy on the numbers but I believe we had four grocery stores, four gas station/garages, a bank and post office, three or four clothing stores (one was men only), two jewelers, two barber shops, a radio/TV repair shop, a pool hall, a drug store, a five-and-dime store, a Carnation Dairy, three feed stores, a Belknap Hardware and a Western Auto. Oh, and a grammar school and high school. Whew!
Of course, that served quite a large area of farms over many miles. A very self-contained life.
We must never lose sight of the fact that free-market Republicans do not want us to have community because it threatens their quest for power and control of society.
Community means people interacting and debating and taking action in their own interest.
KY rant done!.......
underpants
(187,996 posts)Early on anyway.
Wednesdays
(20,317 posts)would replace all those businesses you listed, if they haven't already. Possibly including the schools.
mountain grammy
(27,469 posts)living in a rural community, I see several local churches step up to help the community.. I don't have to be a believer to support the efforts of people helping people and have often donated to their causes..
underpants
(187,996 posts)They REALLY rely on the collection plate for utilities and preacher/pastor/staff salaries.
mountain grammy
(27,469 posts)Our little Presbyterian Church in town always found a way to send a few local kids to camp.. yes, it was church camp, but my daughter went a couple of years and they were light on the preaching and heavy on nature.. she got a lot out of it. Even as non members, we've worked on fund raisers. You're right, they barely cover expenses and rely heavily on donated maintenance by members.
Aquaria
(1,076 posts)Megachurches are a direct result of the death of little churches. It's a consolidation of dying churches--not new churches to draw in members.
Think of it this way:
I attended a school district that was a consolidation of two different districts. At one time, each district had a couple of thousand students of their own. Then a major industry left the area, the jobs dried up, people moved out to places with jobs, and as they moved out, the student population dwindled. Eventually, the two districts were down to only a couple of hundred students, between them. So they consolidated, to pool their resources. Even gave themselves a fancy new name to hide that the old districts were essentially dead and now a seemingly bigger new district. Oh, they kept the old elementary schools, while all of the junior high kids went to one campus and the high school kids attended another. But even that wasn't enough. When the decline is on, it doesn't let up. That's why their numbers dwindled to such an extent that the junior high campus was closed entirely. There just weren't enough kids to justify keeping both campuses open anymore.
What did NOT happen was the community coming in and saying, let's build this new district because we have so many people for it. It was the dying schools banding together as one to keep going. Same thing with these megachurches. They're a consolidation of failing smaller churches. Not a new church.
This is the dark secret of xianity in the US these days: Their internal numbers are horrifying, and they know it. When pollsters ask not "Did you go to church?" (halo effect material) but instead, "What did you do last weekend?" weekly church attendance plummets from 40% to the mid-teens, save for Easter and Christmas, which sees a slight uptick. This mid-teens number is equivalent to European numbers. Americans simply have better things to do on a Sunday morning than waste time getting yelled at or talking to air.
And the bad news keeps on coming: Congregations are not only shedding members, but also getting ever older. And fast. Catholic, Mainstream Protestant, Evangelical--all of them have an average congregant age of mid-50s these days. This is because young people have left, and they're not coming back. And if they're not in church, they're not raising their own kids in church--which means no new members for the future.
It's only a matter of time now for the collapse to come. It probably won't happen during my lifetime, but it is coming.
Squinch
(53,670 posts)have to distance properly.
I guess this is where God sorts them out.
Croney
(4,933 posts)I was surprised and relieved to see that their services are now being held on Facebook and other media.
If you didn't know about their religion, you'd think they were nice, "normal" people.
There's a parallel universe they sashay into and out of, shouting hallelujah. This crisis won't change what they believe.
polmaven
(9,463 posts)My church will be having virtual services - at least for Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.
underpants
(187,996 posts)You can’t pass the plate on line
polmaven
(9,463 posts)but we can put our donation asied each week to be given when we are able to return to the church building.
Wednesdays
(20,317 posts)Operators are standing by, waiting for your call.
underpants
(187,996 posts)3Hotdogs
(13,762 posts)Here's a poor guy who poured his whole soul into educating the world about the flood. Now nobody's gonna be able to learn about it because of Obama's stay at home directive.
Then, when no body comes, he's gonna be foreclosed on. That sucks.
underpants
(187,996 posts)Obama
dchill
(41,008 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,633 posts)And feed the imaginary elephants? I personally don't know a soul that's been there from my area of north central KY, but there's likely lots of local evangelicals that have been at least once. He screwed that county out of lots of money with little return.
This perspective caught my eye on Wikipedia:
In other words, he's a grifter and his dogma is a brainwashing drug......
dchill
(41,008 posts)A common occurrence, is it not?
A HERETIC I AM
(24,670 posts)The Blue Flower
(5,667 posts)So it's okay to die of one.
captain queeg
(11,780 posts)I do wish statistics showing the infection and death rate for that demographic were kept but I doubt there will be any.
I worked with a guy years ago that went to one of those churches. He’d preach to me some times. I’d listen, trying to be open minded. He started talking about some extravagant vacation he was planning. He kept telling me he couldn’t afford it and didn’t see how he could go but the lord would provide he was sure. He seemed so positive I figured he had some plan in mind. When he came back from vacation I asked him how it was wherever he’d been telling me he was going. I wasn’t being a smart ass, I figured he really did have a plan. He got mad and wouldn’t talk to me for a week. I took it that the lord hadn’t provided.
stopbush
(24,636 posts)An elitism born of willful ignorance.
mountain grammy
(27,469 posts)I'm not saying there's no charity associated with religious groups because I've seen some do really good things. Two of our local churches run no questions asked food banks and rent assistance and I've supported those efforts.
Catholic Charities is a good organization that I've contributed to because of their work with immigrants and migrants at he border but when you consider the wealth of the Catholic Church, well, they could do so much more.
But for the most part, religion doesn't do what they claim to do, and, in my opinion, make most situations worse.
Aquaria
(1,076 posts)Would have done them, regardless of religion.
mountain grammy
(27,469 posts)DBoon
(23,320 posts)They are dying as we speak
Faux pas
(15,494 posts)one more thing religion has done to eff up the world.