Do you remember when the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention stood up for religious liberties? Those were the good old days, before they were taken over by former Democratic staffer, Russell Moore, who wishes his wife were more like Hillary Clinton. But long ago are those days. Content only to fight for the right of mosques to stay open, Russell Moore issued a memo to churches telling them it’s their duty to close during the darkest hour. And now, ERLC Leadership Council member, Bart Barber, says that a totalitarian state would serve us better in a crisis.
Barber’s comments about the virtues of a totalitarian regime came during a Twitter rant lauding Florida officials for arresting Rodney Howard Browne for conducting church services in what seems to be the most responsible fashion humanly possible. Despite maintaining required social distances (which included marking the floor to designate spacial gaps), using gloves, sanitizer, and a state-of-the-art anti-bacterial virus-zappers, “Christians” like Barber are happy to see the government flex their tyrannical power.
Barber did, for the record, claim that “democracy” (which America is not, and never has been) is the best kind of government ordinarily. But, Barber sees the wisdom of giving the government dictatorial powers in a crisis. Nevermind that the government never relinquishes those powers once the government-caused crisis is over.
As coronavirus demonstrates, not every crisis is a real crisis. And when the government gets to determine what is and what is not a crisis – and if the government can turn rights into mere privileges whenever said crisis happens – then liberties die a quick death.
God help us when men like this are set aside to fight for Christian liberties. The world would be far better off without them. They deserve neither life nor liberty.
