This article originally appeared on the blog of Heretic, the magazine of We Are Libertarians.
This afternoon, President Trump ordered that the nation’s Governors allow their churches to reopen this weekend, deeming them essential to America.
A few thoughts on this:
- The Church is essential, but not to America. The Church is the opposite and enemy of empire, whether that’s the empire of Babylon, Rome, or Washington D.C. Stating that The Church is essential for America is like stating that Jesus’ ministry was essential for Herod’s reign – it’s a nonsensical claim that totally misses the subversive, liberating nature of the former and the evil, binding nature of the latter.
- The Church is essential, but the Church building is not. I look forward to returning to in-person fellowship at my Church’s building very much, but not to the point where I’m willing to endanger the elder and immuno-compromised members of that community. If congregational fellowship has suffered over the past few months, that’s the fault of the congregants, not an inherent result of not meeting physically.
- Christians, stop letting the GOP use you as pawns. You honestly think Trump cares about your churches? Only for the votes he can so easily get from them.
