The pastor who officiated at a super-spreader wedding gave a defiant indoor sermon to maskless congregants, according to the Boston Globe:
The officiant of a now-infamous wedding in Millinocket gave a defiant sermon during an indoor church service on Sunday, just a day after Maine’s CDC announced it was investigating a coronavirus outbreak among those affiliated with the Sanford church.
Todd Bell, the pastor, portrayed Calvary Baptist Church, which he leads, as being on the front lines of a culture war, battling against a “socialistic platform” that mandates mask-wearing and distance learning in schools.
“I’ll tell you what the world wants all the churches to do,” Bell said during one of two Sunday services, which the church posted on YouTube. “They want us to shut down, go home, and let people get used to that just long enough until we can finally stop the advancing of the Gospel.”
Bell’s comments echoed some of the political talking points that President Trump and others on the right have used to decry coronavirus restrictions. At a rally in New Hampshire on Friday night, for example, Trump lamented that Democrats “don’t believe law-abiding citizens can go to a church together. You can’t go to church anymore.”
The Aug. 7 wedding at which Bell officiated in East Millinocket has been linked to 123 coronavirus cases in Maine, the largest outbreak in the state, as well as to the death of Theresa Dentremont, an 83-year-old woman who did not attend the event. Many of the participants in the wedding, including the bride and groom, went silent as the fallout grew, switching their social media accounts to private.
But Bell’s sermon on Sunday, at his church 225 miles south of the scene of the wedding, was fiery and unrepentant, indicating just how politicized the coronavirus has become, even in communities that have been affected by it. At times, he seemed to delight in provocation, saying that he hoped media outlets would watch the service. He did not respond to a request from the Globe for comment.
Churches have been political battlegrounds during the coronavirus, as well as occasional hot spots, with more than 650 cases linked to houses of worship and religious events since the pandemic began, according to a New York Times database in early July.
On Sunday morning, a 15-person choir assembled onstage at Calvary Baptist, maskless, and sang hymns.
The state of Maine says “cloth face coverings must be worn by all attendees when physical distancing is difficult to maintain” at worship services and also that “choirs are strongly discouraged.” When asked by the Globe whether the Sanford church was violating state rules, the Maine CDC said only that there was an ongoing investigation into the outbreak.
Gib Parrish, an epidemiologist in Maine, said that, based on what the Globe described of the service, the Sunday gathering appeared to increase the risk of participants contracting the coronavirus.
“If there are people who are likely to be positive in that group, then having an extended period of time together — particularly if they’re close by, [and] they’re not doing anything in terms of physical distancing or wearing masks, if they’re singing or shouting or talking loudly — those are activities that are known to facilitate transmission of the virus,” Parrish said.
Bell said in the sermon that the church was discouraging people from coming if they were sick and advising them to quarantine at home.
The pastor also warned his congregants that a vaccine against the coronavirus would include “aborted baby tissue,” an issue that some religious and antiabortion groups have seized upon in recent months. A number of vaccines, including those against rubella, chickenpox, and shingles, were manufactured using fetal cells from elective abortions decades ago, but the cell lines that continue to grow the vaccines are now generations removed from fetal cells. In April, a group including committee chairmen from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the Food and Drug Administration not to develop a coronavirus vaccine using cell lines that originated from fetal cells.
Bell said that instead of trusting a vaccine, he would put his faith in God, “the one that has the power to remove pestilences.”
The Boston Globe says the infamous wedding has thus far produced three deaths and more than 130 infections. It cited evangelical leaders who said that Pastor Bell represented a fringe element, not the mainstream of evangelical Christianity.
But even as such episodes of defiance and denial of COVID-19 make the rounds online, pastors and theologians in New England say such stances represent a fringe view within evangelical Christianity, one that serves to heighten the distance many faithful already feel from the politically fraught term “evangelical…”
“I think the aggressive stance of the guy in Maine is an outlier, and it makes me kind of cringe,” said Jeffrey Bass, executive director of Emmanuel Gospel Center, a group that works closely with evangelical churches in the Boston area.
Ryan Burge, an assistant professor at Eastern Illinois University who researches religion and political behavior, said evangelicals who reject public health guidance in the name of religious freedom are not representative of the movement as a whole.
Although there is no universally accepted definition of what it means to be an evangelical Christian, it’s generally understood to mean a commitment to the Christian gospel’s message of spiritual salvation through Jesus Christ, and a dedication to spreading that gospel to others. Self-identified evangelicals and born-again Christians make up 41 percent of Americans. Polls suggest the majority take COVID-19 precautions seriously, Burge and other experts said.
Darwinism in action.
Sounds like he would be a big fan of Susan Collins — maybe she worships at his church? Clearly whatever Trump says to this pastor or Susan Collins must be embraced. No doubt they take their marching orders from the same place, and I certainly don’t mean any heavenly entity, since the Ten Commandments include prohibitions against lying and killing.
You can check the religion of Sen. Susan Collins (not evangelical). It is the same as Sen. Thom Tillis’. Reportedly, the straw donations of USPS Postmaster General DeJoy (same religion) were given to Tillis’s campaign. It is the same religion as Bill Barr’s and Leonard Leo’s. It is the religion that has state conferences in almost every state promoting school choice and politicking to take away women’s reproductive rights. Many of that same religion’s state conferences work against gay rights and oppose bans on conversion therapy.
It’s vexing and dangerous to know so many people attribute theocracy to evangelicals while ignoring the other major religion. The Biel case that exempted religious institution employees from civil rights employment law should have awakened more people. Religious organizations are the third largest U.S. employer and most of their employees are not working for evangelical organizations.
SCOTUS doesn’t have a single conservative justice who is an evangelical.
Not sure why you are tying Susan Collins in to this pastor & his misled flocks, other than that she represents the state where he’s pastor. Certainly not for religious reasons? Obviously she’s a wimpy it45-follower & I hope she gets voted out.
ME is not exactly evangelist territory. This pastor was raised in FL & trained in NC, & has spawned exactly 4 small congregations in his 25 yrs there despite operating in central-north rural region where one can find the Trumpistas et al rw. Their ornery libertarianism culture is the main factor in behavior. However rural Mainers are also practical, & have very tight-knit, self-protective communities. From what I read so far, local reaction to his reckless behavior is negative, & has spawned more covid-protective behavior.
My brother says:
Dr John MacArthur in California has been ordered by the governor and now the courts to shut down all in door church services. As a believer, God says basically, it’s better to obey God rather than man. Regardless, MacArthur said on Fox News there will be church indoors this Sunday.
It’s brutal but this is one way to get rid of Trump supporters. Can’t anyone pray in private?
Coronevangelist
Coronevangelist preacher
Virus spreading teacher
Covid is the feature
Far and wide the reach here
So sad and reckless, but true. How is spreading disease taking the “personal responsibility” the right wing always mentions?
And God said unto the viruses: Be fateful and multiply (Germasis 1:28)
SomeDAM Poet.
Thank you for making me laugh.
Love your Germasis 1:20.
SomeDAM Poet,
I mistyped. Meant: Germasis 1:28, not 1:20.
You are good. Love your “Coronavirus preacher…”, too.
These people obviously haven’t heard the drowning man joke. A man sitting on his rooftop during a flood is offered help by a rowboat, a motorboat, and a helicopter. Each time he refuses and says God will save him. Of course he drowns. Later on he gets to discuss events with God and asks him why he didn’t save him after he put his faith in him. God replies that he sent a rowboat, a motorboat, and a helicopter. What else did the man expect?
That is a great story!
“What else did the man expect?”
Maybe he was waiting for the Jesus Lizard
Thanks for the fun video.
Completely off topic but can’t pass up –
This story was used eloquently in the West Wing death penalty episode, “Take This Sabbath Day” when the priest, played as eloquently by Karl Malden explains to President Bartlet:
The story … … “God said, “I sent you a radio report, a helicopter, and a guy in a rowboat. What the hell are you doing here?”
(on Bartlet’s decision to pardon or not): “He sent you a priest, a rabbi, and a Quaker, Mr. President. Not to mention his son, Jesus Christ. What do you want from him?”
Though not a believer myself, I recognize that there are specific lessons attributed to Jesus Christ, and I think a generally accepted definition of a Christian would be those who accept and try to live by those lessons. Which means a great many self-professed Christians are actually fake Christians.
They are Christian Nationalists, also known as Christian Dominionists, and they (obviously) do not believe in the separation of church and state, nor democracy. They don’t care if Trump breaks everything, because their plan is to replace it with biblical law. Betsy DeVos is one of them.
Every person who is an evangelical would claim to be doing exactly what you suggest. They would say they accept the lessons and are trying to live by them. Trust me, I live among Christians who feel this way and Christians who feel that they are wrong to live this way. I have been attending church for nearly 65 years now. There is always disagreement within the minds of the believers.
Roy Turrentine: My aunt reads the bible everyday for several hours. She doesn’t attend church as much now because of her age related problems. She is a sweet, lovely person.
A few years back, when I was visiting her, I said that all people should have access to healthcare. Her response was, “Those druggies shouldn’t get healthcare. My son went to college and he deserves to get it.”
My brother, who is proud of the number of quotes from the bible that he has memorized, once said that Jesus, when he was alive on earth, only helped those who were working.
“Christians”?????? I don’t think Jesus put a label on who should be cured.
I concur with your picture of the teachings of Jesus. The idea that we should not help a drug addict is heir to the idea that God punishes us for our iniquities. Thus fundamentalists can suggest that AIDS was punishment for sins, and the three friends of Job can tell him the same thing in that story. Perhaps the concept of Karma is in this vein of thought. The only way to break the silly cycle of what goes around comes around is the idea of redemption.
Someone please tell Pastor Bell that Jesus was a radical socialist.
Bingo
The Second Coming
If Jesus were alive today
He’d be in jail, for sure
A “terrorist”, the Prez would say
“An evil that is pure”
They’d send him to Guantanamo
And throw away the key
Cuz Jesus talked like Marx, you know
And dangerous he’d be
Before they sent him off to jail
They’d hang him out to dry
With “journalists” to pound the nail
That made him scream and cry
Jesus vs the Wealthy
“The meek will inherit the Earth”
An evil that is pure!
“Your money’s not your worth”
A Socialist , for sure!!
How? 🤔
This is my state and it is not the norm. We had been doing fairly well until this super spreader event, which also spread to a jail in York County – because protocols weren’t put in place at the jail. Our state is doing a decent job with contract tracing – which is why everyone can talk about this wedding.
The droves of cars from NY, NJ, NH and MA in Maine right now makes many locals anxious. The Globe also wrote a story about how Maine is not as welcoming to Massachusetts tourist this summer.
Also: I am a Democrat who always votes for Susan Collins, I don’t think I can this year. However, Susan has been wearing a mask. Her message has been to follow CDC guidelines and wear a mask. She can not be tied to this – that is not fair. At all.
You should rest easy about MA, their positivity rate is barely above yours of 0.5. MA’s was 1.5 in July, dropped to 0.9 in Aug, now it’s 0.7. And NYS has been running 0.8-0.9 for weeks.
My state, NJ, has been stuck at 2.5 all summer.
Surpised to find NH is at 2.3 now. They were under 1.0 for weeks.
Now we all have to sit to & see what happens as K12’s open on hybrid basis.
I would not “rest easy” based on low positivity rates alone.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2015897
I meant as a Maine resident, I wouldn’t be too concerned to see lic plates indicating vacationers from states that have been maintaining very low covid pos rates for weeks. Wouldn’t be happy to share my stores with visitors from high-rate/ high-rise states though. ME exempts visitors from NY, NJ, NH, CT & VT from quarantining (or presenting up to 72-hr old neg PCR test result) upon arrival. But who knows how/ whether they’re enforcing it.
To me the host-state environment is more important. I just returned from a month in MA. In our usual vacation area, tourist volume was 1/3-1/2 lower than usual. They have the same quarantine rules & I knew folks from FL who were following it (we talked only on FB). People were masked & distanced everywhere incl outdoors; restaurants no indoor dining & outdoor distanced pickups , stores low-cap capacity, instakart avail at grocers, no outdoor or indoor concerts or the like.
I’ve seen no stats suggesting false-neg tests are an issue; of more concern is whether free tests w/24hr turnaround are widely available in the area.
I think the enforcement relies on the honesty of hotel owners and rental agencies. It probably varies by town and establishment. But to drive through a tourist town and see lots of tourists mingling unmasked, is scary.
Agree that is scary. My brother lives in downeast ME where folks are quite cautious, but he says not far north of him it’s quite different. Full disclosure: even back home in NJ I am more or less self-quarantined, visiting only tiny stores w/ 3-4 masked customers & gloved/ masked cashiers behind Plexiglas; grocer once every 6 wks. In MA finally got to visit at length w/sons but only cuz they quarantined 2 wks & got neg tests before coming up to join us. They did all our shopping – by instakart. Now I see how easy that is, I’ll probably stop even grocer trips!
Bethree5 says “’ve seen no stats suggesting false-neg tests are an issue; ”
That article that I linked to was from the New England Journal of medicine.
There is lots of other stuff as well
This, for example
https://www.healio.com/news/primary-care/20200616/us-taking-wrong-approach-to-covid19-testing-expert-warns
People are quoting “positivity rates” that are below (in some cases well below) the accuracy (particularly the false negative rate) of any covid test.
That’s misleading because it makes it seem that the infection rate is lower than it probably is.
The other thing one needs to be careful about is quoting “positivity” for an entire state because that’s an average. There can be areas that have significantly higher rates so if someone is vacationing out of state, it matters specifically where they originated from. I was in Vermont for many months, which has a very strict policy about visitation that is based on the covid infections in county by county in other states.
By the way, here’s an effective and very easy way to sterilize an N95 mask many times.
https://mbio.asm.org/content/11/3/e00997-20
Would probably also work for homemade masks, since the principle is the same: steam kills the virus.
Susan Collins has enabled Trump over and over again. The fact that she wears a mask because she doesn’t want to die or infect her own family and cause their deaths is clearly about preserving her own health. VP Pence wears a mask, too. Trump allows all of his sycophants to wear masks as long as they make sure never to criticize Trump’s response to the pandemic, and Susan Collins has nothing but praise for Trump. Trump knows that he owns Pence and Collins and they both take their marching orders from Trump when Trump needs them to support something very bad he wants to do.
I’m actually shocked that anyone is still considering voting for Collins unless they are a conservative Christian and thrilled that Trump will have Collins’ approval when he appoints more of the most right wing Supreme Court Justices and federal judges.
You might also remember that Susan Collins personally approved of Betsy DeVos in committee when her vote could have prevented DeVos from becoming Secretary of Education. Susan Collins only got permission from Trump to oppose DeVos once Trump knew he didn’t need Collins’ support. Collins will always put Trump’s needs first, even if her constituents die.
Lots of people who voted for Collins in the past that wish they could take it back and they aren’t even considering voting for Collins again — a vote for Collins is a vote for Trump. Period. Trump has a 50% chance of winning and Collins will enable Trump to do anything he wants, just as she has done the past 4 years. She can only vote against Trump when her vote isn’t needed — which is when her boss –Trump – gives his permission for her to pretend to be “independent” as long as she makes sure not to criticize Trump.
There is a time for peace
There is a time to practice what Jesus taught
There is a time to love one’s neighbor
There is a time to do onto others as we want done onto us
There is a time to pray in secret where our Father will know
There is a time to live as Jesus taught
and a time to fail to live as Jesus taught
There is a time to suffer our failure.
As my country preacher Grandpa would have said: all the time.
Diane, I have no idea at all why this is appearing here. Can you remove it? Thank you.
WordPress is a Superspreader of phone numbers.
Bob, what do you want me to remove?
The PEW research study from 2014 has some fascinating data about the proportions of believers in various religions, and many subtypes in a large categories (such as Evangelicals), their educational levels, and state maps to show largest concentrations of a given religion.
Of particular interest is the following breakout which shows the educational levels of people who claim to believers. The sample size was 35,000. https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/educational-distribution/by/religious-tradition/
Interesting link, Laura! Some surprises there.
My friend Ray died of Covid recently. I do not know where he got it. He was one of those country people who,was at the dorm of the church every time It opened. If figure he could,not keep,away from church.
It did not have to be this way. We could have had leadership that made it clear church was a dangerous place and did not make it a political or social issue. But Ray is dead. I know he was old and something would have carried him off sooner or later, but why now? Why was he carried by a virus that could have at the very least been reduced by the action of a real government? I did not get to see Ray much in recent years, but I loved him and I wish he were not robbed of his last few years by this pandemic.
Sorry to hear of your loss, Roy.
Saddened by this post about Ray and so sorry for your loss.
Roy,
I am sorry for the loss of your friend. He didn’t have to die. His was a wrongful death.
Roy, I’m sorry to read about your friend’s death. It is SO sad to see people suffer and go before their time.
In my beliefs, he is now in a much better place, but that doesn’t help those of us who are left behind.
Thanks, y’all
So very sorry about your friend’s death. His death was preventable.
Thanks for sharing. So sad.
trump is owned by Putin.
This is very sad, Roy. I’m sorry.
“We could have had leadership that made it clear church was a dangerous place and did not make it a political or social issue.” Even better, leadership—governors—who simply mandated the closing of places of worship during pandemic, and enforced it. Most of these places are unable to operate safely for the same reasons most of our schools are not. The govt has the right to protect its citizens from community gatherings that spread disease. There are so many ways ministers can provide spiritual support, and a congregation’s members can help each other safely despite not being able to congregate indoors.
Roy, sorry about the loss of your friend..
41% of Americans say they are evangelical Christian? Doesn’t that seem really high when only 75% say they are Christian?
The data I read claimed the two major religions, Catholic and evangelical, were each at around 20%.
Are you responding to the chart at Laura’s link? If so, those blue-bar stats, e.g., in the low 40%’s for Evangelicals & Catholics are under the heading “high school diploma or less.” The chart just breaks down each affiliation according to % achieving various levels of education. The chart at this link shows breakdown of self-declared affilation
https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/
with evangelicals at 25% & catholics at 21%, unaffiliated at 22%, etc.
Pastors like Bell are nothing more than CULT leaders. The same as Jim Jones who had his people drink the “Koolaide”.
Trump is nothing more a CULT leader who demands and receives complete loyalty. Loyalty to Trump like him and Bell is based solely on fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of loosing a job. Fear of being ridiculed. Fear of not being part of the “in crowd”.
For those people in the religious cult lead by the likes of Bell it is a fear of being told that if you do not totally believe in what he says then you will go to hell.
Hopefully there is a place being held for Trump and people like Bell.
How? 🤔
How is Jesus a radical socialist? He didn’t discuss government much. 🤔
I could never vote for Susan Collins, because Republicans are bad news. ☹️
I like your questions, Eddie! I’m no Gospel scholar, but I sure remember “render unto Caesar…” as one of few commentaries on government. However, following Jesus’ precepts might well lead rich people to give away their wealth to help the poor, and for all to bolster the welfare of children. It’s not much of a stretch from there to organize govt in a manner that implements those goals, which some might call “radical socialist.”
And yet… Jesus was looking for each person to find his faith and act accordingly, regardless of govt mandates. There’s no easy answer here: Jesus was not a “radical socialist” in govtl terms. Hell, capitalism had not even been defined yet.
Early Christian communities were communal. Everyone was taken care of no matter their status or wealth. There were even people designated within the community to make sure that the most needy were cared for.
“Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
Some might call that radical.😀
The conservative religious message capitalist enslavement. It gets them money from the deep pocketed. In return the funders are promised the flocks’ compliance with despots.
Legatus, Catholic Vote, Knights of Columbus, Jerry Falwell and whoever replaces him…. The religious right was founded by Charles Koch’s man- Paul Weyrich. Steve Bannon used religion to get Trump’s win.
Women’s rights are radical only because religion has made women second class citizens from the beginning of male interpretation of God’s teachings.
Imagine the flack that a politician would take if he belonged to a club that codified in its by-laws, no women leaders. But, tack a religious sect’s name on it, and it gains status for the politician.
Re: Collins – How can anyone, ANYONE, vote for a republican senator or representative? The list of the president’s lies, deaths on his watch, and egregious acts are pages long. Except for Romney’s few critical comments, has Collins or any of the complicit loyalists said a word.
Re: The Pastor… This has nothing to do with religious principles or beliefs. It is 100% using the church and the public to make a political statement of support for this sick man. Masks? C’mon. Seriously?
Did the churchgoers wear seat belts (as required by their state and feds) on the way to church?
Did they smoke in the closed car?
Do they serve alcohol to their young teens at the dinner table?
Are they all religious anti-vaxers or do some actually comply with the regulations for their kids entering school?
….
They may be dumb, but not they’re not stupid. Their brazen no-mask attendance is as stated above, taking koolaid from President Bob Jones.
You don’t have to wear a mask if you are a Trump supporter. Climate change isn’t happening so ‘Don’t worry! Be Happy!” [and stupid] Yeah…until it is too late to change course.
Cumulative deaths expected in U.S. by Jan. 1 are 415,090 Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington
…………………………………
When Good People Don’t Act, Evil Reigns
Stop thinking that the horrors of the world will simply work themselves out.
Sept. 13, 2020
By Charles M. Blow
I have often wondered how major world tragedies and horrors were allowed to unfold. Where were all the good people, those who objected or should have? How did life simply go on with a horror in their midst?
How did the trans-Atlantic slave trade play out over hundreds of years? How did slavery thrive in this country? How was the Holocaust allowed to happen? How did the genocides in Rwanda or Darfur come to be?
There is, of course, nearly always an explanation. Often it is official policy; often it is driven by propaganda. But I’m more concerned with how people in the society considered these events at the time, and how any semblance of normalcy could be maintained while events unfolded.
It turns out that our current era is providing the unsettling answer: It was easy.
As I write this, nearly two hundred thousand Americans have died — many of them needlessly — from Covid-19, in large part because the Trump administration has refused to sufficiently address the crisis, be honest with the American people and urge caution. Instead, Trump has lied about the virus, downplayed it, resisted scientists’ warnings and continues to hold rallies with no social distancing and no mask requirements.
Things are poised to get worse: Models now predict that the number of Americans killed by the virus could double between now and Jan. 1. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington:
“We expect the daily death rate in the U.S., because of seasonality and declining public vigilance, to reach nearly 3,000 a day in December. Cumulative deaths expected by Jan. 1 are 415,090; this is 222,522 deaths from now until the end of the year.”…
And yet, Americans still flock to Trump rallies, Republicans continue to defend his pandemic response and it is not clear that he will be defeated in November. We are, in many states, back to restaurants and bars, schools and churches, gyms and spas. It’s not as if we don’t know that there is a deadly virus being transmitted through the air, but it seems as though many Americans, weary of restrictions, have simply made their peace with it.
We have a climate crisis that continues to worsen. Storms are getting stronger. Droughts are severe. Rivers are flooding. The sea level is rising. And yet, we don’t do nearly enough to stop it and may not do enough before it’s too late to do anything.
Right now much of the West Coast is ablaze with hellish scenes of orange skies, and yet too many of us entertain climate change deniers, or, perhaps worse, know well the gravity and precariousness of the situation and still haven’t changed our habits or voted for the candidates with the boldest visions to save the planet….
Right now, China has detained as many as one million mostly Muslim citizens, in indoctrination camps, hoping to remold many into what The New York Times called “loyal blue-collar workers to supply Chinese factories with cheap labor.”
And yet, the world does little. Many look away. Life goes on.
This is how these catastrophes happen — in full sight — and people with full knowledge don’t revolt. People sometimes think that the issue is far away, or if it’s not, that it’s too big and they are too powerless.
They think provincially, or even parochially, concerned with their own house, their own street, their own community.
“It’s too bad that those children are in cages, but I can’t worry about that now, the clothes in the dryer need folding.”…