Category: COVID 19

The Thing About Masks

On By Dr. William James Carter, IIn Change, COVID 19, repentance2 Comments

     Over the past year and a half, mask-wearing has become very cultic. You see people wearing masks everywhere. They are in their cars alone. They are walking down the street alone. In the parks and on sidewalks people are wearing masks as though their lives depend on them. And, I suspect it is their choice but that the reasoning is way off. This is to say, most will say the ineffective mask-wearing is because they don’t want to take any chance of getting a virus that is much smaller than the pores in the masks. But that does not matter. The lies and fear must be perpetuated at every cost. So the wearing of ineffective mask-wearing must continue.[1]

     With this in mind, one must wonder why this push for the general populace to wear ineffective masks. To answer this one must reasonably understand the purpose of forced mask-wearing. You see, masks pull from individual identity. When individuality is removed individuals are forced into lockstep at the behest of those seeking to control them. For instance, some cultures force some of their people to wear face-coverings.  It is said the reasoning is for modesty. However, the identities of those forced to wear masks are removed and they are consequently “slaves” to those ordering the wearing of masks. Still, there are culturally and historically many reasons for wearing masks[2] yet the medical reasons do not stand where the general populace is concerned.

     No matter the many reasons for mask-wearing one thing is clear; masks hide identity. Those wearing masks are difficult, if not impossible, to identify which is why criminals use face coverings as they carry on their dirty deeds. The intentional hiding of identity falls in line with hypocrisy. The idea of a hypocrite stems from the Greek “hupŏkritēs” which has been likened to the wearing of a mask. More specifically the hypocrite is one who puts on a show pretending to be somebody or something he is not.

     This is important because many hanging around the Church are not Christians. They have all the moves and say the right words. They know when to say “amen” and have perfected the dance and when to raise their hands. Yet, lives are far from Christian. It might be more prudent to call these “Sunday saints.” This is because they live the perfect Christian life Sunday morning but that the rest of the week one would have a hard time seeing the Christian. The reason for the trouble is because these are no Christians but that they have infiltrated the Church. They have a form of godliness even while denying the power of godliness. The Sunday “worship” is nothing more than showtime at the Apollo.

     The thing about masks is that they cover and conceal. They hide and disguise. Masks allow for the continuation of misdeeds if those deeds are by the oppressor or the one choosing to put on a show. In either case, it is time to remove the masks. It is time to come clean. Masks are uncomfortable and must be removed from time to time for relief thereby revealing the real person behind the mask. This is the reason Jesus repudiates hypocrites in Mathew 7:5. He does this because hypocrites often hold a double standard. They look for the minute problems of others whilst the overwhelming issues they have are ignored.

Yes, it is time to remove the masks. The continual wearing of masks has no benefits and serves only to create divides while propagating ill health. The thing about masks is that they hide and shield while the mask wearers infiltrated and destroy. It is time; it is past time to remove the masks.  

[1] https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/29/these-12-graphs-show-mask-mandates-do-nothing-to-stop-covid/

[2] http://uzspace.unizulu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10530/295/Wearing%20masks.%20Khulekani%20C.%20Mbatha.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

A Strange Dichotomy

On By Dr. William James Carter, IIn Brother, Change, Christendom, COVID 19, death, Freedom, hurt, Love, Racism, Reconciliation, Unity, worship1 Comment

     For the past several days I have been troubled about what is taking place in this nation. My heart has been hurt and I struggled with how I should handle and address the matter of the disruption of peace and tranquility. I have thought how some might respond and considered that some will take my words out of context or simply tell me I am on the wrong side of the issues at hand. The struggle still continues as even some family members take issue with my stand. My stand is not for this group or that but the whole of mankind. Even so, some take issue with that.

     So, I might as well get to it. If I lose friends, so be it. I am not in a popularity contest nor am I pretending to be politically correct for the moment. We are in a war and the enemy does not care about ethnicities. He does not care about culture. He does not care about families nor does the enemy care about socio-economic status or religion. Our common enemy cares only to steal, kill, and destroy and we are allowing him to do that by furthering divides which serve only to push his agenda and that is done through deception. Let me explain.

     Much of the turmoil in this nation at this time is said to be centered around the death of George Floyd. Mr. Floyd, a Black man (I sure hate colour-coding people) was killed by a White police officer. I am not certain that anyone would argue that Mr. Floyd should be dead and that his killer should be free. Yet, the continual narrative is that police are targeting Blacks and that all Whites are somehow complicit in the wrongs of a few. Yes, there are some racist Whites. There are also some racist Blacks. The fact is that there are racists in every ethnicity, yet those racists do not speak for the whole.

     Digressing to the killing, I am not fully convinced the murder was based on racism. This is where I get in trouble. You see, the news has largely ignored the fact that Mr. Floyd and his murderer were co-workers.[1] This fact means that certain questions must be asked. How well did Mr. Floyd and his killer know each other? Was there a continuation of bad blood between the two? Is it possible this murder could have been more personal than racial? Why is the media hiding the fact of these long-lasting co-workers? Is there a political motivation to continuing the racist rhetoric associated with the death of Mr. Floyd?

     It is also necessary to look at the ever-resounding mantra of Black Lives Matter. This is a movement that began in Baltimore after the death of Freddy Gray while in police custody. Mr. Gray was not killed by the police, yet the movement began.[2] Not many will argue against the fact that Black lives matter. The strange dichotomy is that while the death of Mr. Gray was made political and caused rioting in the streets of Baltimore there were no voices raised for the many deaths of those dying in the streets of Baltimore at the hands of other Blacks. Specifically, there were 344 murders in Baltimore that year and no one took to the streets.[3] There were no riots. Stores were not broken into and looted. Could it be that the deaths did not fit the political narrative? Were those 344 lives not precious? Is the lack of concern because those people primarily Black, did not matter because their lives were taken primarily by Blacks? It just seems to me that if Black lives matter these 344 in Baltimore should be counted as those that matter.

     Now, Mr. Floyd’s death was also tragic and totally unnecessary. There is no doubt that his life mattered. The dichotomy is that the many other lives taken in Minneapolis do little to raise eyebrows. It almost appears the eyes are turned away even when the lives are taken from Blacks. Do their lives not matter? There is no marching in the street for those Blacks killed by other Blacks in Minneapolis. There were, undoubtedly, Whites killed as well. Are their lives less significant because they are not Black? I find it hard to believe that one’s value is predicated upon his ethnicity; a matter of which he holds no control.

     When examining strange dichotomies, one has no choice but to consider Chicago. Chicago is a city long known for its crime. The “Windy City” has had the winds of lawless at least since the time of the show Good Times. It appears that not much has changed even in the face of a Black mayor, Miss Lightfoot. Mayor Lightfoot is obviously no fan of churches and that has become evident during this Coronavirus fiasco.[4] Even while her venom for churches is spewed Blacks are being murdered in Chicago left and right.[5] It could be that those nearly 250 people killed so far this year did not matter. Most were Black. Most were likely killed by Blacks. The problem is that they do not fit the convenient political narrative.

     I could go on and on about the many Blacks killed at the hands of Blacks that never make the national or sometimes local news. Consider, the deaths in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, New Orleans, etc. Do these lives not matter? Many are Black. The problem is they were not killed by the police. It does not fit the narrative that police are exterminating Blacks. The fact is that police kill very few Blacks and most of those killings are justified. For instance, the associated footnote will show that this year there have been Blacks killed by police (research for details) more Whites were killed than Blacks.[6] Other ethnicities were killed as well. It just seems that those other than Blacks do not have the political backing to get attention.

     It has become politically correct to join the Black Lives Matter movement. To raise fists in solidarity with those lives fit the political rhetoric serves to further the political movement. It has become the norm to say that Black lives matter. However, the dichotomy is that one standing in solidarity with others is somehow offensive. To say “all lives matter” is sufficient to cause maltreatment and maligning of the one standing for all. For me, this is a difficult pill to swallow. In fact, I do not want the pill. I stand for each and every life no matter the ethnicity. I stand with right no matter where there right falls. I stand against wrong no matter where that wrong falls.

     I find it necessary to stretch this discussion just a bit further. You see, many that purport to be Christians are among those ready to fight at the suggestion that all lives matter. This is problematic when one considers the fact that God so loved the world (the entirety of mankind) that He sent his only begotten Son John 3:16). God’s love is not concerned with ethnicity. It is not concerned with national origin nor is it concerned with language or political correctness. God’s love is concerned with the individual as he is placed in the world. The world encompasses all of mankind is a type of what we will find in Heaven.

    Revelation chapter five points to the contingent of people that will be giving God praises in Heaven. They include people of every kindred, nation, and tongue. No group is excluded. All are included. To God, all lives matter yet the dichotomy would suggest otherwise. Even so, to be people of God we would do well to remember the principle of love. If we but love our neighbors as we love ourselves, we would do well to lay aside this strange dichotomy.

[1] http://salonedaily.com/2020/05/30/shocking-late-george-floyd-his-killer-derek-chauvin-were-co-workers-at-a-club/

[2] http://archive.bluelivesmatter.blue/truth-behind-freddie-gray/

[3] https://chamspage.blogspot.com/2015/11/2015-baltimore-city-homicidesmurders.html

[4] https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/24/chicago-mayor-launches-police-raid-shut-down-black-church/

[5] https://graphics.suntimes.com/homicides/

[6] https://killedbypolice.net/kbp2020/

The Destruction of a People

On By Dr. William James Carter, IIn Brother, Christendom, COVID 19, death, Encouragement, Fear, Freedom, healing, Renewal3 Comments

Over the past several weeks I have been watching the people of the United States being destroyed piece by piece. Some may not see this as destruction. However, a careful examination of Scripture shows that God’s people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). That lack of knowledge is significant in spiritual matters as well as natural matters. Let’s do a brief examination of the lockdown this country has been subjected to over the past weeks.

A first thing to note is that this taking away of the freedoms of the people began of misinformation and hyperbole. This misinformation was the projections that COVID 19 was set to kill many people over a short period of time.[1] This was not only false information but that it seems to have played a major role in pulling from facts and introducing fear to a people that have failed to seek information for themselves. This lack of knowledge has caused people to bend to the whims of dictatorial despot wannabes whose sole desire is to impose a false authority on an unlearned people.

Another thing needing a little examination is the matter of fear. Among other mediums, the media at large became a useful tool in introducing fear to millions of people. That was done in part with the regular use of the term “social distancing.” There is hardly a news segment from the mainstream media wherein the idea is not introduced. One might argue that this is a form of indoctrination as it is the repeated mantra of an idea that has yet to have a clear scientific basis. In fact, social distancing is very harmful to individuals as humans are communal by nature. Yet, the fear-induced propaganda has sought to lead the uninformed to believe that this virus is so dangerous that we cannot even touch our faces even in the absence of anyone that may have the slightest chance of being infected. Fear is most effective in the absence of knowledge and so the fear of being close to someone has made many angry and rude. This goes to the oxymoronic idea of social distancing.

The list of destructive ideas is long. There is the closing of parks by some jurisdictions when it is proven this virus lives a very short time in the sun. People have been giving citations for attending church services while sitting in their cars. Pastors have been arrested for holding church services. Beaches have been closed. Businesses have been lost. Millions are sitting home waiting for the government to send them money not realizing the government does not care and cannot care about the individual. The list of atrocities goes on as the governmental agencies seem to mandate the people kowtow to authoritarian rule. However, to be subjugated to the government is indicative of the fact the government controls you. This ignorance of people causes them not to realize that when the government controls you there is no freedom.

With this contemporary look at the destruction of a people, it is reasonable that a biblical examination be employed. John 10:10 highlights the motivations of the thief. The text, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” Said differently, the thief (the devil) has but one purpose: the destruction of a people.

The thief is no friend to the people of God. He comes to destroy you by any means that will cause that destruction. This is much like what is going on in the United States today. The enemy has stolen the peace of many. There is little trust in our fellow men. Brother has been turned against brother. The truth has been stolen by reason of an abundance of lies and hyperbole. One lie the enemy will tell you is that you are worthy and that you deserve to die. Well, let me tell you, you are worthy, and you deserve to live. Christ came so that you could have life and that life is one free from the destruction of peace

This thief, this enemy, has also come to steal. While that may seem obvious, these dictatorial restrictions of heavy-handed despot types have stolen lives by reason of suicides directly linked to the restrictions.[2] Moreover, some have died because they were not able to get necessary medical care because of the restrictions placed on hospitals. Peace of mind has also been stolen. Joy has been stolen. Careers have been stolen. Yet, Jesus came that our life would be more abundant. For those of us that trust God we know that what the cankerworm has eaten God will restore (Joel 2:25). And, while that text is specific to certain people the principle of God remains strong. God is a restorative God.

There has also been a lot of destruction of the past weeks. Families have been destroyed. Some lives will never be the same. All of this has happened because of the lack of knowledge and understanding of what is going on in the natural and spiritual worlds. It is high time we stopped the destruction of a people and stood on our founding principles. Those principles are outlined in the Word of God and that is where we find life. The destruction will be abated once we come to the knowledge of truth and begin to rest in that. And, while the Word of God is our founding principle we need also to rest in the knowledge of the law of this land, the Constitution. Once both are properly employed the destruction of a people will be abated.

Finally, think not that this essay is to make light of those seriously impacted by COVID-19. It is not. The intention of this is to remove the blinders of fear as we stand steadfast in truth.

[1] https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/25/inaccurate-virus-models-are-panicking-officials-into-ill-advised-lockdowns/

[2] https://www.ccn.com/chillingly-scariest-coronavirus-death-toll-may-not-come-from-covid-19/