How Will You (and Your Church) Respond to the Next Lockdown?
By now we’ve all heard rumors of increasing Covid prevalence with renewed mask mandates and potential lockdowns this coming fall. We are nearly 3 ½ years out from the “15 days to flatten the curve.” In my own Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it was almost 450 days later that the Pennsylvania Legislature ended the Governor’s emergency powers (6/10/2021) thanks to the voice of the voters in the preceding month’s primary election.
We are presently 1,277 days past the original national emergency declaration on March 13, 2020. If there is any return to the insanity of social distancing, mask and vaccine mandates, lockdowns, and emergency quarantines of healthy people, then we will have proven that we have learned absolutely nothing. And if church leaders recommend and enforce any of these measures in their churches, then they have proven themselves untrustworthy shepherds or perhaps more accurately wolves in sheep’s clothing.
But let us not forget that the majority of American churches in 2020 participated with carte blanche lock-step fidelity to deceptive and illusory ideologies. And let us not forget that few have confessed error or publicly repented. (I recently participated in a podcast addressing this.) And let us also not forget that many churches practiced de facto excommunication of its members who refused to comply with deception. Here is a raw journal entry I wrote on 6/13/2020 entitled “Fenced Out of the Lord’s Table” (with some edits to protect privacy):
Having been raised in a Christian setting, I have heard the term “fencing the Lord’s table” in various denominational contexts most of my life. This has always rightly and biblically referred to not allowing unbelievers to participate in this sacrament, thereby bringing damnation on the person participating unworthily (I Cor. 11:17ff). In a dramatic irony, tomorrow LuAnne and I are fenced out of the Lord’s table for the first time in our collective 75 ½ years of active participation in church membership. Why? Because we refuse to participate in a service of masked pretenders.
Our church—…, where we have been members since November 2014—has a policy (5/13/20) in place which states: “Most importantly, [leadership] expects all attenders to wear a mask or face shield while on church property. If you are unwilling to wear a mask, we ask that you continue worshipping through the live stream at home.” In a six-page response (5/20/20) to our [leadership], we have critiqued their policy both medically and theologically. We ended our response by excusing ourselves from church attendance while these restrictions are in place “because integrity does not permit us to accommodate illusion.” Despite medical, historical, confessional, and ecclesiastical challenges to [leadership’s] guidelines from us and others, these have fallen largely on deaf ears. Or, as a physician friend from another state has said, “[Leadership] has lost its way.”
Sometime back, our church had rightly explained why we do not believe in participating in virtual communion. Ironically, I suppose for the “non-elect” who either refuse to attend or who are outside the 250-number cap on service attendance, virtual communion will do just fine.
I thought I’d click on the link to sign up for service, just to see what happens. It took me out to Eventbrite (I thought I must be purchasing tickets for the Star Barn.) On that site, it stated: “Please do not come if you have COVID-19 symptoms [reasonable] and please let us know if you or a household member develop symptoms or receive a positive diagnosis within 14 days of your attendance since this means you could have unknowingly been infectious.” It appears the Nanny church is alive and well.
Suddenly, the church’s modus operandi has become— “your health and safety are our top priority.” Almost Gestapo-like, I suppose unmasked attenders would be met at the door with a mask-carrying [leadership] member in the true spirit of “violators will be prosecuted.” Ironically, the church has now added both public health and law enforcement to their ecclesiastical duties.
Despite the fact that this (coronavirus and how to deal with it) is something that professionally we know a good bit about, that doesn’t seem to matter. I could review the 13 Covid-positive patient records from the past week or two in our practice, but that doesn’t seem to matter either. Never mind that they’re all doing just fine.
We pray daily that God preserves our witness and that we would be spared a spirit of bitterness. But a trust has been broken, and I fear it will be very difficult if not impossible to restore. God help us all.
You may be tempted to say, Joel, just let this go! And I wish I could. But without acknowledgement, confession, and repentance, we will repeat the “well-intentioned errors of our past” (to paraphrase President Reagan). And the repetition of those errors will mark the death of freedom and integrity as well as drive a nail in the coffin of the American church. In his Letter to the American Church (2002), Eric Metaxas writes in the Introduction:
The parallels [of the American Church] to where the German Church was in the 1930s are unavoidable and grim.
The German church of the 1930s was silent in the face of evil; but can there be any question whether the American Church of our own time is guilty of the same silence?
Many will say that the Church will never shut down again like they did in 2020. And I hope they are right. But it begs the question why they did so in the first place? Most defend such actions by saying no one knew what we were dealing with. I can concur in part with that appeal to ignorance, but by early April 2020, many of us knew that a global tyranny and mass delusion under the guise of a public health pandemic was being foisted upon us. So let me yet again address medical and theological issues with future lockdowns.
Medical Implications
I’m not a virologist, immunologist, or epidemiologist. (These were critiques leveled against me for being unqualified to speak about coronavirus.) But I am a family doc who’s been studying medicine since 1997 and seeing sick people since 2000. Between LuAnne and me, that’s a collective 52 years of experience. In the early days of Covidiocy when one was supposed to report exposure and then self-quarantine (in the absence of symptoms) for 14 (which became 10 and then 7 and then 3) days, I realized that I would never be able to circulate in public again, as I’m exposed to sick people nearly every waking day!
Have you been exposed to someone with Covid in the past 14 days?
Yes, I’ve been treating dozens and dozens of Covid patients in the last months. But I’m not sick.
Oh, and by the way, that was without wearing a mask in my office and without spreading Covid from my office.
In a previous post, I briefly summarized 8 lies regarding Covid. Two lies show up in this scenario: 1) the effectiveness of masks and 2) asymptomatic spread. I and many others have written about these, so I’ll be brief.
We know that masks do absolutely nothing to prevent viral spread. We’ve known that for decades. Surgeons wear surgical masks to prevent droplet spread of bacteria into open surgical wounds, not to prevent viral spread. And even that is sketchy at best. I document this extensively in our Coronavirus book. We know that all the “new” studies since Covid showing the effectiveness of masking were largely mathematical models based on the flawed premise that they were effective. In his Unmasked: The Global Failure of Covid Mask Mandates (2022), Ian Miller does a fascinating job showing in Chapter 1 the mask science pre-Covid and in Chapter 2 the “experts’ new science.” The latter turned on a dime, literally between March 31st and April 3, 2020.
Dr. Fauci was told in an email on March 31st, “Ten RCTs [randomized controlled trials] were included in the meta-analysis, and there was no evidence that face masks are effective in reducing transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza” (p. 15).
On March 31, Fauci was sent that email, confirming that his statements on March 8 to 60 Minutes [that masks don’t work] were scientifically correct, yet on April 3, he and the CDC, with no new evidentiary basis, recommended universal masking” (p. 13).
And the Church followed lockstep with this delusion, penalizing (as in de facto excommunication) those who refused to comply with mask mandates. To the Church who will defend herself by saying that they are just following public health and CDC guidelines, I would remind them that this is the same CDC who recently said that men are able to breastfeed.
Can transgender parents who have had breast surgery breastfeed or chestfeed their infants?
Yes. Some transgender parents have had had breast/top surgery may wish to breastfeed, or chestfeed… [last reviewed July 9, 2023].
Can one really excuse church leaders who appeal to the CDC for direction to either defend or excuse their actions? I think not.
The same delusion was applied to the myth of asymptomatic spread of a virus. Never before in history was this thought promoted and never before were healthy people quarantined. As I’ve written about this previously, I’ll only note here that The Lancet Microbe recently published the following:
Very few emissions occurred before the first reported symptoms (7%). (Volume 4, Issue 8, E579-590, August 2023.)
In other words, asymptomatic spread (of any disease) is a very rare phenomenon, in keeping with what Dr. Fauci said on 1/20/2020:
But the one thing historically people need to realize—that even if there is some asymptomatic transmission, in all the history of respiratory-borne viruses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks. The driver of outbreaks is always a symptomatic person, even if there’s a rare asymptomatic person that may transmit, an epidemic is not driven by asymptomatic carriers. [This is my own transcript of a YouTube interview with Fauci, which has since conveniently disappeared!]
So, what about the supposed Covid variant resurgence that’s coming? It always “amuses” me to read reports of “variants of interest” that are being watched, as if somehow things are programmed, and we’ll expect an outbreak by such-and-such-a-date. (That’s not generally how diseases work.) What about the two variants named Eris (a Greek goddess of strife and discord) and Pirola? While they may be rather contagious, their symptoms hardly rise to the level of a common cold. Dr. Malone answers the question in his August 22nd Stack:
So, ignore the alarm calls sounding from main-stream media.
He further warns:
Don’t be conned.
On August 24th, Florida’s Surgeon General Dr. Ladapo tweeted (or Xed) this:
Here’s some practical advice:
If you’re sick, stay home. If you’re healthy, live your life normally. There are no special precautions needed in church sanctuaries, grocery stores, medical offices, etc.
Don’t listen to mainstream media. Ironically, some conservative Mennonites who avoid internet get their news from telephone dial-ins, which are bastions of liberal ideology. Don’t trust Wikipedia (see Dr. Mercola’s 9/2/23 article on this) or Google.
Eat healthily. Get plenty of protein and limit simple carbs and pretty much eliminate processed food. Eat fruits and vegetables. It’s OK to eat some red meat/beef. A hobby of mine is smoking brisket on my Big Green Egg—on the menu for Labor Day! No, farting cows are not the problem and fake, lab-created “meat” is certainly not the answer. (I expect that Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab and co sit down routinely to the most expensive authentic filet mignon and are not existing on a diet of crickets and faux meat!)
Take something to boost your immune system. I recommend Kappa Nutrition Immune C Plus 12 in 1 or Immune N Plus 13 in 1 (which adds NAC, or N-acetyl cysteine). This has the recommended prophylactic and treatment doses of Vitamin C, D, quercetin, etc. I’ve been taking this pretty consistently over the past 12 to 18 months and I’ve had nary a sniffle. Of course as I write that, I’m aware I could come down with a full-blown illness tomorrow!
Get routine sleep.
Exercise. It doesn’t have to be fancy gym routines. Just get moving.
Limit screen time (and certainly stay off your phone prior to bed).
Just a thought-provoking question before moving to theological considerations. Why is the Weather Channel app on my phone offering a video on which arm to choose for a shot???
Theological Implications
Perhaps if church leaders had stayed in their theological lanes, some of the disaster of church lockdowns and virtual services would never have happened. It’s clear that they did not understand the concept of sphere sovereignty or jurisdictionalism, as masterfully outlined by my coauthor Dr. O’Roark in chapter 4 of our Coronavirus book. But the lines got incredibly blurred between personal, family, church, and civil spheres.
I wrote in my June “Dear Pastor” post about the beasts of seduction, deception, and persecution. If you are not familiar with those categories in relation to Covid, I’d encourage you to read that post again. I’d like to show how participating in lockdowns and mandates makes one culpably complicit with deception.
#1: Since mandates are based on lies, complying with mandates makes one a complicit liar.
I shouldn’t have to explain to Christians the premium the Word places on truth. We shouldn’t need reminding that the Ninth Commandment forbids “false witness.” The fact that Exodus 20:16 prohibits false witness against our neighbor does not therefore legitimize any other type of false witness which may not specifically be against our neighbor. The Parable of the Good Samaritan expressly teaches that neighbor is a broader category than we realize.
Placing a mask on one’s face is akin to telling our neighbor, I believe the lie the media has told me that this will protect both me and you! It’s true there are many people who believe this lie, but that still does not make it any less a lie. It gives new meaning to the Greek word hypokritēs, the basis for English hypocrite which essentially means a play-actor.
#2: Mask-wearing defaces the image of God and mars the temple.
One of the stated purposes of this blog is to reflect on the image of God as noted in Genesis. That passage states that the image is defined by our God-given gender (which is why the transgender movement is an affront to God Himself).
Ask yourself, How do you recognize someone? It’s not by one’s arms or legs or torso or hair. Our status as embodied souls or ensouled bodies is conferred by our face. If you’re called to the morgue to identify someone, you don’t look at their toe tag; you look at their face.
It is therefore perfectly logical that a transhumanist agenda which actively seeks to replace God would do so by covering the face. Anyone aware of Klaus Schwab and his Great Reset agenda of 2030 will have encountered his top advisor Yuval Noah Harai, who when he speaks about transhumanism, does so with a “fist-in-the-face-of-God” persona.
Let me push this a bit further. On the surface, it may appear that I’m taking the following passage out of context, but on further digging, I don’t think I am.
12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:12-18, ESV).
Now I know of some church communities who have used the “open” or “unveiled” face of verse 18 to prohibit men wearing beards. While I believe that is a stretch, I don’t think it’s a stretch to understand the metaphor of veiled and unveiled faces. The veil in this passage is likened to hardened hearts (v. 14) and refers to the old covenant. With the entrance of Christ and His redemptive work on Calvary, the new covenant is ushered in, and the veil is removed. Of course, Paul must be referring to the curtain separating the Holy of Holies which was torn from top to bottom at the very moment of Christ’s death. This unveiling allows the redeemed to see “with unveiled faces” the glory of the Lord. And while Paul was certainly not writing about facemasks to his original audience, I can’t get the correlation out of my mind that an act which is a complicit lie flies completely in the face of new covenant unveiling. I’ll let my readers decide if I am pushing the point too far!
Not only do masks do nothing in terms of their intended purpose, but they also cause harm—from poor speech and language development in children to incredibly dirty bacterial colonizers to headaches to sinus congestion to poor cognition and brain fog and a host of other deleterious effects. None of this is in keeping with caring for our bodies as a temple of the Third Person of the Trinity (I Corinthians 3:16-17 and I Corinthians 6:19).
#3: Scriptures are taken out of context and not compared with others.
During Covid, we were told repeatedly by those churches which upheld Covid mandates that we were obligated to obey the government and that our witness in the community was at stake.
What would these church leaders have told Daniel, who was under a government edict to not make a petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to the king? Daniel didn’t need to be told anything.
When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously (Daniel 6:10, ESV, emphasis added).
Or how about his three friends a few chapters earlier? They were also under a government edict to bow down and worship the king at the sound of multiple instruments. Again, they needed no prompting.
…be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up (Daniel 3:18, ESV).
These passages were conveniently ignored while Romans 13 was extolled. A few weeks ago, I was reading Romans 13 and noted these lines in an article on “Civil Government” in The Reformation Study Bible:
We must obey the magistrates unless they command us to do that which God forbids, or keep us from doing that which God commands. In both of these cases, we not only may, but we must disobey those in authority (p. 2004).
Surely bowing to government mandates predicated in lies and delusion is participating in something which God forbids. And keeping churches locked down and members out who refused to participate is keeping us from doing something which God commands, i.e., gather for worship. Yet somehow, we were still told by church leaders to obey our government!
It's my hope and prayer that these medical and theological thoughts will help you make wise decisions in the days ahead. As we celebrate the joys and rewards of labor on this Labor Day weekend, may you be reminded of Jesus’ words:
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed (John 6:27, KJV).