6 ms·

The only thing these pastors who are keeping churches open is money. To ignore every health professional out there right now means they don't care about their f

The only thing these pastors who are keeping churches open is money. To ignore every health professional out there right now means they don't care about their flock at all.

onlyrealcuzzo 7y ago
You're assuming they acknowledge basic math and science. Most of them probably don't. They probably believe this is a hoax, or God will spare people who give them money, or something.
- option 7y ago
  they know math very well, are great marketers and managers. They just don’t give a €*#+%% about those on whom they prey
  - mistermann 7y ago
    Maybe. Or, maybe they optimize for income over all other things, and when (and only then) they truly do fulfill the proper/advertised role. Kind of like any other business that provides a service that people voluntarily purchase.
- tmh88j 7y ago
  I wholeheartedly disagree. Megachurch founders like Joel Osteen didn't get to the position they're in by being naive followers of christ solely with a passionate message, they're businessmen.
- Techies4Trump 7y ago
  How's this for basic math? 33,968 covid-19 related deaths so far on Earth since Jan. It is now almost April. That may sound like a lot but it is not really. We live in a world of 7.8 billion people. And these are just covid-19 related. Many have other conditions such as cancer. The vast majority are elderly. Old people die. Always have. This is just life. The virus is a hoax. Wake up.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
save_ferris 7y ago
Unfortunately, I doubt this is true. Conservative churches have largely become a proxy for conservative politics, and a lot of conservative media still questions the methods and motives of the coronavirus response. Imagine people that are so deeply convinced that the media is lying to them and this is a plot to undermine his agenda. That narrative absolutely exists and there are many out there who believe it.
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  I think this is the most likely answer. The only people I know who aren't taking this seriously are friends who get their information from conservative sources. I don't think any churches are intentionally risking the health of their congregation.
  - maxerickson 7y ago
    Congregants of megachurches in Louisiana, Ohio and Florida attended services in defiance of social distancing orders That's pretty intentional. I think I get what you mean, that the decision isn't being made with the intention of risking their health. But they are risking the health of their congregations, because they think they know better.
- war1025 7y ago
  This is severe bias on your part in my opinion. Conservatives are just as concerned as liberals about the prospect of hundreds of thousands of people dying. The only difference is they tend to have confidence that the government will be able to handle the response effort.
  - d3ad1ysp0rk 7y ago
    This is untrue. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/21/upshot/coronavirus-public-opinion.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/21/upshot/corona...
  - cycrutchfield 7y ago
Brendinooo 7y ago
How did you draw that conclusion? I'm involved in leadership for a church that closed in-person services two Sundays ago. We were probably one week later than most, but I can tell you that money did not enter the conversation at any point.
- eropple 7y ago
  Is your church a Joel Osteen-style megachurch? Because while I can ascribe a great deal of good-faith behavior to more normal churches, we know what kind of bad actors lurk in those palaces.
  - Brendinooo 7y ago
    >Is your church a Joel Osteen-style megachurch? Nope. We're a small one. But just the fact that we're talking about megachurches already limits the scope of Christian churches in the US: five minute search session suggests that there are less than 2000 megachurches in the US and somewhere around 380000 churches overall.
    - eropple 7y ago
      Well, sure. Most churches in the country are, y'know, run by people who are trying to get by. But much like how profiteer companies should be called on the carpet, so should very-much-for-profit religious institutions that can't be assed to care about the well-being of their flock.
    - martinpw 7y ago
      That is not a very useful statistic. Since megachurches by definition have much larger congregations than regular ones, you should be comparing total attendance not number of churches.
      - Brendinooo 7y ago
        If you'd like to, go ahead! You'll find that most Christians in the United States do not attend megachurches. (If I had more time I'd try to get you numbers, but any time I go down this rabbit hole it takes awhile to come out)

The only thing these pastors who are keeping churches open is money. To ignore every health professional out there right now means they don't care about their flock at all.

onlyrealcuzzo 7y ago

You're assuming they acknowledge basic math and science. Most of them probably don't. They probably believe this is a hoax, or God will spare people who give them money, or something.

option 7y ago
they know math very well, are great marketers and managers. They just don’t give a €*#+%% about those on whom they prey
- mistermann 7y ago
  Maybe. Or, maybe they optimize for income over all other things, and when (and only then) they truly do fulfill the proper/advertised role. Kind of like any other business that provides a service that people voluntarily purchase.
tmh88j 7y ago
I wholeheartedly disagree. Megachurch founders like Joel Osteen didn't get to the position they're in by being naive followers of christ solely with a passionate message, they're businessmen.
Techies4Trump 7y ago
How's this for basic math? 33,968 covid-19 related deaths so far on Earth since Jan. It is now almost April. That may sound like a lot but it is not really. We live in a world of 7.8 billion people. And these are just covid-19 related. Many have other conditions such as cancer. The vast majority are elderly. Old people die. Always have. This is just life. The virus is a hoax. Wake up.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]

save_ferris 7y ago

Unfortunately, I doubt this is true. Conservative churches have largely become a proxy for conservative politics, and a lot of conservative media still questions the methods and motives of the coronavirus response. Imagine people that are so deeply convinced that the media is lying to them and this is a plot to undermine his agenda. That narrative absolutely exists and there are many out there who believe it.

JamesBarney 7y ago
I think this is the most likely answer. The only people I know who aren't taking this seriously are friends who get their information from conservative sources. I don't think any churches are intentionally risking the health of their congregation.
- maxerickson 7y ago
  Congregants of megachurches in Louisiana, Ohio and Florida attended services in defiance of social distancing orders That's pretty intentional. I think I get what you mean, that the decision isn't being made with the intention of risking their health. But they are risking the health of their congregations, because they think they know better.
war1025 7y ago
This is severe bias on your part in my opinion. Conservatives are just as concerned as liberals about the prospect of hundreds of thousands of people dying. The only difference is they tend to have confidence that the government will be able to handle the response effort.
- d3ad1ysp0rk 7y ago
  This is untrue. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/21/upshot/coronavirus-public-opinion.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/21/upshot/corona...
- cycrutchfield 7y ago

Brendinooo 7y ago

How did you draw that conclusion? I'm involved in leadership for a church that closed in-person services two Sundays ago. We were probably one week later than most, but I can tell you that money did not enter the conversation at any point.

eropple 7y ago
Is your church a Joel Osteen-style megachurch? Because while I can ascribe a great deal of good-faith behavior to more normal churches, we know what kind of bad actors lurk in those palaces.
- Brendinooo 7y ago
  >Is your church a Joel Osteen-style megachurch? Nope. We're a small one. But just the fact that we're talking about megachurches already limits the scope of Christian churches in the US: five minute search session suggests that there are less than 2000 megachurches in the US and somewhere around 380000 churches overall.
  - eropple 7y ago
    Well, sure. Most churches in the country are, y'know, run by people who are trying to get by. But much like how profiteer companies should be called on the carpet, so should very-much-for-profit religious institutions that can't be assed to care about the well-being of their flock.
  - martinpw 7y ago
    That is not a very useful statistic. Since megachurches by definition have much larger congregations than regular ones, you should be comparing total attendance not number of churches.
    - Brendinooo 7y ago
      If you'd like to, go ahead! You'll find that most Christians in the United States do not attend megachurches. (If I had more time I'd try to get you numbers, but any time I go down this rabbit hole it takes awhile to come out)