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Giving up rights for others
I was saddened to hear that the city of Moscow has settled with Christ Church deacon, failed County Commissioner candidate, and Doug Wilson acolyte Gabe Rench and another couple after their arrest during one of Wilson’s Christ Church “hymn sings” during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. My personal engagements with Rench assure me that he is gloating and feels fully vindicated now that he has collected a settlement from the city for what he calls a violation of his First Amendment rights. He is entitled to that; after all, he won.
Or did he? As a citizen, he should have been held to the City’s reasonable mask mandate, and the hymn sings were not a spontaneous act of public worship but, rather, a calculated stiff middle finger not only to the City, but to its residents nearby. The rebelliously unmasked crowd lustily singing were engaged not only in reckless disregard for their own well-being and that of their neighbors, but also engaged in hateful disregard of the commandment of the God they presumed to worship.
Christians are commanded to obey reasonable orders from the state. We are also taught by the Lord Jesus to consider the well-being of others as more important than our own, even giving up our rights for the good of others. Wilson and his beholden toadies like Rench may have won this battle, but it is clear that they continue to lose their war against sin, licentiousness, and contempt for their neighbors. I fear for Rench when he finds out that the God of righteousness does not settle His disputes with those who willingly transgress — and do so in His name.
Keely Emerine-Mix
Moscow
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Fact is the mask mandates were likely unenforceable. We’ve reached the point in this nation where our elected officials seem to think we serve them, and many do in their heads, instead of the reverse. A great example is the illegal demands made on drivers when stopped by an officer while driving. It’s ironic that Doug’s minions don’t see the spirit of the title of this post because every time I, an agnostic, had to follow those same, many unenforceable, mandates by cities, employer and others I did so simply because I’m not certain of anything and it was of little consequence to ‘obey’. Doug’s minions are simply more concerned with themselves than others. He is a single, failure but every parishioner who continues to tow his line is equally a failure since they act on their own authority.