Trump Orders Houses of Worship Reopened for Memorial Day Citing We Need More Prayer

Written by Alberta Parish

On Friday, President Trump ordered the states to allow houses of worship to reopen stating that we need more prayer. But it is not more prayer that we need. What we needed was to maintain stay-at-home orders and lockdown restrictions while Congress and the White House worked together to draft a strong economic plan ensuring small and medium-sized business owners as well as workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic continued and guaranteed long-term financial stability for the duration of this pandemic. Instead, Congress passed the CARES Act in March, which issued a one-time stimulus check to qualified Americans and added an additional $600 to unemployment insurance benefits. But it was hardly enough to guarantee financial stability for millions of American workers laid off around the country whose incomes were significantly slashed. There were people used to earning up to $3,000 and more every two weeks before they were laid off due to the pandemic.

The CARES Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020, had set aside billions of dollars for small businesses and corporations. However, many small business owners were still forced to permanently close their doors because not only were many still waiting for their payments but many also had not received payments as late as the end of April. A lot of mom and pop stores were forced to permanently close because the owners did not have a lot of savings before the pandemic and could not maintain expenses while taking in little revenue. Even if business owners had reopened earlier, many would not have been able to take in a lot of revenue as they did before the pandemic due to people not feeling comfortable that this pandemic is under control. Now that many businesses have reopened, many are still not making the same in revenue as they did before the pandemic.

As a resident of Georgia, not only was I irritated when Governor Brian Kemp lifted the lockdown restrictions putting non-essential employees on the frontlines of a global pandemic by allowing non-essential services to resume business on April 24, 2020, but I also felt like he is indifferent to the plight of the working-class poor and used Georgia workers as guinea pigs to be sent to the slaughterhouse first while he continues to safeguard himself and his immediate family from the frontlines of this pandemic. In fact, the day after Kemp reopened Georgia for business, over 60,000 people made their way to this state just to shop, get their hair and nails done, and buy some shoes. A lot of people couldn’t wait for this governor to lift mandatory lockdown restrictions and stay-at-home orders, so they can go visit with their girlfriends and eat out in dine-in restaurants. This global pandemic has not only exposed weakness in leadership from the Trump administration, but how fragile the economy is without the mom and pop businesses and working-class poor to keep it afloat.

Despite new coronavirus cases rising and the U.S. death toll now over 95,000 people, President Trump orders state governors to allow houses of worship to reopen for Memorial Day, which will potentially expose millions to viral infection and put countless lives at stake while he claims we need more prayer. No, what we need is medical officials to develop an effective vaccine and even a cure. If scientists were successful at developing and cultivating a new strain of coronavirus, scientists can also develop a cure.

What will prayer do for anyone currently laid up on a ventilator in a hospital fighting for his/her life? What makes anyone think that if there is a Divine Presence in the universe, it would be interested in saving us? What makes the human species worthy of salvation from any deadly virus? I feel like it is pure luck there aren’t over a million dead bodies globally from COVID-19 as of today’s date. I do not carry any grand delusion that any Divine Presence in the universe that humans decided to call God is going to protect and shield us from COVID-19. The only thing protecting me from natural or man-made viruses is a good immune system, and hopefully, no pre-existing conditions. All viruses are trying to survive like we’re trying to survive. All viruses have been on this planet, possibly for as long as humans have. Maybe viruses exist for the sole purpose of wiping out humanity? Although mankind has established his dominance on the planet, it does not appear that we are indeed the most dominant species on the planet. All it takes is one virus to establish that we are not the most dominant and smartest species on this planet. All the prayer in the world will not save us from the virus. Perhaps, in a thousand years, modern humans will go into extinction. Perhaps, a virus will be the cause of mankind’s extinction.

Instead of Trump putting pressure on the governors to reopen the states, he should have encouraged governors to maintain lockdown restrictions and stay-at-home orders while working with Congress to produce legislature for a long-term economic plan for the country. A better economic plan would’ve been the second stimulus proposal that was brought to the floor of the Congress shortly after the CARES Act passed. The second stimulus proposal include $2,000 per month for up to 12 months including rent and mortgage cancellations. Many people around the country are still laid off and could use a $2,000 monthly check. Is prayer going to pay their rent or mortgage? Will prayer keep you from falling sick at work due to contracting the coronavirus on your job even with safety measures being practiced? Will a large plexiglass barrier in a store keep me or the employee from contracting the coronavirus?

While Trump touts that we need more prayer, I need better healthcare, better health insurance, better pay and universal basic income. I need a better life. I need to be happy. Is prayer going to make me happy? When have I ever said a prayer in my entire life and my utility bills and rent were miraculously paid? When was the last time prayer actually healed the sick and diseased? What would be the need for the hospitals if prayer actually heal people?

Listening to White House officials lying to the public and trying to play on the public’s intelligence will not make this pandemic crisis go away. What they are really counting on is that we remain sheep, and usually sheep graze the field all day and eat and do the same thing day after day until winter and eventually are led to the slaughter. Sheep don’t question anything. Sheep are usually meek and do what they are told. You can also attack them, and they won’t attack you back. The Trump administration really want the American workers to be like the sheep of the field. They don’t want you, the sheep, to focus too hard on your safety and the safety of loved ones, because they need you to save the economy. They want the sheep to remain good little lambs of the field and save the economy. They don’t want you, the sheep, to question their authority even if they continue to put your lives at stake and never compensate your families if you die.

It is time for change. The old ways aren’t working. There is too much economic inequality, too much hoarding of wealth, too much unequal distribution of wealth, too much greed, too much pride, and as a species our ways are destructive. And if we don’t change as a species, we’re doomed as a species just like this economy.

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