More Praise the Lord and Pass the Coronavirus in KY. Louisville Church Defies Shelter In Place.

God save me from his followers.  

Louisville area preacher defies ban on mass gatherings, plans to hold Sunday service

Jack Roberts says he is too old to be a rebel, but the 76-year-old Louisville area preacher continues to defy a state ban on mass gatherings to hold services at Maryville Baptist Church.

Unless the authorities intervene, he intends to do so again on Sunday, and says he would go to jail and to court rather than pay a fine for violating the March 19 order of Kentucky’s Department of Public Health.

“I’m not interested in trying to defy the government,” Roberts told The Courier Journal. “I don’t want to battle with anybody. What I’d like to do is just preach the gospel, and that’s become more difficult as time’s gone on. And it’s truthfully what I plan on doing.”

And he is not alone.  A Lutheran church plans the same damn thing.

Governor Andy Beshear had no religious exemptions in his shelter in place order, but it ain’t stopping Jack Roberts.

Though several states have exempted religious services from restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, Kentucky’s order makes no distinction among “faith-based” events, ballgames or concerts. All of them are prohibited.

Roberts says such a prohibition tramples rights protected by the First Amendment and Kentucky’s Constitution. At issue is whether the freedom to practice one's religion conflicts with the greater good in a medical emergency.

When this was brought up to Governor Beshear, he had some choice words for Roberts.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear had strong words for religious leaders still planning to host mass gatherings despite his orders and restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

“If you're still holding mass gatherings, church or otherwise, you are spreading the coronavirus. And you are likely causing the death of Kentuckians,” Beshear said in his Saturday briefing. “It's that clear.”

His emotional response was geared toward pastor Jack Roberts of Maryville Baptist Church who continues to defy a state ban on mass gatherings to hold services.

Unless the authorities intervene, Roberts told the Courier Journal, he intends to do so again Sunday, and says he would go to jail and to court rather than pay a fine for violating the March 19 order of Kentucky’s Department of Public Health.

But Roberts and other religious fanatics do not care about your physical needs or live.  Seems they feel that your spirits are more important.

Louisville's Our Savior Lutheran is also continuing to hold services, albeit with additional precautions. Attendance is limited to those who register online. Seating is restricted to every other pew.

“This is one of those times where I have to pray diligently and speak to my people sincerely and ask them to be safe,” Our Savior Pastor Joshua Cook said Saturday. “But I can't deny the reality of their spiritual health, either. . .

“I believed in the spiritual necessity of church before COVID-19. After COVID-19, we don't have fewer spiritual crises; we have more.”

Emboldened is mine.

Oh, and remember that little revival meeting that killed two people?  Seems that the churches involved in that fiasco are trying to shift the blame to others.

Star of Bethlehem affirmed that it did not believe it needed to cancel services the weekend of March 15 in the letter from its attorneys.

According to the statement, Hopkins County Judge Executive Jack Whitfield had downplayed the governor's request to halt religious services during a Facebook briefing ahead of the March 15-16 event.

Beshear had issued the request on March 11, saying a church in Harrison County had already played a role in spreading the virus between members.

But the following day, Whitfield said he did not consider Hopkins County to be in a state of emergency because it had no confirmed cases, and “he was not one to overreact and panic,” the letter stated.

“Like the majority of churches in Western Kentucky and throughout the Commonwealth, Star of Bethlehem held their regularly scheduled services on Sunday, March 15th and their specially scheduled service on Monday, March 16th,” the letter stated.

By the way, the Texas preacher they brought in for that revival is still running loose.

Will the cops arrest Jack Roberts tomorrow?  Beats me.  Mayor Fischer of Louisville is a dickless wonder.  He refuses to take action against street racers, wealthy golf clubs, and is trying to help GE force its employees to be exposed to coronavirus.  Fischer doesn’t want to piss anyone off.