Jesus' blood won't save you from COVID-19. Not on Easter. Not ever.

Since I don't believe in god -- the Christian god or any other god -- today being Easter meant exactly nothing to me.

I "celebrated," using that word extremely broadly, by finishing up some field mowing that I started several days ago, and wrote about yesterday on one of my other blogs in The poetry of field mowing in the coronavirus era.

My wife had an online Zoom meeting of the atheist group that she leads at noon today. I didn't take part, but I listened to some of the discussion, which included talk about how some churches are continuing to hold services here in Oregon even though those gatherings are banned by our Governor's stay at home order.

Yes, religious people are acting irrationally and irresponsibly. What a non-shock. That's the nature of religion: ignoring reality and embracing fantasy.

Recently a CNN reporter talked to a woman who was in her car after leaving a church service in Ohio. She epitomizes the danger of zealous religiosity. As you can hear her say in the video below, the woman believes that "being covered in Jesus' blood" will keep her safe from the coronavirus.

What an idiot. There was no sign of Jesus' blood on her, naturally. So the blood is all in her crazed mind. Ordinarily that wouldn't bother me, since I'm used to religious fundamentalists believing all sorts of crazy crap.

However, as the reporter pointed out to her, that erroneous belief in Jesus' blood protecting her when she goes to Walmart or wherever could lead to other people becoming infected. So not only is this woman ignorant, she's selfish -- viewing her Christian fantasy as being more important than keeping others safe.

Here's the video.

 

Comments

[Sonia]

Yes, Jesus blood won’t save you but a vaccine (if they ever develop one) will. And whoever doesn’t get vaccinated because they don’t believe in vaccines, like a few of my relatives, should be required to live on an island together.

[Dungeness]

I think masking up in public should be obligatory for the duration
of the crisis. Isn't there a hefty fine or worse for non-compliance
in China... even if you're covered in the blood of Jesus.

[Jesse]

"Yes, religious people are acting irrationally and irresponsibly. What a non-shock. That's the nature of religion: ignoring reality and embracing fantasy."

Atheists are worse in their irrationality and irresponsibility. Look at how many atheists still fail to keep up with new data on this corona bullshit because their insane blood lust for their media provided hate object won't let them.

I'm glad that people are defying the government and risking. It's the wise choice to make in these insane times.

[Dungeness]

@ I'm glad that people are defying the government and risking. It's the
@ wise choice to make in these insane times.

I agree. Defy stupidity... government, Trumpian, or otherwise.
The blood you save may be your own.

[j]

Visiting your neighborhood stores and interacting with the cashiers during the CV epidemic is absolutely safe, but visiting church services is somehow extremely dangerous and irresponsible.

Hydroxychloroquine is an incredibly dangerous drug and it's irresponsible for anyone to suggest it might help CV patients, even though the FDA has approved this drug for that very purpose.

Every single model given us by scientists on this pandemic has been way off the mark, and yet we should still have absolute trust in their visions of the future-- even if it means a shutdown until next year.

Somehow China gets a total pass, as does the media and the party that told us social distancing was racist.

[Jesse]

Dungeness, since I give you a hard time so often, I'm unsure if you're being sarcastic or not, but if we really do agree this one time, that's pretty cool.

I'm not a religious believer, and I think many of these religious organizations are making ridiculous spectacles and embarrassing themselves and the human species, but I also can't bring myself to trust anything else I see or hear anymore. Too much wrongness is being touted as accurate and trustworthy.

And since I can't trust what is supposed to be objective truth coming from "experts" and the info curators in the media and "science", I have no choice but to embrace at least the option of another kind of craziness. If we can't rely on truth tellers telling the truth, at least it'll be more interesting and fun for us all to die of corona virus while taking part in strange rituals rather than sitting at home dying slowly as we watch "experts" lie to our faces.

Being in the mindset where you think being covered in a deity's blood will save you from a disease sounds way cooler than thinking that locking the world down and sending us into an economic depression will save us from disease. If we're gonna die anyway, I'd rather have lost my mind first. I want to see angels and hear trumpets as I float into the light. Not see old bald "experts" and hear their trembling nervous voices reading from shoddy graphs and data tables.

If truth isn't true, and reality is no fun, just drench me in Jesus blood. Boredom is the curse of our epoch.

[Sonia]

Well, I think you’ll appreciate this clip. “Jesus most certainly does judge” and what we’ve done to the environment is part of why we’re living in this corona virus nightmare.

One of my all time favorite films.
https://youtu.be/w2eNQ75wdq8

[s*]

That Corona is very much over the top..
Do as good as possible in cleanliness..
But anyways.. stay cool..
Vaccine's will not help,because virus changes.
Plus vaccins ruins the imune system.
So.. everyone make their very own choices.
Live as healthy as possible and leave the rest to our Creator..
Is how I see all this..
Stay happy and healthy..is my wish!
I love seeing the sewadars making all the food for neighborhoods..
That's beautiful..<3..

[Turan]

Yes, beliefs of this kind can be very strange, but sadly understandable. I watched an interview on RT the other night with Brian Greene. He reiterated the fact that we humans are unique in that we are the only species that is aware of its own mortality and it is this fear of death that is the very foundation of religions.

That's quite true although I would add that often the originators and their messages are quickly side-lined after their deaths in favour of subverting their insights to appease the ever-present death fear – and of course many of the world's religions and beliefs have become crude though useful tools for authorities to control and manage people by.

Greene also spoke on the fallacy of free will. If such as thing as free will existed (which implies an independent, autonomous agent) then there would be the ability to discard bizarre beliefs and to drop the superstitious. But because of humanity's deep indoctrination, fears and prejudices we can only choose from the limited information we have been programmed with – hence the continuing ignorance that we see regularly displayed in the name of religion.

[Mike England]

Jesus blood never failed me....yet

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KlSRA3cyUmQ

[Sonia]

Jesus blood never failed me....yet

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KlSRA3cyUmQ

Posted by: Mike England | April 15, 2020 at 03:47 PM

I’ve been a fan of Tom Waits for over 20 years, but that has to be the strangest of of all of his already strange songs. Kinda sad, sweet, and uncomfortable all at the same time. I feel weird now. 😶

[Mike England]

Sonia
There’s a story behind the song but it seems to have disappeared from you tube.
The person who made the song recorded a homeless guy singing it back in the day. He set it to music which added the sadness.
There’sa full on orchestral version too
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TfT3njX2FLU

I was drawn to the sadness and melancholy of it all

[Sonia]

I think masking up in public should be obligatory for the duration
of the crisis. Isn't there a hefty fine or worse for non-compliance
in China... even if you're covered in the blood of Jesus.

Posted by: Dungeness | April 12, 2020 at 11:22 PM

Yeah, in China I think you lose all your social credits if you don’t 😷 up. And if you are covered in the blood of Jesus you go straight to the Uighurs‘ camp. They take sh*t seriously. (I’m trying to swear less so...). My nieces say I remind them of the POV: your aunt from New Jersey on TikTok. They think I’m just like her without the Jersey accent. I pointed out that I don’t drink anymore and that The Department of Defense is warning people not to use TikTok over national security concerns. (That was completely lost on them.)

"the app's popularity with Western users including armed forces personnel, and its ability to convey location, image and biometric data to its Chinese parent company, which is legally unable to refuse to share data to the Chinese government"

Of course, the CCP is officially atheist, (not that there is anything wrong with that) but they’re not “democratically atheist”. They are oppressively atheist and this woman’s beliefs about God saving her from the corona virus would never be aired on TV. I guess this is the downside of freedom of the press. Still, I’d rather have the freedom to say something really stupid on TV than to live in a country where you are told what to believe.

The CCP gives atheism a bad name. 😂

[Sonia]

@Turan,

Religions do use their beliefs to control people, but keep in mind even atheism is used to control people in places like China and Cold War Russia/USSR.

State atheism is just as bad as brainwashing religious dogma. People should always have the freedom to choose their personal beliefs about the hereafter and God. People should have the right to believe or not to believe. There is a natural tendency for governments and religious organizations to try to control people.

“State atheism is the incorporation of positive atheism or non-theism into political regimes.[27] It may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments.[28] It is a form of religion-state relationship that is usually ideologically linked to irreligion and the promotion of irreligion to some extent.[29] State atheism may refer to a government's promotion of anti-clericalism, which opposes religious institutional power and influence in all aspects of public and political life, including the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen.[30][31][27] In some instances, religious symbols and public practices that were once held by religion were replaced with secularized versions.[32] State atheism can also exist in a politically neutral fashion, in which case it is considered as non-secular.[27]

The majority of Marxist–Leninist states followed similar policies from 1917 onwards.[30][28][33][34][9][35][36] The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991) and more broadly the Soviet Union (1922–1991) had a long history of state atheism, whereby those seeking social success generally had to profess atheism and to stay away from houses of worship; this trend became especially militant during the middle of the Stalinist era which lasted from 1929 to 1939. In Eastern Europe, countries like Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Russia, and Ukraine experienced strong state atheism policies.[34] East Germany and Czechoslovakia also had similar policies.[28] The Soviet Union attempted to suppress public religious expression over wide areas of its influence, including places such as Central Asia. Either currently or in their past, China,[28][33][36][37] North Korea,[36][37] Vietnam,[24] Cambodia,[9] and Cuba[35] are or were officially atheist.”

[Sonia]

Sonia
There’s a story behind the song but it seems to have disappeared from you tube.
The person who made the song recorded a homeless guy singing it back in the day. He set it to music which added the sadness.
There’sa full on orchestral version too
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TfT3njX2FLU

I was drawn to the sadness and melancholy of it all

Posted by: Mike England | April 16, 2020 at 02:19 AM

I sort of gathered that it was a person with difficulties singing the song (it sounded sort of like he didn’t have teeth and his voice was from a body that was weak). But out of context with the story I was a bit confused...

Thanks for sharing. The beauty of the spirit in humans at times is truly remarkable.

[Rob]

Jesus' blood won't save you from Covid-19. Try Cow piss instead!!!!

[Sonia]

Jesus' blood won't save you from Covid-19. Try Cow piss instead!!!!

Posted by: Rob | April 18, 2020 at 04:39 AM

Why? Why would you say something like that? Why? Seriously.

[Rob]

Jesus' blood won't save you from Covid-19. Try Cow piss instead!!!!

Posted by: Rob | April 18, 2020 at 04:39 AM

Why? Why would you say something like that? Why? Seriously.

Posted by: Sonia | April 18, 2020 at 01:10 PM

Why shouldn't I say what I said?

Ask a section of Hindus of the medicinal qualities of cow urine. Gaumutra as it is referred to locally. Just one of the fairly recent articles on it.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/from-gaumutra-to-magnets-its-all-anti-coronavirus/amp_articleshow/74940888.cms

Disturbing indeed how a well intended post gets coloured as being a demeaning sort.

LoL

[Sonia]

Disturbing indeed how a well intended post gets coloured as being a demeaning sort.

LoL

Posted by: Rob | April 18, 2020 at 02:47 PM

I guess I t was the four exclamation points you ended your statement with that made me think you weren’t being serious about the “Guamutra”.

I read the article you linked. I’m just curious who first decided drinking cow piss was a good idea... and then one day science comes along and discovers it has “healing” properties? I believe you. I’m not going to try it, but I’ll take your word for it.

So, is water from the Ganges is used as an antibacterial treatment?

I’m not saying it doesn’t work, I’m just saying it’s weird.

[manjit]

Hi Brian, you write: "Yes, religious people are acting irrationally and irresponsibly. What a non-shock. That's the nature of religion: ignoring reality and embracing fantasy."

Indeed, religions do cause people to act irrationally, ignore reality and embrace fantasy. I would also note that includes the religion you clearly follow, that of atheism, or more correctly anti-theism. Please allow me to clarify and help dispel the anti-theist fantasies you embrace.

But before I do that, let's hear some wonderful words of inspiration during these difficult times for humanity, from our Atheist & Scientific Saints:

“The human race is just a chemical scum on a moderate-sized planet, orbiting around a very average star in the outer suburb of one among a hundred billion galaxies. We are so insignificant…”
Stephen Hawking

The universe and life are pointless…
In a YouTube video he states that evolution “says that there is no special purpose for your life, because it is a naturalistic philosophy. We have no more extrinsic purpose than a squirrel or an armadillo.”
Jerry Coyne, biologist

Humans have always wondered about the meaning of life…life has no higher purpose than to perpetuate the survival of DNA…life has no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.
Richard Dawkins

That Man is the product of causes that had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve individual life beyond the grave. . . Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.
Bertrand Russell

“Man is a useless passion. It is meaningless that we live and it is meaningless that we die.”
Jean-Paul Sartre

Now, enobled as we are with those wise atheist and anti-theist sentiments, let's turn to the delusion and fantasies of religious folk:

What all your comments, and no doubt in your "meetings of an atheist group", doesn't mention is the very real word positives and benefits of religions, and spiritual beliefs in general.

For example, whilst most of the world's leaders and population honour the brave heroes working on the frontlines and risking their lives in our health services, stores, bus drivers, essential public services etc with clapping and badges, it was the Catholic Pope that was one of the first public figures to say we need to change our values as a society and reward these key workers with decent living wages rather than the obscene and pitiful wages they currently earn:

https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/12662/pope-francis-coronavirus-is-time-for-our-judgement-

All over the world, Sikh Gurdwaras and selfless Sikhs are risking their own lives by continuing to supply food and supplies to the most vulnerable in society, irregardless of the recipients religion, or lack of it. This is so striking that, for eg, here in the UK there was an outpouring of gratitude from so many people on Vaisakhi, like Prince Charles and numerous others, towards the noble & courageous religious Sikh folk who were doing so. I have been sent articles from all over the world showing Sikh Gurdwaras doing this, feeding many thousands of vulnerable people of all and no faiths, and the gratitude they receive from the local authorities for such selfless acts.

This is a blog made famous due to your association and criticism of RSSB. How about showing some modicum of fairness, and at least acknowledging, even if briefly, the amazing work they're doing in also feeding many thousands of vulnerable people in India? I'm not talking about Gurinder, or his motivations, but just the basic, simple fact that in this case, a religion has helped immensely? Or, perhaps, your own religious beliefs are causing you to ignore reality and embrace fantasy?

My aunt is in her mid 70s, of ill health, and lives alone some 300 miles from me. At the beginning of this crisis, I was very worried for her and asked if I should come pick her up to live at my parent's house. She told me there's nothing to worry about and she's fine - the Christian group she had been a member of were constantly checking up on her, and helping with buying essential goods. Thank God for that Christian group, they put both mine and my aunt's mind at rest. Such gratitude for their selfless service.

In the UK, at the beginning of this crisis, there was a wave of spontaneous action of people setting up local aid groups, not at the direction or instruction of governments or media, but just spontaneously out of a sense of wanting to help their fellow man. I saw links to Muslim, Christian and Sikh groups for our local area. There is a whatsapp group for our local area, which at first glance seems like a purely secular aid group & volunteers. Absolutely no mention is made of religions or anything at all like that an is very diverse group of people. It is only on deeper investigation that it is found to be connected to a Christian Church a few miles away. But that doesn't matter. It's making sure that local vulnerable people are assisted that matters to the people who set this group up, so rapidly.

So, these are just some of ways the fantasies and delusions of religious people have affected the world. I bow to them all, deeply. We may just be "chemical scum" with meaningless and inconsequential lives, as the Wise Saints of Scientism and Anti-theism constantly remind us, but it is hard not to be moved to tears by some of the fantasies and delusions these stupid religious folk believe in, and by their selfless actions.

The problem with religious beliefs, such as scientism and anti-theism for eg., is that it makes one rigid, inflexible....stuck, and unable to perceive and adapt to reality as it actually is.

So, whilst one constantly sees delusional and dangerous religious folk, one does not the see the super-normal, super-beautiful, super-enoblment-of-humanity they can also be.

More dangerously, with the profoundly narrow reality-tunnel of a religious belief like anti-theism, it can cause one to completely miss the real dangers in the current moment. Over in the US you have one of the most breathtakingly incompetent, unintelligent, illiterate, divisive, sociopathic, dishonest, delusional etc etc political heads of state in modern history. Whilst the entire world, of all political persuasions, is looking on with their mouths open aghast at the idiocy of the "leader of the free world" and thanking God he's not our leader (btw, it should be clear 2020 is probably the official year USA loses it's status as the country the whole world looks to in a crisis. I can assure the most deluded and brainwashed of Trump's followers, there's not a single country in the world looking at USA with those eyes anymore! Trump is a figure of ridicule, across the political spectrum, all across Europe).

The question is, Brian, why is it despite this spectacular failure of a leader, how the hell do 40%+ of Americans think he's still doing a great job, and will continue to do so even if he ate live babies on stage, then recommended injecting disinfectant to cure COVID19 based on his big you know-what? They have been brainwashed and manipulated - but not by religion. Trump's use of the religious card is not what got him into power. Manipulation, fake news (which, some Trump believers may be surprised to learn isn't defined as "news critical of Sant Trump", but actually as "news that is untrue"!), using appeals to emotion to bypass logic and intellect (as is obvious by so much of the mindless mantras of Trump's supporters, such as WHO is a Chinese puppet, or that Coronavirus and the lockdown can be defeated by "locking her (Hilary Clinton) up" etc) in ways that even Edward Bernays would be in awe of.

Is religion to blame for this horrific state of affairs in the USA, and by extension humanity? As I mentioned in another long comment a while ago, very little of what passes for "Christianity" in America is related to the actual spiritual dimension of Christ's teachings, which were essentially to love one another, charity, forgiveness etc

Yes, there is a great threat in your country, and indeed the world. And it really, really isn't religion Brian. Sorry to burst that particular fantasy bubble of yours.

Peace, and stay safe and well all.