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The need to worship and an imagined oppression

Letter writer Kat Yager was upset by my recent letter decrying a huge gathering at the Nazarene church in Moscow. Yager asked whether I become angry when Walmart is filled with shoppers jostling together while shopping. Yes, I do.

Pick-up and delivery services are available and should be used. I was also very upset by the soccer gathering in town a few weeks back, I am unhappy that schools did not opt for distance learning, and I am appalled that our children, including those with health conditions are being put at serious risk just as COVID-19 has started to spread in this region.

I’m sure the pro-life god would not be happy to see followers placing others at risk from COVID-19 when they can easily use modern technology to fellowship risk-free. We only have one hospital in Moscow and we have 26,500+ residents.

I shouldn’t have to explain to adults why a COVID-19 outbreak here that is not properly contained would be a disaster.

Incidentally, we do not allow people to perform human sacrifice whether or not it is part of a religion; as far as I can tell the only difference between that and curbing a pandemic by restricting mass gatherings is the death toll. People have the means to practice their faith without endangering others. Whining about minor inconveniences when hundreds of thousands of people are dead or permanently damaged is unfathomable to me.

This isn’t up for debate; we have the technology now to keep everyone safe while still practicing faith. Yager’s entire argument is dependent on the false premise that people must physically congregate in order to do so; they don’t, and pretending they do is a tacit admission that you would rather virtue signal about imagined oppression than protect the lives of your fellow man.

Holli Cooper
Moscow

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