Yahoo posted an article titled, “Christian Leaders Call On Fellow Believers To Take Science Seriously During The Pandemic.” About 2,500 “Christian leaders” have “signed a statement defending science and calling on fellow believers to follow the advice of public health experts during the coronavirus pandemic.”
They are “deeply concerned” about the “polarization and politicization of science” they say is being fostered among Christians during this health crisis. They are so “deeply concerned” they were duped into the hypocritical polarizing and politicizing of science they decry.
These “leaders” claim that science “has become a weapon in the culture wars,” and “none of us should ignore clear scientific evidence.” Well, they have helped weaponize it. Much that has been said during this crisis about the science by health experts is not all that clear.
An article I read quoted one health expert as saying we should have a vaccine in six months (that was about two months ago), another expert said the COVID-19 virus, much like the HIV virus, mutates as it replicates making development of a vaccine difficult with no potential solution on the horizon.
That is just one example of an issue that science is not clear on. There are a host of others. The parameters put out by the Center for Disease Control for those who tested positive to return to work is in a constant state of flux because the science behind how we should respond to this new health threat is far from settled.
Of course, the purpose of this so-called statement to take the science seriously is to make those pastors and churches who have or want to reopen look ignorant because they are rejecting the science of this pandemic. Their “statement” has added to the polarization and politicization of this crisis not reduced it.
The casinos in Nevada can reopen but churches can’t. I haven’t read any articles or statements by religious leaders about casinos rejecting the “clear scientific evidence” of this pandemic. In many states beaches, gyms, bars, state parks and recreation areas have reopened, just to name a few, but there are no articles by the news media or statements by religious leaders calling them to task for ignoring the “clear scientific evidence,” just churches.
Churches just want to be treated fairly and enjoy the same freedoms our fellow citizens are afforded. I do not subscribe to the senseless conspiracy theories being foolishly circulated, because I trust science to help find the answers and a solution.
But not everything a scientist says is based on science. Sometimes what scientists say is at best an educated guess and truth be told there is never anything educated about a guess.
I do not know a single sincere Christian who denies clearly observable scientific facts, but I agree with the apostle Paul, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith,” 1 Timothy 6:20-21, KJV.
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