Counterfactual arguments are fallacious — so she had the good sense to qualify it with the word “probably.”

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Jesus would shake his masked head

Jesus saves and so do masks. These two ideas need not be mutually exclusive and I find myself flummoxed at the polarization of the two. Look, I am a Christian, I believe in God, and I am thankful and blessed for all he has given me. Theologically speaking, I know I am a rube. I can’t quote scripture. I regularly include Sneezy and Doc in my recitation of the 12 disciples. I could never go toe-to-toe in any sort of religious debate and I do not pretend to know the distinctions amongst various denominations, creeds or dogmas, but I’m pretty sure Jesus was no idiot.

He seemed like a generally sensible fella with lots of talk about loving our neighbors, doing the good God wants us to do, caring for one another, and not worshipping false idols.

Probably . . . Jesus would wear a mask. And probably, Jesus would recognize that wielding one’s faith like a bludgeon to be divisive and exclusionary is not what he had in mind. And probably he would discourage the belligerent and self-serving actions taken by certain unmasked members of this community to flagrantly disregard the health and well-being of others.

Probably, Jesus would strongly “tsk tsk” the gathering of more than 150 people whose sole purpose was to be contentious and alienating under the guise of Christianity. Ignoring the call to love your neighbor by caring for him? Turning a deaf ear to God’s invitation to be better and care for one another? Crawling over corpses to get to church? Jesus would shake his masked head.

Amanda Wells
Moscow

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