How corona became a religion
It has prophets like Fauci, vaccinated saints and unvaccinated apostates
I received an e-mail recently from a non-healthcare business, and in the signature area was the following message:
VIRUS PROTOCOLS
Due to the continued threat of infection and transmission of viruses we have a new protocol which will remain in effect indefinitely.
Only essential staff will be in the main office. Visitors to our offices are by appointment only. If you do not have an appointment, you will be turned away.
If you are allowed into our offices, we follow a social distancing policy requiring a minimum of 6 feet distance.
After confirming you have no symptoms, we will ask you to immediately use our hand sanitizers, and we will provide you with a mask to cover your nose and mouth. If you need to use our restrooms, please remember to wash your hands with the antibacterial soap, and again use the available hand sanitizers.
Upon leaving our offices we will ask you to again use the hand sanitizers and take the mask with you. Once you leave our offices, you cannot re-enter without again following all of our protocols.
Fruits of the pandemic
While the U.S. is experiencing a 99.98% survivable pandemic,1 this virus protocol e-mail message is evidence that some of us have simply gone too far with this whole thing, elevating corona to a religion. I say that based not only on this protocol e-mail.
We have all had experiences over the past 18 months with complying with various masking rules and regulations, diligently reading the scary signs posted in the doors and windows of the places we visit, following the arrows taped to the floors of our supermarkets and churches like sheep, trying to communicate through the plastic barriers erected between ourselves and the masked cashiers trying to humbly serve us, and now with limitations on our liberties, including possible limitations on our right to work, enforced with vaccine passes (which were ridiculed last year as nothing more than crazy musings of conspiracy theorists).
I’d say we’ve gone totally bonkers, but that would be letting people off the hook with an insanity defense, and I think it’s about time that we start taking responsibility for ourselves.
Idolatry is “the worship of something created as opposed to the worship of the Creator Himself.” (Youngblood, 529) Idolatry is a sin that God found important enough to include in the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:1-17; Dt 5:6-21).
Worship is the “reverent devotion and allegiance pledged to God; the rituals and ceremonies by which this reverence is expressed.” (Youngblood, 1196)
Religion is “an organized system of doctrine with an approved pattern of behavior and a proper form of worship.” (Youngblood, 974)
Birth of a new religion
Perhaps corona (the masks, protocols, vaccines, etc.) has become an idol of sorts, but is it really a religion? It seems so.
It is an organized system of doctrine (“a particular principle, position or policy taught or advocated, as of a religion or government”). The doctrine is contained in the data, reports, opinions and guidance compiled and issued by authorities like the CDC.
The rules, regulations, mandates and other practices mentioned above, which we all have experienced, form the approved pattern of behavior for the corona religion (implemented and enforced by experts, like doctors, and non-experts, like CEOs, pastors and politicians).
But are these approved behaviors tantamount to worship? Yes, I believe so.
Approved behaviors like the protocols set forth in the above e-mail, can be said to be rituals or ceremonies that corona disciples follow to show their reverence for and belief in the virus. The more strictly the disciple adheres to these rituals, the more virtuous he is considered by the crowd. It has become a kind of contest to see who can love corona the most by showing the virus the most fear and respect (like the ancient pagans and Hebrews did).
Corona disciples are celebrated by the media and encouraged to “virtue signal” by publicly posting photos of themselves being injected with the vaccine or producing videos of themselves offering homage to the virus by singing about their prophets and saints like Tony Fauci.2 On the other hand, people who don’t fully adopt or adhere to the corona doctrines and rituals are considered apostates and sinners, deniers deserving of banishment from society, or even deserving of suffering and death as more healthcare workers refuse to treat the unvaccinated.3
The corona religion has recently centered around the vaccine for the salvation of mankind. People have placed their faith in “science” instead of God, and they’re proud of it.4 From a Catholic perspective, the vaccine has essentially become a mockery of the Holy Eucharist.
Conclusion
In summary, corona is an idol that has been elevated to a religion. All of us have different propensities and weaknesses. We may idolize food, sex, money or power, but worshipping corona, its prophets and the miracles and wonders of the corona faith, i.e., the vaccine, is different than an individual’s struggle with vice because the corona religion is part of a coordinated program of deception and persecution. The corona religion is group participation in evil that has the potential to do more damage to humanity than any virus could ever do.
Please note, I realize that many people have died with the virus. My condolences go out to all who have lost friends and family and those who have personally suffered with it. However, we must be aware of and pursue the growing evidence that poor hospital protocols (not the fault of in the trenches doctors and nurses) and terrible laws and policies (e.g., giving pharmaceutical companies immunity, not allowing enough time for testing the vaccine, heavy-handed mandates, and unreliable testing), have greatly exacerbated this suffering. Most importantly, we can’t allow the worldly sufferings we experience to distract us from the spiritual battle at hand for what will it profit us to gain the whole world and lose our souls? (Mk 8:36)
Sources:
Dictionary.com
Hahn, Scott, ed., Catholic Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 2009.
Powell, Mark Allan, ed. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. 3rd ed. New York: HarperOne, 2011.
Youngblood, Ronald F., ed. Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary: New and Enhanced Edition. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2014.
Search Fauci songs on YouTube.
Again, we can shrug off the people who post these videos as crazy or silly, but they unfortunately fall into the same group wishing death upon the unvaccinated and supporting their persecution, firing and banishment from society, so I can’t let them off the hook on a simple insanity defense. See also https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/if-covid-vaccine-refusers-are-turned-away-hospitals-doctor-offices-ncna1277475
To put one’s faith in science is not based in fact since there is so much we don’t know about this virus and so much of science is based on theories and questionable data. This science is nothing more than faith in something other than God.