Louisiana pastor holds church service for over 300 people, defying governor's coronavirus ban

[DesertRat]

A Louisiana pastor held a church service Tuesday night with hundreds of congregants despite an order from the state's governor banning gatherings of more than 50 people. The pastor, Reverend Tony Spell, told CBS affiliate WAFB that the coronavirus, which has killed at least 109 people in the United States, is "not a concern."

Spell said police showed up at Life Tabernacle Church in East Baton Rouge Parish following the service and told him the National Guard would break up any future services larger than 50 people.

"It's not a concern," Spell told WAFB. "The virus, we believe, is politically motivated. We hold our religious rights dear and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says."

Like many other state and city leaders throughout the nation, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards banned any gatherings of more than 50 people to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus — a restriction that applies to religious congregations. The Trump administration is now urging Americans to avoid gatherings with more than 10 people, and many churches around the country have canceled services for the time being.

However, Spell said 305 people attended the Tuesday night service and boasted that more people attended on Sunday.
"I had 1,170 in attendance Sunday," Spell said. "We have 27 buses on Sundays picking up people in a five parish area," he said.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/louisiana-pastor-holds-church-service-with-hundreds-of-people-despite-governors-coronavirus-ban/

[MLAA]

2. Take away his effing tax free status.

The pastor and the congregation attending are disgusting

[DesertRat]

14. Amen!

[TDale313]

3. Fucking asshole. n/t

[TreasonousBastard]

4. "God's Will" if they all get sick and die. Asshole preachers...

Not all preachers are assholes, but the ones that are sure must have a target on their backs so God doesn't miss.

[DanieRains]

5. The Last 305 In Line For The Respirators

Give respirators to people who are not trying to die, or kill others for Jeezus.

[Jamastiene]

6. Lock the fuckers in there.

Make them ride it out locked in, so they won't spread it to anyone who is essential personnel and still has to leave home to work. The last thing we need is the selfish assholes causing more trouble. They can be counted on to be stubborn assholes, even if they kill us all off. We need to quit letting them get by with that shit. I'm fed up with them.

[SMC22307]

12. ...

[enough]

7. Good, and they can run their own hospital. NT

[kairos12]

8. These all Rapture whack jobs who probably think the virus is divine intervention.

[Turbineguy]

9. As far as I'm concerned

I don't need their rapture. Since moving into a condo I have no use for a lawnmower left running by some raptured person.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

10. I almost wouldn't care that they're possibly doing themselves in

Except for the fact that they will be infecting others with no relationship to the congregation.

[dalton99a]

11. Hope they all got a T-shirt

The Rev. Tony Spell, pastor of Life Tabernacle Church, holds a T-shirt given to everyone who rides the bus to church four weeks in a row. The church runs more than a dozen buses across five area parishes bringing hundreds of children and adults to church each Sunday.

[Glorfindel]

13. "The virus, we believe, is politically motivated."

No, you foul, despicable, tax-exempt murderer, you and your insane "worshipers" are politically motivated.

[Maru Kitteh]

17. The virus doesn't have a "motivation" it just follows the simple commands laid out in it's RNA.

This guy had some real difficulties in 5th grade science, I'm guessing.

[superpatriotman]

15. Zealotry worked well in Iran

Why not try it here?

[crickets]

16. Jail time and public shaming. It's the only thing that will stop this kind of

arrogant, willful, dangerous behavior. Tony Spell has not only packed people together to infect one another, he's created a roving population that can send those germs far and wide beyond his church.

Charge him with homicide after the first congregants begin dropping like flies, then track those they infected and so on; add up the charges for every single one who dies. If that's the only way to get every evangelical idiot's attention and cooperation, so be it.

This man is as good as killing people and proudly announcing that he's done it. Make him pay.

[Jamastiene]

18. Well said.

It should be considered some kind of crime to do what he is doing.

[Coventina]

19. These fuckers are going to cause innocent people to die.

Because they will be hogging space and resources for innocent victims.

[Takket]

20. The ultimate irony being that his defiance is the only thing here "politically motivated"

The right took a position of this all being an overhyped hoax to make drumpf bad and the drumpf humping zealots are trying to perpetuate that myth to protect him.