Trump declares churches essential

Gotta get those Evangelical votes! Fank you Jeebus!

Praise Trump! Have a blessed day!

This is terrific news, but I know my own church is not going to open up for months. They've sent out a plan to re-open in slow phases. Still, I appreciate the gesture. Churches never should have been closed by the government in the first place. It's shakier first amendment grounds than I like to see.

If they’re considered essential businesses then they should pay taxes.

He has no authority to "override" governors.

I hope he attends services every Sunday from now on!

R3, I pity your church has such dumb attendees like yourself. So your church is smarter than you and the president

No way in hell am I letting my mom anywhere near her church. She watches Mass on tv anyway.

Fuck that orange asshole. It’s a fucking joke, let all his deplorable “Christian” followers die for all I care.

I would love for someone to ask him his favorite passage in the bible and to quote it

He does realize these people vote for him, right?

He did, he said it was from "two Corinthians." Minor scandal during the '16 primary when he was still chasing Cruz.

R11, I guess he took a glance in the hotel room when he was waiting for some whore to bang.

R10 he knows what they want, and he just delivert!

I don't really see what the problem is. If some of those (old) parishioners (who most certainly vote for Trump) die, it's a win a win.

"Two Corinthians walk into a synagogue, and...."

“I would love for someone to ask him his favorite passage in the bible and to quote it“

I remember after Paris Hilton got out of the slammer, she brought her Bible with her on Larry King Live. King asked her what her favorite passage was. It didn’t go well.

I completely support Republicans and Christians disobeying social distancing rules.

R9, I'm thinking it would go something like this:

"It's the story about a boat, a big, beautiful boat. The guy built this boat and filled it with two of each animal.**SNIFF** Big beautiful animals. You know. The best animals.**SNIFF** It took him 40 days to build that boat, ya know. Everything to build the boat was made in the USA. He didn't go to Jina for anything. **SNIFF** USA made. Good stuff."

LOL!^

That was the Paris Hilton thing

That was the Paris Hilton thing

[quote]Churches never should have been closed by the government in the first place.

Exactly. What could possibly go wrong when people are packed ass-to-elbow in an enclosed space, expelling tens of millions of respiratory droplets into poorly ventilated air?

I just read R18, you get a LOL, too. Perfect description of what he'd do. Like a kid doing a book report for a book he never read.

R22 I didn't say they shouldn't be closed, but that they shouldn't be closed by the government.

Full "Two Corinthians" gaffe here:

[quote]I didn't say they shouldn't be closed, but that they shouldn't be closed by the government.

Oh, you're one of those.

Nothing, r22!

Go forth and infect!

For those not keeping up, this isn't about white deplorables.

Trump is making a play for black Christians after Biden spat in their faces on national radio this morning. They, more than anybody, want their churches open. Black churches double up as community centers.

Trump could have done this anytime but he's striking while the iron is hot.

The only play Trump has for November is to continue to turn this into a culture war. He’s failed in every respect when it comes to the virus so this is all he’s got. November is going to about covid and nothing else and Trump is finally realizing it.

when recently asked what his favorite passage was he said he felt that was personal.

Why can’t he just die already.

He abruptly left the podium after he made his declaration. He looked like shit today and you could tell he was in no shape to take questions from the press. Thankfully this is finally taking it's toll on him.

R31 Lol he's not stepping on that landmine again

Satan believes in God too. He just wants to take over God's job.

There will be a lot of political fallout from this.

This is Karl Rove's handiwork. He rode this Xian train w/Bush.

Bush was an alkie dope who, I doubt, was a cheater but Shitler is an amoral pig so I doubt this new found Christianity bullshit will do much beyond getting churchgoers killed.

[quote]Trump is making a play for black Christians after Biden spat in their faces on national radio this morning

Blacks are agreeing with Biden.

He must think Memorial Day is a Christian holiday.

R38 That's not how that works. Trump has been courting black Christians his entire time in office, and he's going to campaign on this. He'll say he's given them something they want, while Biden feels entitled to their votes without earning them.

You are truly an idiot, R40.

Blacks are much more concerned about the black guy down in Brunswick GA who was murdered in cold blood and whose white killers almost got away with it, than they are about whether they can go to church on Sunday. A murder I might add that DJT has refused to condemn because we "haven't heard both sides of the story."

[quote]Trump has been courting black Christians his entire time in office, and he's going to campaign on this.

Yeah, good luck with that.

R41 Republicans are making a play for black voters, and Democrats are taking them for granted:

What r41 said.

Plus, Biden is already dealing with his tone deaf joke with black leaders....

[quote]Biden spat in their faces on national radio this morning

As opposed to Trump shitting on them and setting them on fire. The man never wanted blacks to be his accountants or live in his buildings, but sure, let's pretend the white supremacists making "Bidenisracist" trend are concerned about black people What a fucking joke the right-wing is and patronizing towards black people.

A Catholic church reopened here in Houston. Then all the priests got sick and died. So they closed it again.

Trump praised a Nazi sympathizer yesterday at the Ford factory,...where's the outrage?

If only we could get that recording from Mark Burnett of Trump using the N word on The Apprentice. It would make R40/R43 and all the other Trump trolls heads explode.

Geez, Biden wasn’t even serious, he was joking. And he walked it back in the phone call cited at r44 in a very nice apology. When have you ever heard Dump doing anything of the sort? He doubles down! Blacks aren’t going to be fooled by Republicans courting their votes. Not in a million years.

We really have an insane person as President

Spiritual health is as important as physical health.

Meanwhile, when has Trump ever apologized or taken responsibility (unless it's hopping onto a good economy the previous admin. started)? Heaven forbid he be an adult just once in his fucking life.

Jesus is the reason for the skeezin'

R53 LMAO that picture is vomit-worthy

Spiritual Health can be done anywhere. Ask Elie Wiesel.

[quote]Spiritual health is as important as physical health.

Gathering together in a fashion that will kill some of your fellow worshippers doesn't sound like a very good path to spiritual health to me.

R46 Is this the news story about the Catholic church in Houston you mentioned?

If you can gather up at Wal-Mart to kill each other, you can do it in God's house. At least it'll keep the crowd at the grocery store down for a few hours.

I think attendance should be mandatory. If you are Xtian, you have to go to church.

[quote] Trump is making a play for black Christians after Biden spat in their faces on national radio this morning. They, more than anybody, want their churches open. Black churches double up as community centers.

He wants their vote, so he's going to kill off a bunch of them before November? Love that "stable genius" logic.

There aren't enough prayers to save his soul.

Psycho Don is really losing it!

#LockHimUp

I just don’t care anymore. I am taking precautions so I don’t get it, if people want to be stupid and get it and kill their grandma, go on.

Thoughts and prayers.

These people are just as bad as terrorists who think when they die after killing people will have 100 virgins waiting for them.

Well, since science hasn't been able to do jack shit to stop this giant mess it can't hurt to pray a little.

[quote] I would love for someone to ask him his favorite passage in the bible and to quote it

Mark Halperin and John Heileman asked him during the 2016 campaign. He said he "wouldn't want to get into it" because it was "too personal." They also asked him if he preferred the Old or New Testament. He said he likes both "equally."

"Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over the years"

That's the point, r10. He wants to shore up that demographic, not caring if he loses some along the way.

I was highly amused by his having to mention mosques and imams.

I would think Trumps favorite Bible quote would be where Jesus defends prostitutes. Least favorite "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God's kingdom."

You don't have to be religious to be spiritual, and you can pray anywhere, anytime.

Preventing large numbers of people cramming into buildings multiple times weekly (prayer services, religious study, choir practice, Saturday/ Sunday services, etc) for a limited period due to extraordinary public health needs is not stopping anyone from practicing their religion.

I seem to remember something in the constitution about separation of church and state. When does a president advocate for established churches? Especially one who rarely, if ever, has attended one?

He can't override governors or denominational leaders. Also Trump wants Black churches to reopen cause he wants to kill them.

Trump doesn't think the virus is a big deal. He doesn't think it'll cause mass death.

Sad r3 got greyed out.

Combining patriotism and piety....I call that a half-pounder with double cheese!!!!

I would like to see an edict that if they attend church and get the 'rona, they are denying any and all medical care. We don't need to be wasting resources on these dumb fucks.

He’s such an idiot, he can’t even help himself. On a day that Biden made the news about something he said, Dump trumps it with this shit and completely removes Biden from the front page.

This is the best thing he has done in 4 years.

OF COURSE churches can be closed by governments. Its a public health measure, during a deadly pandemic. Churches don't have carte blanche to damage public safety. To destroy environment. To commit crimes. Etc. Churches are not sovereign states, you dumb cunt.

Shh! Let them open. Fewer Xtians in this world will be a huge upside of this whole shitshow.

Catering to his base while also exterminating them...Scorched Trumptards policy

Good luck with that. Some church just re-closed after they opened against state guidelines and now the priest and three attendees are dead of Covid.

I'm all for anyone who wants to get the virus and die to go ahead and do just that, especially if you're a very concerned concern troll. You should just have to be locked in that church for at least 14 days and test negative twice before you are let back out.

Meanwhile: Churches are reopening all over Europe

Europe: Good rich countries

UK and USA: Bad rich countries

Any questions? Moving on now.

Let's ask Trump about his favorite Bible passages

r44 Sanders lost - again. Twice now. Move on, grow-up.

r44 Sanders lost - again. Twice now. Move on, grow-up.

R84, see r66.

[quote] R10 he knows what they want, and he just [bold]delivert![/bold]

I love you for this!

I thought "god" was more powerful than any physical building....all these hypocritical "christians" should be able to "pray" from their own homes. ..."god" should be able to consider their prayers to reverse gay marriage etc, from the comfort of their own homes.

We're going to have one motherfucker of a second wave by late June or early July.

Thanks, guys, for not forgetting about "Two Corinthians." Trump is a pandering, Christian carpetbagger. I'm not Catholic but I went to Catholic school. I think I know more stuff from the Bible than my church-going coworkers.

If he wanted to kill off a big chunk of his own voters before fall, he could hardly think of a better plan.

Are you on hydroxychloroquine, r85 86? How would you derive that I'm a Bernie Bros from my post? Watch that twitchy finger, you double poster.

Trump’s popularity with white Evangelicals and Catholics is falling due to his pandemic mis-handling. He was counting on increasing support with those groups, but it’s not happening.

Why does he have white circles around his eyes like that? It's freaky.

R95 - little eye goggles for when he is in the tanning bed.

This will end in tears.

If the deplorables are all gonna run out and get infected, I don't want my tax dollars paying for their "free" Covid healthcare.

Looking @R53, I'm thinking fake white Jesus ought to get tested for an STD being that close to that gross pig.

Behind Trump’s demand to reopen churches: Slipping poll numbers and alarm inside his campaign.

A sudden shift in support for Donald Trump among religious conservatives is triggering alarm bells inside his reelection campaign, where top aides have long banked on expanding the president’s evangelical base as a key part of their strategy for victory this November.

The anxiety over Trump’s standing with the Christian right surfaced after a pair of surveys by reputable outfits earlier this month found waning confidence in the administration’s coronavirus response among key religious groups, with a staggering decline in the president’s favorability among white evangelicals and white Catholics.

To safeguard his relationship with religious conservatives, Trump on Friday demanded that America‘s governors permit houses of worship to immediately reopen.

[quote]Mark Halperin and John Heileman asked him during the 2016 campaign. He said he "wouldn't want to get into it" because it was "too personal." They also asked him if he preferred the Old or New Testament. He said he likes both "equally."

Does this motherfucker EVER stop bullshitting?

[quote] They also asked him if he preferred the Old or New Testament. He said he likes both "equally."

That's actually hilarious.

He looks ill — or more so than usual.

His eyes look like swollen distended assholes.

His face looks like a dropped pie.

Make Halloween Horrifying Again. From a C/Net article about Trumpkins.

I declare Trump non-essential.

Obviously pandering to the base. But here's the thing. If Trump is SO desperate he's visiting mask factories and companies that make ventilators ( all so he can use the footage in his campaign ads as he tried to rewrite history) he's responding to Pelosi's requerst to fly the flag at half staff to memorialize the dead, my guess is that his numbers are so terrible even some of his base is deserting him. IMO while we see the crazy ones out here with guns and acting like assholes, I think there a re a lot of others who are truly scared by the virus and by the gun toting lunatics and probably are exhausted by the unending crisis of the Trump Presidency. Not to mention so many lost jobs and the bullshit amount of money Trump is giving them. He's in big trouble. And opening the churches will definitely result in spikes for his evangelical commuities.

A little late for that "belief," r72.

Someone should ask Trump what he thinks of the Beatitudes.

I wish all these people would catch the covid wave and die sooner than 3 weeks from now.

His favorite Beaitude is Ringo, followed closely by Paul, cause they didn't die.

Italy reopens its churches. I'm happy to see this.

How can he 'declare' anything- I thought that was up to the states? Is he King now?

Trump in his new film ! ( or historical event)

[quote]How can he 'declare' anything- I thought that was up to the states?

It is. There isn't a damn thing he can do if the cities and states ignore him on this.

Of course, there will be some churches that will defy state and local orders; that's inevitable. Just as inevitable will be outbreaks in many of those locations.

No difference then one of us saying any gay who votes for Trump is a self hater.

The country needs people praying for deliverance from the virus.

Cram it, churchy^

People can pray in their homes.

Televangelists have been preaching to sheeple at home for decades...why exactly do they need to congregate in public?

Because their vanity requires their piety be on public display

[quote]He looks ill — or more so than usual.

He has not had his annual physical this year. He had that emergency trip to the hospital last fall, when they said he was having part of his annual physical "early" (on a Saturday, scheduled at the last minute), but he's never had a follow-up and the White House has refused to answer questions about it. So he might very well be ill.

We live in hope, [R123].

[quote] Televangelists have been preaching to sheeple at home for decades...why exactly do they need to congregate in public?

Tithing or putting money into the offering tray. That could be the reason. Maybe people are not donating as much money as they used to. When you're at home, it's easier to say no, maybe. When you're in church, on the spot, it's harder to say no (to making a donation).

If Trump is so concerned with Churches tell him to get the ball rolling by getting Melania and his entire family and going to church there in D.C. He can shake hands with the Preacher and hug the congregation and good for him.

And then he sends Skipper (Barbies little sister) to field questions . If I didn’t hate the rethugs so much I could feel sorry for her .

I don’t need to recap to the grammar nazis here how she used several words incorrectly. These are big words for a little girl.

I miss my conversion therapy. Regressed to watching gay porn:( thank you, Mr Trump!

Behind Trump’s demand to reopen churches: Slipping poll numbers and alarm inside his campaign

05/22/2020

Trump was counting on widening support from white religious voters this fall. The pandemic is sending his numbers the other way.

I don't. see the issue, no one is forcing them to go.

As for getting the virus, you could get it on a bus or a street corner.

No church I know is about to open because Trump says so, mine certainly won’t.

Great, more assholes who I have to sit down with and explain that no, there hasn’t been a mistake, and that they’re at their proper destination.

It’s been hell down here lately. Literally.

The Navajo Nation has the highest infection rate in the US, higher than New York. They were saying on the news tonight that a church gathering might be the source of the outbreak. Cases have been traced to the gathering.

Article about the Navajo Nation infection rate.

Skipping all the responses just so I can vent: Fucking asswipe doesn't go to church! The only service he attends is the one being provided at his crotch. Does he claim any religion? And is that religion proud to have him as a member?

Navajos? Who cares?

Not In Nevada they’re not.

Think of Evangelical churches as self-cleaning ovens.

Choir practice in WA state. 2 dead, 45 infected with CV (60 people at practice). March 10, 2020, was date of practice.

Hopefully, no singing in these churches. (Singing produces respiratory droplets.)

[quote]They were saying on the news tonight that a church gathering might be the source of the outbreak. Cases have been traced to the gathering.

Once again, the white man spreading disease to the natives! This wouldn't have happened if they stuck took the spiritual beliefs of their ancestors and rejected "white man" religious fanaticism!

People don't have to be in a specific building to pray. Are they really this stupid?

The fact that this asshole has not been struck by lightning every time he even mentions religion has bolstered my belief that there is no God.

Didn't stick Trumpers...NEXT!

Evangelicals have to be in the same room because their gatherings are disguised as white supremacists Klan rally’s.

After all, evangelicalism was the counter to Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement.

I don't even understand being a white supremacist and a Christian or simply a white racist and a Christian. You worship a Middle Eastern man who didn't speak English. Does that EVER cross their minds? Start your own fucking religion or stick with some Nordic paganism or whatever, bit where the fuck do you get off deluding yourselves into believing Christianity didn't start in the very part of the world where as racist (esp., worshipers of Trump's), you hate people from that part of the world. And spare me the religious differences, I've seen Middle Eastern people of all faiths get attacked. Evangelicals are overwhelmingly white and racist.

but*

Its mind boggling how cheeto is untouchable among these jesus freaks, there is nothing he can do that will stop them from voting for him as long as he puts misogynist and racist judges in court as long as they protect some fetus. But they can circulate the virus among themselves and disappear from the face of the earth.

I'm straight as an arrow excepting few blow jobs but not attending church is turning me to gay thoughts. We all need church.

Justin Bieber

After Sunday church services, all of these Karens will go to Walmart and throw a temper tantrum about having to wear a mask.

[quote] No difference then one of us saying

Oh, dear!

[quote] I don't. see the issue, no one is forcing them to go.

[quote]As for getting the virus, you could get it on a bus or a street corner.

Just in case you’re not trolling:

You’re right, you can get it at a bus stop. Why doesn’t it surprise me that you ride the bus? But I digress, the greater the crowd, the longer the time spent in that crowd and being inside an enclosed space all combine to increase the risk exponentially.

Then, as someone said above, these Karens go out to Walmart after without a mask and infect Grandma who’s there for the first time in a month to pick up her prescription.

If I've learned anything from this virus, it's how upper middle class white liberals feel about everyone else. You're all showing your ugly, irrational side.

R130 is right btw.

R152, I've learned that conservatives like you like to bash liberals while cheerleading for Trump and other assholes who want to put everyone's lives at risk. Conservatives show their ugly, irrational side 24/7.

Christ, you wish.

Trump is out golfing even though he criticized Obama for golfing when 2 people in the US had Ebola. Eat shit, freepers

Free Republic hasn't been a culturally relevant website in at least a decade. It's where the elderly GOP shut-ins snipe at each other about doomsday prepping.

Elderly doomsday peppers? Sounds like the kind of people here who bitch about "liberals"

Who would also be liberals, but less smug and clueless.

Maybe at the end of the day the Chicken Littles of DL who bleach their groceries and the paranoid loner retirees of FR can find common ground after all...

"Fuck everyone who isn't just like me!"

[quote]You’re right, you can get it at a bus stop. Why doesn’t it surprise me that you ride the bus?

I'm not that poster, but could you explain what you mean by that?

A dirty, foul, STUPID POOR thought his opinion was worth something.

You know who isn't social distancing, wearing masks, or staying home? Poor people!!! They should go to jail!!!!

[quote]if I've learned anything from this virus, it's how upper middle class white liberals feel about everyone else. You're all showing your ugly, irrational side.

"Everyone else"?

People have to stay home from their jobs, they can't see doctors for all sorts of ailments, children can't go to school...yet your selfish fucking ass only thinks in terms of people going to church to get INFECTED? You do know who the president is, right? The one who *actually* has hatred for "everyone else" who isn't white, wealthy or of a certain religion. You are such a typically, warped, selfish, conservative, "moderate" or whatever nonsense you call yourself. Fucking hypocrite.

You're fine with the actual bigotry and racism spread by the president to the point of him trying to legislate that prejudice, but a bunch of people having to stay off to pray for their own HEALTH and others offends you?

So if I were the anti-Christ, I would also want the churches open and tell everyone to ignore the pandemic and go worship....

Just saying.

If the churches remain closed for too long, people will realize they don't need them. Entities heavily invested in organized religion will not stand for it.

R159 must be the Bexar County twat who thinks the virus is a "hoax"

Or one of those pastors who wanted to "reopen" their church and then infected a bunch of their followers

Conservatives always accuse liberals of the things they are guilty of themselves.

Liberals refuse to admit they are part of the problem.

Conservatives refuse to admit that they ARE the problem

R163 America isn't Manhatten, there realistically won't be much spreading of the virus in churches outside of hot zones- especially since they'll all be taking precautions anyway. But fuck them, right? Christians should stay home from church- I don't go to church! They're hypocrites and bad people anyway, unlike me, the guy who viciously hates them and wants them dead.

I have a relative who found suspicious lumps on her breasts last week and will now be waiting until the end of JUNE for biopsies thanks to a politically motivated, overreaching, heavy handed, bullshit shutdown of medical care due to a virus that's as bad as a new flu strain.

Fuck you, you obese, saggy, evil, housebound cunt. How fucking dare you lecture others about compassion! Swaddling yourself up with Netflix and home-delivered Haagen Daas while demanding the world burns around you so you can feel safe. Karma's coming for you. Don't cry to me when you lose your job in a few months, or your pension, or your S.S. Get a fucking clue.

[quote]America isn't Manhatten, there realistically won't be much spreading of the virus in churches outside of hot zones- especially since they'll all be taking precautions anyway.

Reported this past week:

Two churches in Georgia and Texas that reopened recently amid the novel coronavirus pandemic have since closed their doors again after churchgoers and religious leaders tested positive for the virus.

A Catholic church in Houston has closed its doors after five of its leaders tested positive for COVID-19, including two priests who helped celebrate public masses after they resumed earlier this month.

Almost 200 people are being quarantined after a possible cluster in California was identified after people attended a church service on Mother's Day.

35 of the 92 people (38%) who attended services at a rural Arkansas church in March tested positive for the coronavirus, ultimately killing three.

r169, it's the "reopen now" movement that is politically motivated, you hypocrite.

You're the one who wants people to die, by telling them not to take precautions.

You don't give a shit about anyone but right-wing hatemongers like yourself. So much hate for liberals, but not Trump and all the conservatives who lied to you by telling you the virus was a hoax or no worse than the flu.

[quote]He has no authority to "override" governors

As much as I hate Trump, he actually can override Governors.

But Churches are mostly elderly. They’re Nursing Home-lites. Many will die. But Jesus already died for them, so let them go right on ahead.

[quote] there is nothing he can do that will stop them from voting for him

90% of the country is going to vote for their candidate no matter what they do.

Maybe when Trump wins 2020 because he reopened the economy while Democrats broke the electorate's backs with unnecessary shutdowns... maybe then you'll all have a come to Jesus and realize you cause your own problems. Doubtful, but it would be nice.

171 It is no worse than the flu. Quit blaming your shitty behavior on the Orange Boogeyman.

The more aggressive the trolls, the more they know they have no argument

Dump does this all the time.

R176 I'm so over this shit. How dare you see yourself as anything more than a dead weight on better people's backs. The fucking hyposcrisy of it all. Evil, pure evil.

States can reopen responsibly. Just keep the nursing homes locked down. Let the rest of us get a haircut and go out for a meal, for Chrissakes.

R178 THANK YOU. Yes.

[quote] As much as I hate Trump, he actually can override Governors.

Not in this case he can’t.

r175, it's worse than the flu. The actual experts will tell you that, but I bet your idea of an expert is Dr Phil

R181 Experts aren't making recommendations based on anything more than guessing right now, so what are their opinions worth? The more actual data the CDC gets the more it revises its models and predictions down. We're now at a 1-4% mortality rate from 20% two months ago. It will keep dropping.

R169, did you even understand the point of my post, asshole? You mention your relative? My mother FINALLY went for a mammogram because they found a problem months ago. We're in NYC and I've been going through hell waiting for her to finally get one,. You think this is about me getting ice cream, you sack of shit? I specifically mentioned far more important things that people aren't able to do. People don't have a fucking radiologist in their living room with a machine, yet you're whining people can't go to church? You don't actually have to be at a place of worship to PRAY. God was everywhere, I thought. Why did you conflate praying in a church with precisely what I was saying about people not being able to go to doctors?

I was making the point that people can fucking pray at home. There isn't resentment towards people wanting to pray. It's the idea that you have to do it in another building like God can't fucking hear you wherever you are and rather than be SELFLESS by not potentially infecting other people by going out, you insist on doing it with a building which frankly, is full of bullshit images of a Jesus who never existed - a white guy who looks like he runs a coffeehouse in Brooklyn.

[quote]I'm so over this shit. How dare you see yourself as anything more than a dead weight on better people's backs. The fucking hyposcrisy of it all. Evil, pure evil.

I rest my case

[quote]—DONE

As if.

IN* a building

And the Orange Fucktwad is golfing today. Just when you thought he couldn't go any lower, he goes lower.

Oh wait, not his problem, it's not his responsibility, no one will blame him for the 35,000,000+ unemployed. Stupid me.

I know he’s pissed (and I’m not the person you’re pissed at), but I’m sending r183 hugs right now.

You can all MARY!!! me if you want to, I don’t give a rats ass.

R183

1. I am not a Christian

and

2. Fuck you, you dismiss the lives of everyone else because of your overblown self-pity. I have fucking suffered through this shutdown, without a legitimate cause, because dipshit New Yorkers can't get it through their heads that their outbreak was caused by train commuters and nursing homes. How about you take your issues up with people who can do something about it, instead of forcing everyone nationwide to slowly go broke and slip into chronic illness because you think NYC is the WORLD. Why have I lost my job? Fuck me, though, right?

I'm sorry about your mother, I wish her the best, but go choke on a dildo you scum-sucking cuntbag. Fuck you and your Instacart deliveries. You're a narcissist. Again, Karma is COMING. Prepare for it.

Thank you for being so worried about my aunt's health.... Oh.

Demand compassion without giving it. I see you.

R183

1. I am not a Christian

and

2. Fuck you, you dismiss the lives of everyone else because of your overblown self-pity. I have fucking suffered through this shutdown, without a legitimate cause, because dipshit New Yorkers can't get it through their heads that their outbreak was caused by train commuters and nursing homes. How about you take your issues up with people who can do something about it, instead of forcing everyone nationwide to slowly go broke and slip into chronic illness because you think NYC is the WORLD. Why have I lost my job? Fuck me, though, right?

I'm sorry about your mother, I wish her the best, but go choke on a dildo you scum-sucking cuntbag. Fuck you and your Instacart deliveries. You're a narcissist. Again, Karma is COMING. Prepare for it.

Thank you for being so worried about my aunt's health.... Oh.

Demand compassion without giving it. I see you.

R182, the "experts" on the right were saying there would be zero deaths and that the virus would be contained

The mortality rate is going down because we're testing more people and finding that many people are asymptomatic

R189, I'm sorry you're such a dumbass that you think only New Yorkers are in danger, or that you don't give a shit about elderly people on nursing homes. Stop being a typical selfish Republican dipshit

R128 - thinking about Trump IS conversion therapy...the Christian right has won!

[quote] It is no worse than the flu

More Michigan residents died of Covid-19 from March 18 to April 18 than died of the flu over the past 20 years.

The mosque on E97th Street in NYC was bustling today.

R189? Do you even read your own fucking shit, you A.D.D moron? You're the asshole who CHOSE to mention your fucking relative FIRST, so who started with the "self-pity" and then proceeded to tell me I was sitting there watching Netflix and eating ice cream so all of this was no big deal for me? I mentioned my situation specifically because YOU mentioned what you ASSumed was my situation and mentioned your own first specifically because you were projecting PITY. I was putting you in your place for being flippant without even knowing a fucking thing. You told yourself that for me, it was just about watching TV and eating ice cream. Do you even read your own shit, you imbecile?

There's no point in even responding to your stupid ass when the things you accuse me of are precisely what you DID. I wouldn't have even mentioned my mother if you didn't try and mention YOUR poor relative finding a lump and then telling me what my situation WASN'T.

My last response to you, shit-for-brains

R191 I feel bad for your mother.

R178 been saying this for months now.

R195 Go fuck yourself, you only brought up your mother to blow off what I'm going through. Not important to you! You're dead inside, evil cunt.

Just here lurking to watch the fabulous insults R169 and R183 are hurling at each other as they are comparing notes about whose relative got it worse...and essentially both don't even know they are arguing for the same thing and, I suspect, mildly drunk.

r196, I feel sorry for any who has ever met you. How empty does your life have to be to spew right wing propaganda on a gay site?

R198 and R169 - let's just agree that this lockdown business has been incredibly traumatic and destructive for everyone. Financially many are ruined, others are sick and can't get to a doctor, and the mental health tragedies it has and will cause are a problem. And, no, I am not a right-winger or religious or pro-Trump. But there comes a point where you have to weigh the benefits of continuing the shut down against 36 mil unemployed

R201 thinks people who want to save lives are the enemy. In reality, the villain is the guy who called the virus a hoax, along with all the people who support him

This is what you're defending:

It’s weird to me that people want to go to church ask the Lord to make the virus go away when the bastard is the one who gave it to everybody to begin with. God’s a sick prick.

R199 Point taken, I'll chill out. Seriously, fuck that guy though.

R169, I hate to tell you, but, Covid-19 or no Covid-19, specialist appointments months in the future are SOP.

Whoever said that Trump really is thinking only of the mega-"Prosperity Gospel" services held in arenas.....

So that he can use them as an excuse to start holding his rallies again.....

Was spot-on.

Nothing to do with God, religion, freedom, or health.

Rebuked:

All five Catholic bishops in Washington state have issued a statement in response to comments by President Donald Trump which explains that public masses were suspended “out of our deepest respect for human life and health” amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The statement was a stunning rejoinder to Trump’s demand Friday that all houses of worship be reopened “right now” for religious services, which he has deemed “essential.” He called it an “injustice” that churches, synagogues and mosques aren’t open.

Trump vowed to “override governors” who failed to follow his orders. Trump didn’t say what he would do if religious leaders ignored his demand.

“In response to President Trump’s statement ... we want to let you know that public celebration was suspended, not out of fear, but out of the deepest respect for human life and health,” the bishops wrote Friday. “As disciples of Jesus, we are called on to be instruments of God’s protection for the vulnerable and the public good.”

“Our love of God and neighbor is always personal and not partisan,” the statement added. ” While we share the desire to bring people back to Mass as quickly as possible, we will wait to schedule our public worship when it is safe and we are prepared to do so.”

If they want to shut down, that's their call. The declaration allows them to open if they choose to.

R204 - how do you know it's a guy? Maybe it's that poster that declared him/herself hermaphrodite.

Yeah some people really aren't thinking that maybe someone lost their livelihood and are too trigger happy

R210 I just assume it's all men here unless otherwise specified. The soulless lack of compassion for the suffering the shutdowns are causin- mixed with ghoulishly clinging to corona deaths as a weak justification for keeping all this suffering going... while declaring yourself the only compassionate person! Fucking enraging.

R210 I just assume it's all men here unless otherwise specified. The soulless lack of compassion for the suffering the shutdowns are causin- mixed with ghoulishly clinging to corona deaths as a weak justification for keeping all this suffering going... while declaring yourself the only compassionate person! Fucking enraging.

Well, I just got myself all pissed off again and managed to post like a manic grandma on bath salts, so I'll go ahead and vacate this thread. It's been real!

You have blood on your hands, trumptroll

R213 I'm sure you foam at the mouth orgasming every time the death toll rises, you fucking ghoul.

I’m not the one sending people out to die. This is the worst possible way to handle this situation

History will prove you wrong. Til then, there’s no point in trying to reason with the likes of you. You have no soul.

This cunt talks like she’s an anti-vaxxer

Which would explain everything.

[quote]The declaration allows them to open if they choose to.

No, actually, it doesn't, as Trump has no authority to back up that declaration. He can declare a church "essential" all he wants and it has absolutely no meaning in law or in policy.

He should set an example by attending a crowded church and sitting near the choir. But he hasn't set foot in a church, except for funerals. in decades.

[quote]let's just agree that this lockdown business has been incredibly traumatic and destructive for everyone.

Let's not, at least not without actual data, none of which you have provided. You've made random assertions, most of them rather ludicrously wrong, but all you've succeeded in doing is establishing that the irrational fearmongerer on this thread isn't us: it's you.

Prior to the various lockdowns, the U.S. was on track to hit a million deaths from this outbreak. Contrary to your ignorant assertion that, "It is no worse than the flu" (a stunningly ignorant remark), it is worse in all ways: infection rate, death rate, and long-term health impact on many of those infected.

The economic impact is severe, as it always is when dealing with a natural disaster, but it has been somewhat mitigated by the public and private sector. And Congressional Democrats just passed a $3 trillion bill to do even more.

[quote]And, no, I am not a right-winger or religious or pro-Trump.

Then you're just a garden-variety idiot.

[quote]As much as I hate Trump, he actually can override Governors.

No, he really can't, not on this. He has no Constitutional authority to make this declaration and there isn't a damn thing he can do to make it stick, which is why the various state and local leaders are ignoring him.

Ignorant statements made by the troll. Quite a record here, as none of these statements is based on reality and most are rather ridiculously false.

[quote]For those not keeping up, this isn't about white deplorables. Trump is making a play for black Christians after Biden spat in their faces on national radio this morning. They, more than anybody, want their churches open. Black churches double up as community centers.

[quote]Trump has been courting black Christians his entire time in office

[quote]If you can gather up at Wal-Mart to kill each other, you can do it in God's house.

[quote]If I've learned anything from this virus, it's how upper middle class white liberals feel about everyone else. You're all showing your ugly, irrational side.

[quote]Who would also be liberals, but less smug and clueless.

[quote]A dirty, foul, STUPID POOR thought his opinion was worth something.

[quote]You know who isn't social distancing, wearing masks, or staying home? Poor people!!! They should go to jail!!!!

[quote]Liberals refuse to admit they are part of the problem.

[quote]America isn't Manhatten, there realistically won't be much spreading of the virus in churches outside of hot zones- especially since they'll all be taking precautions anyway.

[quote]I have a relative who found suspicious lumps on her breasts last week and will now be waiting until the end of JUNE for biopsies thanks to a politically motivated, overreaching, heavy handed, bullshit shutdown of medical care due to a virus that's as bad as a new flu strain.

[quote]Fuck you, you obese, saggy, evil, housebound cunt. How fucking dare you lecture others about compassion! Swaddling yourself up with Netflix and home-delivered Haagen Daas while demanding the world burns around you so you can feel safe. Karma's coming for you. Don't cry to me when you lose your job in a few months, or your pension, or your S.S. Get a fucking clue.

[quote]Maybe when Trump wins 2020 because he reopened the economy while Democrats broke the electorate's backs with unnecessary shutdowns... maybe then you'll all have a come to Jesus and realize you cause your own problems. Doubtful, but it would be nice.

[quote]It is no worse than the flu. Quit blaming your shitty behavior on the Orange Boogeyman.

[quote]R176 I'm so over this shit. How dare you see yourself as anything more than a dead weight on better people's backs. The fucking hyposcrisy of it all. Evil, pure evil.

[quote]Experts aren't making recommendations based on anything more than guessing right now, so what are their opinions worth?

[quote]Fuck you, you dismiss the lives of everyone else because of your overblown self-pity. [Oh, the irony....]

[quote]go choke on a dildo you scum-sucking cuntbag. Fuck you and your Instacart deliveries. You're a narcissist. Again, Karma is COMING. Prepare for it.

[quote]You're dead inside, evil cunt.

[quote]The declaration allows them to open if they choose to.

[quote]I'm sure you foam at the mouth orgasming every time the death toll rises, you fucking ghoul.

[quote]All five Catholic bishops in Washington state have issued a statement in response to comments by President Donald Trump which explains that public masses were suspended “out of our deepest respect for human life and health” amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Most Catholics aren’t rabid Trump supporters. So he’s not going to care about this as much as if some Evangelical mega-Church leader said that.

Depends upon the level of religious commitment and fervor of the Catholic voter. Catholics who attend church at least weekly and describe themselves as highly religious strongly support Trump. Nominal or casual Catholics do not

18% of those surveyed--who say they believe all of what the Church teaches and that these teachings are “reflected in how I live my life.”

With that group, Trump enjoys a 63% net approval rating. Two-thirds, 67%, say they will certainly or likely vote for Trump in November.

Three-quarters say they vote “all the time” in federal elections, compared to 58% of Catholics overall. And a vast majority, 83%, say they will “definitely” vote in the 2020 general election, with another 10% saying they will “probably” vote.

A significant portion, 41%, of the “devout Catholic” subset are Hispanic Catholics.

^ Busted!

[quote]Catholics who attend church at least weekly and describe themselves as highly religious strongly support Trump.

As noted above, this group makes up 18% of total Catholics. A small minority.

[quote]No, he really can't, not on this. He has no Constitutional authority to make this declaration and there isn't a damn thing he can do to make it stick, which is why the various state and local leaders are ignoring him.

I love how he completely washes his tiny hands of any responsibility when it comes to actually doing anything to help the states, but he still thinks he has the right to dictate to them and withhold money and supplies if they don't roll over for him. They are right to ignore the piece of shit.

From Gallup 2018:

Catholicism has experienced a greater net loss due to religious switching than has any other religious tradition in the U.S. Overall, 13% of all U.S. adults are former Catholics – people who say they were raised in the faith, but now identify as religious “nones,” as Protestants, or with another religion. By contrast, 2% of U.S. adults are converts to Catholicism – people who now identify as Catholic after having been raised in another religion (or no religion). This means that there are 6.5 former Catholics in the U.S. for every convert to the faith. No other religious group analyzed in the 2014 Religious Landscape Study has experienced anything close to this ratio of losses to gains via religious switching.

There has been little change in the percentage of Americans who identify as "born-again or evangelical" over the past 27 years.

From time to time each year, we at Gallup include this self-definitional question in surveys: "Would you describe yourself as 'born-again' or evangelical?" This provides us with the great advantage of being able to track a consistent wording over time.

The most interesting finding from our 27 years of tracking this question is the lack of meaningful variation. We have seen year-to-year fluctuations, to be sure, but nothing meaningful or sustained. The 42% of Americans who on average identified as born-again or evangelical in 1991-1995 is little different from the 41% over the past three years.

The born-again/evangelical population in this country is highest among blacks, who are overall the most religious racial and ethnic group in the U.S. Sixty-one percent of blacks in recent years have identified themselves as born-again or evangelical. By contrast, 38% of non-Hispanic whites and 44% of Hispanics say "yes" to this born-again/evangelical measure.

So we are admitting that churches are businesses now?

They always have been

Time for them to start paying taxes.

Don't need a building.

On the plus side, people obsessed with attending church in person will soon be going to see God from very close up.

R233, just the old fat diabetic ones.

Thankfully my church live-streams. Even Bible drift and prayer are via Zoom

Bible study and prayer groups

R235 is among the 1 percent of the 1 percent of gay men who goes to Church.

Many gay men go to church. Most of them are performing the ceremony.

R237, 12-15% of lgbt Americans are evangelicals

R239 - why? How can you join a group that actively is so against you?

R240, a lot of people have different views than you, ya know

Yes, but I tend not to join groups that actively hate me

R242, then Do you, man.

[quote]I remember after Paris Hilton got out of the slammer, she brought her Bible with her on Larry King Live. King asked her what her favorite passage was. It didn’t go well.

What was her reply? Was her favorite the quiz "Is Your Guy a Stud Or a Dud?"

I think it's great churches are opening. Maybe now we can finally get rid of all the religious loons.

[quote] Yes, but I tend not to join groups that actively hate me

I would never join any club that would have me as a member.

I am not R242, but he is right. Fuck that. They even hate straight women who are progressive much less gay men. Why would anyone want to join a club where it is all about hating various groups? Seems like drinking poison to me.

Evangelicalism is a made-up, fake, “make up your own rules” sham of a religion.

[quote] All five Catholic bishops in Washington state have issued a statement in response to comments by President Donald Trump which explains that public masses were suspended “out of our deepest respect for human life and health” amid the COVID-19 crisis.

What a difference between them and early church leaders during Roman persecution. A difference in attitude and in luxurious lifestyle.