Easter is upon us. As in it’s tomorrow. Here in the US, Easter Sunday is formally observed in myriad places of worship, be it a small church in some remote outpost, to towering cathedrals in big cities, repleat with ornade emblems of biblical narratives, plenty of stained glass and seating capacities up to 6,000, as in the Cathedral of St.John the Devine in New York City.

However, this 2020 Easter Sunday will not have the devoted flocks of parishioners gathering shoulder to shoulder in pews to hear a sermon. Of course not, because virtually every state in the country has given John and Jane Q.Citizen orders to shelter-in-place, a directive that makes perfectly logical sense as a strategy to flatten that Covid-19 curve. Need I explain any of this?

Of course not. Unless…

…the place of worship is located in a state with enough elected officials belonging to Murder, Inc. aka the Republican party. I believe I made a logical argument for using the moniker of Murder, Inc when referring to the GOP in my previous posting. I stand by it, as I have for a looong time. Not to again rehash the overtly egregious intents of these callous killers (okay, just consider how much they drool over getting rid of the Affordable Care Act, without any proposals to replace it, a plot that uneqivocably would lead to certain death for countless people who can barely afford to buy aspirin, let alone have completely private, for-profit health insurance). Mind you, the ACA is not nearly the answer for our criminally expensive healthcare system, but it is better than nothing. The GOP prefers nothing. But back to Easter Sunday worship without going to church. Most all of those heading various places of spiritual devotion have planned for a tele-sermon, or one or another digital dais format, to maintain the social distancing aspect of battling the further spread of the coronavirus. However, there are some spiritual practioners who prefer to preach to their parishioners in person, and many among the faithful are just fine with having Easter Sunday sans social distancing. These people are, of course, fucking crazy. However, even crazier are the ruling red state legislators who demand that the service be performed as usual. If they get their way, with hundreds of people gathering under one roof, it would almost certainly increase the odds of the virus spreading.

**************************************INTERMISSION********************************

Oh, hello again. Uh, let?’s see. What was I going on about? Oh, right, social distancing and Easter Sunday. And the goddam GOP! I mean, Is there not ANYTHING that Murder, Inc ever supports, proposes, or worse of all, passes into law, that DOES NOT, at a minimum, cause at least middling adversity, or major headaches, to literal life or death outcomes for most people? Can these mentally rigid, neo-conservative, control-freaky types be genuinely convinced that their ideology is righteous? I’m not just talking about the elected offficals. It’s the “flock” that follows those officials who votes for them, too. If they are “all in” and ready to stay in, then how does that separate them from other organizations whose agenda sometimes leaves blood on their hands? You think Lefties are the ones trying to deligitimize a woman’s right to control her body? What a compassionate attitude. Then we return to when septic back alley abortions were notorious. That’s the Elephant party’s version of “progress”. So, if these followers are large enough in number–and they are in the tens of millions– and are “all in” with the Elephants, the herd gets bigger and more agressive. They are True Believers! But they are worshipping something that makes no sense if it does little good but great harm? Ya think?

************************************Time to Reflect********************************

Sorry I took a bit longer than expected . I was reflecting on how meaningless it all is. And how the fact that we even exist makes zero sense. Geeze, how do you make something out of nothing? How did this reality start? What was there before there was nothing that became something? What, some “god” made it? Oh, really? Where’d he she/it come from? But wait. This blog rant has something to do with “god” and churches and the Covid-19. And something else. What? What was it? Oh, those motherfucking Republicans! Let me tell you something. Their actions are very well strategized, practiced and polished to somehow tap into far too many a person’s lack of listening/critical thinking skills. Forget skills, How about basic, no frills common sense? It’s a style over substance trance. But the style, devilishly, is as well manufactured as the message. The medium is the message, as Marshall McLuhan famously said. They are masters of manipulating crucial segments of the mainstream media to unwittingly do their bidding. Or unwillingly, at best, owing to most major outlets being owned by corporations that own the media outlet. And own the GOP (and most of congress for that matter, but especially those Elephants).

Therefore, we now incessantly have to listen to a carnival barker disguised as a human being disguised as a “leader” of the most powerful country on Earth who never slightly appears to have a sense of empathy or ability to give a shit unless he abosultely, positively has to; but he’ll not really give a shit even when he tries because he can’t because he’s incapable, like a freakazoid humanoid whose wiring does not permit any other form of decision making. Not even a pandemic that threatens to kill people the world over can trigger a basic reasoning override. And he has his flock, some of whom can’t process the need to NOT HAVE large gatherings, as in especially huge congregations pouring into some churches. Perhaps the local authorities will enforce common sense, the easy way, or the hard way. I hope. These ignorant bofflecocks need to be stopped by some local agency that sees reality for what it is. The local GOP acolytes be damned.

Why does this even have to be litigated, as it is? Because we have Murder, Inc as the party that has the most power, and now has sects that deserve to be called a Death Cult. This isn’t slick marketing of a message or the lull of agitprop repitition. There are no sublte, subliminal emotional buttons to be pushed here. This is in your face defiance with lives on the line. If allowed to happen, it could cost far more people illness and death than the people who hit the pews tomorrow. Inevitably it will go to surrounding communities. Enough of a spread to work counter to the overall need to flatten that curve. The curve that has been ever so slightly lowering, especially where rigorous in place sheltering is being hard core taken as gospel.

Hey, maybe their invisible entity up there will reward their devotion by ending the threat of their spreading death. Cured! We be cool, okay? The power of defiance! Yeah, a benevolent god would do that, right? Then again, a benevolent god wouldn’t permit pandemics.

Or the Republican party.

One’s god is within, One’s beliefs are within. Build a shrine to your personal god in the clothes closet. Then leave the matter between you and your wardrobe. Just keep it to yourself, okay? That would be a refreshingly benevolent gesture.

Me, I believe, too. Sure do. I believe I’ll pour myself two fingers of rye.