A pastor that called the whole thing a Mark of the Beast conspiracy.
A bishop who defied social distance orders.
Someone who called Coronavirus "bull****."
They were
all COVID-19 deniers. So you'll forgive me, but this sounded like "If you know what's good for you, you'll agree with me.
RIGHT?" No, sorry. Wrong.
I'm Christian, I'm Taoist, and I'm Buddhist. And I believe that both Christ and Buddha spoke against irrational resignment to fear or rules, at the expense of other things.
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
The church is for sinners, not the clean. It's for the sick. The poor. The suffering. Those the world rejected. Those people like you have called unclean even before they are tested.
Peter agrees with this, "You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean."
What about Lao Tzu? Well, he didn't speak of a lot of things, cuz he was kind of quiet. But he did say some nice gems like, "In the highest antiquity, the people did not know that there were rulers.
In the next age they loved them and praised them.
In the next they feared them.
In the next they despised them."
If people are living in a state of fear, the sign is that the times are bad. That the rulers are rulers, not governors. This sounds like today. Our governors are hardly invisible, but rather we know them by name. When they ruled justly, they barely even made the papers.
Buddha teaches the way to be free of fear is to accept fear.
"Confined in a cage up against the wall, pressed against the barriers, if you linger in thought holding back your potential, you will remain mired in fear and frozen in inaction. If, on the other hand, you advance fearlessly and without hesitation, you manifest your power as a competent adept of the way, passing through entanglements and barriers without hindrance to time and season. A great peace is attained. How do you advance fearlessly and without hesitation?"
Buddhist Teachings on Fear and Fearlessness - Lion's Roar
It explains that we overcome fear by fearing the right thing. So, what is the right thing?
Well, I dunno, but the Christians have one answer.
Matthew 10:28
Anyway, you proved my point! The point is "how do people act during this thing?" And your first (and only) reaction is to ignore the topic entirely (topic derailment is not cool), and instead spend all of your energy trying to rebuke me for being afraid, and to threaten me. I don't need to be afraid. Not of anyone.
If you want to be afraid, that's your lookout. But I need to follow the teachings of my faith.