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This fig leaf covers everything

In his response to my column of March 16, Christ Church Pastor Doug Wilson graciously conceded many of the points I made. He refrained from an ad hominem attack and civility carried the day, which is a refreshing change in this age of people shouting past one another.

Pastor Wilson posed a question, perhaps rhetorically, but I’ll answer with a Socratic dialogue. His question was: “How would it be possible for us to stick our thumb in ‘the eye of civil society’ through actions which complied fully with all the terms of the ordinance passed by our city council?” He has a point because, thanks to religious and protest exemptions to Moscow’s mask and social distancing orders, the trio of Christ Church members arrested at a flash-mob singalong in front of Moscow City Hall probably were in compliance with the narrow letter of the law. Never mind the spirit, they probably were in compliance with the narrow letter of the law.

Is this what the religious exemption was intended to protect? Was it for parishioners to gather in their multitude — shoulder to shoulder, unmasked — to hyperventilate in downtown Moscow while many other residents were doing their best not to spread a deadly, airborne virus? More profoundly, are Christ Church members incapable of spreading a deadly, airborne virus? Has the Almighty indemnified them? Or do their respiratory systems function like everyone else’s?

And doesn’t Christ Church own a building, or two, or more, where parishioners can hold super-spreader singalongs? Why hold one out in public?

Finally, why do parishioners insist on exercising their individual rights while ignoring their responsibilities as citizens in a larger community?

A religious exemption is an awfully big fig leaf if the wearer is determined to exploit it. No matter how long we stare into the funhouse mirror, it’s obvious to me and many others that Christ Church was sticking its thumbs in the eye of civil society with that contrived singalong in front of Moscow City Hall.

Any further questions?

William Brock
Pullman

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