Christian Preacher Says You Don't Need Vaccine If You Have Jesus

That seems pretty insulting to all the Christians who have died from COVID, no?

This weekend in Texas, over a thousand people gathered at the Frisco Convention Center for a three-day Christian nationalist event called "America's Revival," featuring such luminaries as Mike "MyPillow Guy" Lindell , Pastor Greg Locke and Pentecostal preacher Joshua Feuerstein. It seems like it was ... well, interesting.

Here is how the official website described the event:

It's time to Make America Godly Again!

Join thousands of other God fearing patriots at America's Revival as we gather for three days of powerful preaching, heartfelt worship and a call to prayer for our nation.

This is not a time to bow down.

This is not a time to back up.

This is a time to unify, lock arms and declare war on the Satanic agenda that seeks to destroy our families, our values and our nation.

It's time for the church in America to have revival.

The speakers were quite explicit about their desire to see the United States government be even more influenced by Christian beliefs than it is already, at least partly because they think it would allow them to get out of the vaccine and put Donald Trump back in the White House.

Joshua Feuerstein, though not as notorious as Locke or Lindell, seems to have really been the star of the show. During his sermon, he thrilled the audience by telling them the story of King Ahab and Jezebel, heavily suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris was just like Jezebel, on account of how she once dated someone who also worked in politics, even though that is illegal. (It is not illegal.)

Via Religion News Service:  

In his sermon, Feuerstein told the biblical story of King Ahab and Jezebel and how they faced off against the prophet Elijah. He described Ahab as a senile old man and Jezebel as someone who "slept her way to the top."

"Does that sound familiar?" he said, leading to raucous cheers from worshippers. A number of conservative pastors have referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as a "Jezebel" — a term used for an evil or corrupt woman.

This is curious, as I've never actually seen anyone call any woman who is actually evil or corrupt a "Jezebel." In fact, it usually seems to be a thing terrible people call women who are both awesome and super pretty. I would take it as a compliment. 

Feuerstein even outdid Greg Locke with the anti-vaccination nonsense, assuring congregants they would not actually need a vaccine because they've got Jesus.

Radical right-wing preacher Joshua Feuerstein tells Christians "you don't have to wear the mask, you got Jesus. You… https: //t.co/jVWSYU0KLW

— Right Wing Watch (@Right Wing Watch) 1628517198.0 

He said:

FEUERSTEIN: Listen to me, I understand and let me speak now to the cameras, around the world, to every pastor that's watching this broadcast, to every Christian that is powered in their home. I realize that this last year, that maybe you've been fed fear and fear and fear. But the Bible says that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind. You have a sound mind! You don't have to wear the mask! You got Jesus! You don't need the vaccine! You got Jesus!

Here is a list of all the saints who died from tuberculosis. Now, they are Catholic saints, and we can probably assume these guys are not too fond of Catholics, but surely they were into Jesus. And they probably would not have died if there were a vaccine for tuberculosis at that time. Is Feuerstein suggesting all the people who have died from COVID-19, or from any of the other diseases we now have vaccines for, died because they were insufficiently devout?

Notably, at least in these clips, he doesn't seem to be saying he doesn't think masks or vaccines work, but simply that those who have Jesus don't "need" them. It's one thing if, like Locke, you're so wrong that you genuinely believe COVID isn't real, that you genuinely believe the vaccines are going to hurt you. If you think they work but tell people not to use them just because "Jesus?" That is some truly evil shit.

Mike Lindell, of course, did not disappoint. He told the rapt audience the story of how God helped him kick his crack problem, but how it was actually only after meeting Donald Trump that he "fully surrendered his life to Jesus." Probably because of all the similarities. He then explained how God would be putting Donald Trump back in the White House.

Lindell [...] listed what he called a series of miracles that allowed him to uncover how the 2020 election was stolen from President Trump. He promised to reveal more evidence about the election in an upcoming "cyber-symposium" to be broadcast on his new website, Frankspeech.com.

The symposium is the latest election conspiracy project from Lindell, who told supporters the 2020 election would soon be overturned and Trump would return to the White House. He then promised the voting machines would be "melted down and turned into prison bars."

Lindell told worshippers they should not fear because "God's got his hands in all of this."

"This is going to be the greatest uniting of our country ever and the biggest revival for Jesus in history," he said.

I believe he believes that. The man is nothing if not a true believer.

There are a lot of reasons why religion should not influence politics. Freedom probably being the most important one. But another reason is that usually the people who want religion to influence politics want extremely stupid things, like people not taking vaccines for a deadly and contagious virus and overthrowing the government in order to make Donald Trump dictator for life. I guess it really is too bad for them that this is what the First Amendment actually protects us from, as opposed to protecting our rights to spread disinformation on social media sites.

[ Religion News ]

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