3 ms·

Shutdown churches but keep airlines open shows a warped sense of government priority when assuming mask works.

triceratops 6y ago
FTA: "Planes have excellent air ventilation and filtration systems, which remove coronavirus particles from the air about every six minutes, the U.S. Transportation Command reported Thursday. "So the only opportunity to breathe the virus in comes from the air that passes by you before it goes through that ventilation system," says engineer Linsey Marr at Virginia Tech. "And so that's only going to happen if you're sitting close to the person who's sick.""
- ars 6y ago
  Churches have windows. The government could even make that a requirement, that they keep them open with lots of ventilation.
  - triceratops 6y ago
    Try proposing that to your local government and see if you can convince them. We still live in a democracy. For that matter, churches can already hold services in the parking lot or a nearby public park or some other place outdoors, right? That's how Jesus did it - He didn't preach inside a church building. Why not adapt?
  - nomel 6y ago
    The planes have forced air recirculation, with vents at every passenger. I think this is much different than opening a window.
  - mikestew 6y ago
    Churches often have windows of stained glass that they'd like to remain undamaged, so the glass is covered with a transparent cover that does not open. Of those church buildings not old enough to utilize a lot of stained glass, the ones I've seen are built like office buildings: windows don't open. But as sibling comments point out, your comment is missing a lot of subtleties. Starting, IMO, with the difference between an apple and an orange.
nicbou 6y ago
Why should churches be more important?
- anoncake 6y ago
  I suspect the answer is completely obvious to religious people and batshit insane to everyone else.
Edman274 6y ago
1. They also shut down schools and bars and restaurants. It was not only churches. 2. It is possible to hear the word of God without physically going into a church. It is not possible to move from one place to another without being in a vehicle to move from one place to another. There is no way to virtually get in an aircraft. 3. Church is a habitual destination; most people do not ride an aircraft every week. This means that the total volume of people affected in this risky way is a lot lower because the total number of people flying is lower and the number of times that those people interact with others is lower. The mere cost alone is enough to deter people from getting in an aircraft each week to fly around. 4. There are fewer aircraft and airports in this country than there are churches. This makes it easier to verify mask compliance. Churches have been shown to defy common-sense mask restrictions very often. 5. There have been many cases of churches being the epicenters of serious outbreaks that kill many congregants because people said that God would worry about it. There were videos in March of Christians saying that they didn't need to wear masks because they were "bathed in the blood of the lamb", and no one was able or willing to do anything about that, whereas maskless passengers get kicked off aircraft. To my knowledge, there haven't been very many or any high-profile cases of many people dying because they all got on the same flight, yet the same cannot be said for churches in the United States.
- anoncake 6y ago
  Shutting down schools but keeping airlines open shows an even more warped sense of priority.
gruturo 6y ago
Even considering churches in the middle of the pandemic is, from an atheist point of view, equally warped. Isn't God supposedly anywhere by the way? Why do you have to stuff all the people in a specific building in the first place.

FTA: "Planes have excellent air ventilation and filtration systems, which remove coronavirus particles from the air about every six minutes, the U.S. Transportation Command reported Thursday. "So the only opportunity to breathe the virus in comes from the air that passes by you before it goes through that ventilation system," says engineer Linsey Marr at Virginia Tech. "And so that's only going to happen if you're sitting close to the person who's sick.""

ars 6y ago
Churches have windows. The government could even make that a requirement, that they keep them open with lots of ventilation.
- triceratops 6y ago
  Try proposing that to your local government and see if you can convince them. We still live in a democracy. For that matter, churches can already hold services in the parking lot or a nearby public park or some other place outdoors, right? That's how Jesus did it - He didn't preach inside a church building. Why not adapt?
- nomel 6y ago
  The planes have forced air recirculation, with vents at every passenger. I think this is much different than opening a window.
- mikestew 6y ago
  Churches often have windows of stained glass that they'd like to remain undamaged, so the glass is covered with a transparent cover that does not open. Of those church buildings not old enough to utilize a lot of stained glass, the ones I've seen are built like office buildings: windows don't open. But as sibling comments point out, your comment is missing a lot of subtleties. Starting, IMO, with the difference between an apple and an orange.

nicbou 6y ago

Why should churches be more important?

anoncake 6y ago
I suspect the answer is completely obvious to religious people and batshit insane to everyone else.

Edman274 6y ago

1. They also shut down schools and bars and restaurants. It was not only churches. 2. It is possible to hear the word of God without physically going into a church. It is not possible to move from one place to another without being in a vehicle to move from one place to another. There is no way to virtually get in an aircraft. 3. Church is a habitual destination; most people do not ride an aircraft every week. This means that the total volume of people affected in this risky way is a lot lower because the total number of people flying is lower and the number of times that those people interact with others is lower. The mere cost alone is enough to deter people from getting in an aircraft each week to fly around. 4. There are fewer aircraft and airports in this country than there are churches. This makes it easier to verify mask compliance. Churches have been shown to defy common-sense mask restrictions very often. 5. There have been many cases of churches being the epicenters of serious outbreaks that kill many congregants because people said that God would worry about it. There were videos in March of Christians saying that they didn't need to wear masks because they were "bathed in the blood of the lamb", and no one was able or willing to do anything about that, whereas maskless passengers get kicked off aircraft. To my knowledge, there haven't been very many or any high-profile cases of many people dying because they all got on the same flight, yet the same cannot be said for churches in the United States.

anoncake 6y ago
Shutting down schools but keeping airlines open shows an even more warped sense of priority.

gruturo 6y ago

Even considering churches in the middle of the pandemic is, from an atheist point of view, equally warped. Isn't God supposedly anywhere by the way? Why do you have to stuff all the people in a specific building in the first place.