Last night we posted about the rise in COVID-19 cases at Liberty University and Cedarville University. Here is how students and other community members are responding to Liberty University’s “temporary period of mitigation.” Nearly 500 students and employees are in […]
COVID-19
Senior vice president of National Religious Broadcasting is fired for refusing to recant pro-vaccine statements
Here is Dan Darling earlier this month on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”: Here is Bob Smietana’s reporting at Religion News Service: The spokesman for a major evangelical nonprofit was fired for promoting vaccines on the MSNBC “Morning Joe” cable news show, Religion News […]
COVID-19 cases on the rise at Liberty University; classes move online.
Here is the press release: As part of its ongoing monitoring of positive COVID-19 rates on campus as well as active community cases and local hospital capacity, Liberty University administration announced on Thursday that it is enacting a temporary mitigation […]
Alabama crowd boos Trump for recommending the vaccine
Back in February I live-tweeted Trump’s speech at CPAC: Some of you may recall a post I wrote in March 2021 about pro-Trump evangelical Franklin Graham’s efforts to get his followers vaccinated. It did not go well. Here were some […]
“And then I asked if they decided the prep their sister was undergoing for a very invasive ventilator was worth their anti-vaccination position”
Opinion writer Mary Stanik‘s mother has advanced congestive heart failure. Mary and her brother recently decided to place their mother in hospice care, but since they had yet to receive the breathing equipment she needed, a visit to the emergency […]
Northwestern University posted the names of unvaccinated students…in 1902
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Megachurches with celebrity pastors like John MacArthur led the way in the evangelical resistance to COVID-19 mandates
We’ve written a lot on this subject. See, for example: “What is going on with John MacArthur and Romans 13?“ “Evangelical pastor John MacArthur suggests churches that remain closed during COVID-19 are not ‘true’ churches“ “The Falkirk Center on the […]
Is this what Ronald Reagan meant by a “shining city on a hill”?
Today as I read New York Times writer Jamelle Bouie’s recent column on vaccines, I was struck by these words. Is it any surprise that millions of Americans treat this fundamentally social problem — how do we vaccinate enough people […]
The United States of America: Are we reaping what we’ve sown?
Don’t mess with the rights of Americans. We are individuals. We are free. Mask and vaccine mandates are tyrannical. They are un-American. Don’t people know that the Bill of Rights is divinely inspired? I am not convinced that the kind […]
Evangelical activist Shane Claiborne is going to Greg Locke’s church on Sunday. He will wear a mask.
Claiborne is looking for people to join him on Sunday at the Global Vision Bible Church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. At the very least, you might get a meal at Waffle House out of it: After reading Claiborne’s Twitter feed, […]
YouTube suspends Rand Paul
We covered this last week. It seemed like only a matter of time before social media responded to Paul’s comments about masks. Here is Forbes: YouTube barred Sen. Rand Paul from uploading new videos to the site for seven days, […]
Rand Paul: Biden administration is “plucking kids” with COVID-19 from the border and “seeding” the country with the delta variant
Yesterday we wrote this about Paul’s Fox News op-ed: What does “resisting” or “standing-up for freedom” look like in this case? An armed rebellion? More riots? Another tea party? Whatever Rand thinks his words mean, his followers will interpret this […]
Kayyem: Nobody has a constitutional right to take a domestic flight, attend the Lion King, or work at Disney or Walmart
Juliette Kayyem is faculty of chair of the homeland security program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In her recent piece at The Atlantic she argues that unvaccinated people should not be allowed on domestic flights. A taste: Polls suggest […]
Regrets, I’ve had a few…
Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson now regrets signing the state’s mask mandate into law. Here is Richard Fausset at The New York Times: In March, with the number of new coronavirus cases plummeting in Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson let expire the statewide […]
Lindsey Graham, who has COVID-19, needs to do more than just tweet
The GOP senator from South Carolina has COVID-19. He is thankful for the vaccination: Now he needs to book himself on Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham and say the same thing.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul tells Americans to resist mask mandates: “They can’t arrest us all”
Here is Paul’s op-ed at Fox News: Resist. They can’t arrest us all. They can’t keep all your kids home from school. They can’t keep every government building closed – although I’ve got a long list of ones they should. […]
Practice virtue. Get vaccinated
On Wednesday I wrote a piece at Current titled, “Love Your Neighbor. Get Vaccinated.” I discussed the resistance to vaccines in the evangelical community and focused a significant portion of the piece on talk radio show host and author Eric […]
What do Americans think about vaccine mandates?
According to a recent study by the COVID States Project: 64% of Americans believe all their fellow Americans should get the COVID-19 vaccine. 70% of Americans support requiring a vaccine to get on an airplane. 61% of Americans support requiring […]
An evangelical anti-vaxxer in the Olympic pool
His name is Michael Andrew and he ran out of gas on the last leg of yesterday’s final in the 200 meter individual medley. Watch: Rowdy Gaines said it all: “He’s done.” Out of the pool, Michael Andrew is a […]
Vaccinations required
Yesterday Joe Biden announced that federal employees need to be vaccinated or “face new testing, masking, and distancing rules.” Several companies are also insisting that their employees get vaccinated, including Google, Facebook, Netflix, Morgan Stanley, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Washington […]