Good for you and your Christian communities for helping but you missed the whole point, as do many “Christians” who refuse to wear a mask. An atheist would not suggest “do unto others “
Im not Christian or an atheist but i am a lover of peace and good will towards others. Unlike the i***t at the Michigan capital when asked why he wasnt wearing a mask, as 98% of the other i***ts in the protest, his very intelligent answer was “Im Christian, i dont need to” WOW!! Since probably about 90% of Americans are Christians who are all those c***d cases in hospitals or the 130,000. dead ones? By the way, its a free country last i looked, so even an atheist can be intelligent, caring, and a good patriot who cares about his fellow man and his nation. Those are things that have nothing to do with religion.

Well, Casper was the Friendly Ghost bacteria while C****-** is the Unfriendly Ghost v***s that no one can see but everyone can blame on every frightening thing that happens to any person nowadays. Casper was a bacteria ghost with a large body and couldn't pass through a persons face mask so therefore people could keep him at bay by wearing a mask. C***d on the other hand was a real skinny ghost v***s that could slip thru any mask and create havoc so a mask was useless. The demorat politicians loved C***d, the frightening but overrated ghost, because they could shutter businesses, while leaving a******n mills open, let Marxists r**t, l**t, burn and rape (the dem politicians encourage this behavior) while having church doors closed with singing to God banned(demorats h**e God, love Satan). C***d Ghost lives forever and will frighten us for the next 1000 years and k**l a lot of people and keep us locked up in our homes( similar to all marxist societies that live to wipe out 120 million people who h**e marxism and live to keep people in prisons) while Casper Ghost will live a normal lifespan of 70 years. I hope that answers your question.

Been reading a book entitled “The K*****g School” by Brandon Webb and John David Mann. I recommend it. It’s a good read. But I have a few comments, and some questions. I know there are a lot of military men on this site but I am directing my questions and comments to the Marines. (Army and Navy are welcome to jump in). Understand, this is in no way meant to criticize or demean anyone wearing or who has worn the uniform. They are open and honest comments and questions.

This is trivial but……There is a line quoted on pp 44: “Anyone who gets up out of his rack to go use the bathroom…….” In my four years in the Army I never heard it called the bathroom……it was the latrine. Or the head for you Navy guys. Of course the book was copyrighted 2017 so that’s a few decades after my service. Still can’t imagine a Marine or any military calling it the bathroom.

It’s pretty commonly accepted that the Marines have prettier uniforms, they like to celebrate their birthday, and they brag a lot. I have had Marines readily concede this.

PP 45 of the book states that Marine basic training is longer than any other branch of the service; 13 weeks. On the Marine Site it refers to 70 training days in 12 weeks. What about the 13th week? And there are 84 days in 12 weeks. There are 14 days, two whole weeks, unaccounted for. We had 8 weeks of “basic” basic then 4 “bonus weeks” and they were ALL training days. Every damn one. Even Sundays.

The book refers to “steadily escalating humps…..2-mile humps, 4-mile humps, 7-miles humps, etc. We walked/marched everywhere we went.
Our first forced march was 20 miles.

The book: “Every Marine is a rifleman.”
The Army: “Every man is an infantryman”……you have to be a riflemanto be an infantryman.

PP 45/46: referring to the rifle range; Marines fired at 300 yards, standing rapid fire and kneeling rapid fire; then on to 400 yards, and then 500 yards….”something no other basic training would attempt.”
We not only attempted it, we HAD to qualify at 500 yards. Using the non-fancy but revered Garand M1 rifle.

Marines have to qualify as “marksman.” That is the lowest qualification rating and it was unacceptable in my time. We HAD to qualify as sharpshooters. Expert was a bonus. I never attained it.

I should point out that I’m one of the old guys. We still had the draft from WWII. Our training was still on a wartime footing. We still referred to the enemy as the Germans and the Japs. That’s Japs, not Japanese. Japs was a dirty word and we never dignified the race by calling them Japanese.

It was customary to either join right off, or a lot of guys waited till they got the big brown envelope in the mail from The Selective Service, didn’t open it, and went to volunteer. It’s the way it was back then. I turned 18 in November and joined the Army on the following January 5th. Smartest decision I ever made.

I liked soldering and I was good at it. I made sergeant at 19.
I don’t know if I’d made it to be a SEAL but I wish I’d had the chance to try. But SEALs was well after my time.

I KNOW I wouldn’t have been a good paratrooper. I’m one of those guys who never saw the need to go jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

And KNOW that I have the highest respect for our fighting men today.
They are smarter and they are deadlier, and I sleep well at night knowing they are out there keeping the wolf from my door.

Actually, the myth had been exposed long before this, but hey, I'll welcome anyone--even if they are playing catch up.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/jaysondbradley/2020/05/how-a-plague-exposed-the-christian-nation-myth/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=share_bar&utm_campaign=share_bar_facebook&fbclid=IwAR1UYAxEUYRbGuWIJ5A8T19XzHqjpKPNZW7E9GxGIMK-H8uGlrrhZkYmu64

The evidence is in. The United States can finally abandon the pretense that it is a Christian nation. For most of us, this isn’t news. Since its inception, America has demonstrated many of the same strengths and character flaws as other colonial western nations.

But if C****-** has done anything, it’s revealed that the U.S. brand of Christianity doesn’t look anything like Jesus.

Take up your cross

There’s a point in the gospels when Jesus reveals he’s going to die. Peter promptly rebukes him. After all, Jesus can’t die. They’ve put all their hope in him as the Messiah and they expect him to deliver them from Roman oppression.

Jesus tells Peter to can it, but then follows it up with these words, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matt. 16:24–25).

Christians sum up Jesus’ words here with the phrase “dying to self.” They love the term and use it often. But for the most part, it’s a poetic abstraction, a form of spiritual idealism. It’s a difficult conviction to hold when your cultural ethos focuses on your individual right to pursue happiness.

In the Incarnation, Jesus laid aside his deity to identify with humanity (Philippians 2). And at Calvary, he laid down his human life to make reconciliation possible. In both actions—laying aside his deity and taking up his cross—he renounced his rights.

In a culture and economy that operates on consumption and acquisition, it’s difficult to convince Christians to renounce anything. In fact, quite often when American Christians are asked to give up something for the sake of others, it’s interpreted as persecution.

One doesn’t have to search hard for stories about churches who continued to meet against the recommendation of authorities, even when it put people at risk.

Don’t tread on me

Christianity in America is so entangled with patriotism and exceptionalism. When asked to shelter in place, Christians don’t think it’s odd to deck themselves out in G.I. Joe cosplay complete with AR-15s to storm a government building and demand their rights.

But at the same time, they’re unflinching in their support of authority being misused against others.

When an unarmed black man or woman is shot and k**led on camera, they instantly make excuses on behalf of authorities. That can look like trotting out an old mugshot to prove that person’s terrible character, or simply pointing out that they got themselves k**led by not being obedient enough.

But when asked to stay home, patriots have no problem grabbing their guns and defying orders. The mixture of Christianity and Americanism is a troubling tincture, enabling people to cite Romans 13 to get others to obey authority while they stock up weapons to fight off a potentially tyrannical government.

Any religion that demands that others take up their cross while we take up our sword is not Christianity.

Failing the mask test

It’s strange, but nothing reveals the rot at the center of American Christianity like the response people have had to wearing masks. It requires zero sacrifice to put a mask on—but that’s still too much of an ask for many Americans.
Mask wearing is really the perfect litmus test for self-denial. It’s something we do for others. My mask protects you, and your mask protects me. It’s not only a legitimate way to stop the spread of germs, but it also communicates our care for others.

So when a store like Costco or Trader Joe’s refuses to allow someone in without a mask, it’s to protect their employees (who aren’t getting paid what they deserve) and other shoppers. They’re asking people to take the health of others seriously. Because the choice not to wear a mask doesn’t communicate that you’re OK with getting sick; it communicates that you’re OK with getting others sick.

It’s such a low bar for denying one’s self. And yet, there are people all over the country who refuse this small act of solidarity. Their discomfort and inconvenience is too big of an ask.

Following Jesus requires sacrifice

Jesus asked us to take up our cross and follow him. Following him looks like self-sacrifice. He is our model and we are his followers insofar as we follow him.

I can imagine many American Christians reading this and saying, “Jesus chose to make a sacrifice. I’m being expected to. I should have the freedom to choose how to carry my cross.”

Let’s not forget that Jesus suffered the indignity of an unfair trial in a kangaroo court. The Sanhedrin was looking for any excuse to k**l him. His life was taken from him. His attitude of self-sacrifice was a pr********n for a final act of genuine sacrifice he was prepared to make–but it wasn’t like he walked into Pilate’s office, slammed three nails on the desk, and asked to be crucified.

He was ready for the ultimate sacrifice, but he didn’t want it. He prayed for God to spare him this fate (Matthew 26:38-40).

Following his example, every one of the disciples stoically endured horrible treatment from officials and their countrymen. But they had renounced the expectation to be treated fairly. They didn’t take up swords and demand their rights. They modeled themselves after their king.

American Christianity makes salvation a personal commodity. It’s something you acquire through invocation–say the right prayer and you’re in. It places certain social and moral expectations on us, but it doesn’t infringe upon our liberty. No one can place expectations upon us. It’s an insurance policy we purchase that allows us to pursue the American dream without fear of our eternal future.

We like to identify ourselves as a Christian nation, a city on a hill. But think about it a minute. What is it that separates America from every other nation on earth? We’ve become an epicenter for a disease that has k**led more than 80,000 of our fellow citizens. And we’re the only country that would rather go to war with our local government to protect our individual freedom than make sacrifices for the greater good.

It’s taken a p******c to see the gulf between historic Christianity and its American counterpart. All it took was an expectation of community responsibility to tear off the mask and reveal its true face.