Long before the Delta variant mushroomed, there was one very big reason the COVID-19 pandemic was still with us. A disturbing number of churches seem to believe that they are under no obligation to take the most basic steps to keep their flocks and their communities safe. To the mind of this left-leaning Pentecostal/charismatic Christian, these churches seem to have forgotten what it means to love your neighbor.
Well, it looks like two of the worst offenders are coming together this coming weekend in one of the current epicenters of the Delta surge, Tennessee. As I write this, Tennessee just passed the grim milestone of over one million COVID cases. The Volunteer State is seeing over 6,400 new cases per day, nearly all of which are among the unvaccinated. Most major hospitals’ ICUs are either full or close to full.
But that doesn’t seem to have deterred Greg Locke, pastor of Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, east of Nashville. Lately, Locke has gained infamy for actually banning anyone from wearing masks at his church and urging people not to get vaccinated. Well, it looks like Locke is googoling down on his covidiocy. He’s inviting worship leader and fellow covidiot Sean Feucht for one of Feucht’s “Let Us Worship” gatherings this coming weekend.
Locke announced the concert on his Facebook page early Monday morning.
I did a double take when I saw this on his page on Monday night. It’s inconceivable that Locke isn’t aware of the soaring numbers in Tennessee, or that a number of hospitals in and around Nashville are full. For instance, Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently reported that it has no beds left in its hospital or emergency room. It’s very likely that a good number of people coming to this latest Feucht event will come from Sumner County, home to Hendersonville and Gallatin. However the CEO of that county’s main hospital, Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, recently warned that her hospital is “at the edge of our capacity,” and stated in no uncertain terms that every vaccinated person is “a bed saved.”
Unfortunately, we already have a very good idea of what could happen once Feucht rolls into town. Back in October, Feucht held a “Let Us Worship” event in Nashville itself, which has since been linked to over 250 COVID cases. It says a lot about Feucht that even in the face of this, he still has this video of the event on his YouTube channel.
And it says even more that he is crassly selling T-shirts emblazoned with “Jesus Christ: Superspreader.” This really is a thing, folks.
He still has it up even after being severely and deservedly dragged for it on Instagram.
But the fact that Feucht is joining forces with a so-called pastor who has openly declared his church to be mask-free should tell us everything we need to know about him. By holding an event that has been linked to COVID outbreaks at a church that has dropped any pretense of caring about others, Feucht has shown that he doesn’t care if anyone gets sick as a result of coming to his concerts.
I have believed for some time that it’s only a matter of if, not when, Locke’s church causes a superspreader. We may be at that moment. And if it is that moment, these two gentlemen—a term that in this case, applies in its loosest possible sense—better be prepared to be held responsible. Hell, I hope that someone sues them if a severe case or death can be tied to this misbegotten concert. The strongest protection of the First Amendment would not and should not protect this kind of flagrant disregard for public safety. This is the stuff that precedents are made of.