Anti-vaxx Chronicles: The ignored prayers of a fervent fundamentalist believer

Facebook is a menace. COVID-19 is a menace. Conservatism is a cesspool. Together, those three ingredients have created a toxic stew of malevolent death and devastation. We can talk about all those things in the abstract, look at the numbers and statistics, and catch the occasional whiff of seditionist right-wing rhetoric. But I hadn’t really fully understood just how horrifying that combination of right-wing extremism, Facebook, and a killer virus was until I became a regular at the Herman Cain Awards subreddit. This series will document some of those stories, so we are aware of what the other side is doing to our country.

Let’s call today’s cautionary tale “Red.” And this one is even weirder than most. 

She is a legitimately talented artist. Her work is beautiful, whether you’re into her subject matter or not. Objectively, she’s good. 

But the tone is set: Anyone congratulating Joe Biden for winning the election isn’t a good Christian. And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are baby-killing devil worshippers. 

Talk about black and white, all or nothing. Dealing in absolutes is so much easier than, you know, maybe realizing that you can disagree with someone without them being devil worshippers. 

Imagine thinking that Trump has ever helped anyone in his entire life. Imagine thinking that Trump is kind. The same Trump that said today: 

Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media. Hope that happens to me someday. He was a classic RINO, if even that, always being the first to attack other Republicans. He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!

Yeah, so much kindness. So much comforting!

😳😳😳 

Apparently, her all-powerful HULK SMASH lord was totally okay with Joe Biden winning the election. 

I’m starting to suspect that this poor woman isn’t getting very restful sleep. She is literally being tormented by demons. 

“Anti” means “against,” folks. It’ll be on the quiz. 

Dear god, she was holding back?

There’s that weird conceit where someone fact-checking them means they are telling the truth. And when they’re not fact-checked, they’re telling the truth. And when someone posts a laughing emoji, they’re telling the truth. And otherwise, they’re telling the truth. 

I actually disagree with the laughing emoji person. I don’t find any of this funny. It’s sad and tragic and disturbing. And as we’ll see, it puts people at risk. And not just people, but children. 

I’ll say it again, she is legit talented, even if that’s the whitest Jesus I’ve ever seen. 

This is a family that is already depending on others to keep them afloat. 

The COVID vaccine is the Mark of the Beast, of course, as opposed to all those other vaccines she likely took. 

So … world hunger is solved? 

Oh my. 

Did Jesus … just get whiter? 

Oh my. 

So … God doesn’t make food appear out of thin air? 

Really, I don’t want to make light of this situation. There may even be mental illness issues here. But look at what religion has done to this family—it’s made even basic survival difficult for them. She literally wrote above that the satanic devil-worshipping government doesn’t need to provide doctors or medicines. Yet here, clearly without medical insurance, she complains that a hospital won’t provide medicine or care for her husband. 

Why not have the government feed and pay her, if her family is in need? Why not redistribute some wealth to help those in greatest need? Why not a bit of that Jesus-style socialism, where we help our neighbors and rise together, lifting all boats? 

Do you think her kind and caring Trump would give two shits about her family? You think he’d help her out—shell out even a $20 from his supposed stack of billions? Of course not. He’d laugh at her, call her a loser, and kick her while she was down. And yet she’s beholden to that cult, and nothing will shake her from the belief that Trump and her Jesus will provide for everything, even as her entire family lays destitute in some sad Ohio motel trying to survive COVID and extreme poverty.

A simple jab wouldn’t solve most of this family’s current problems, but her husband would be at that new job, earning money, and her kids wouldn’t be suffering. And while odds are that yes, all of them should survive this illness, the economic harm is already being felt, and who knows what long-term consequences they might face. It’s just not worth it!

But when a free, simple, effective jab becomes “the Mark of the Beast,” nothing will penetrate that bubble of ignorance. Which means that COVID will continue running rampant through this community, for as long as COVID exists.

And before you think “well, good riddance,” just remember that every new infection is a chance for the virus to mutate into something our current vaccines can’t handle. Every new infection means that we still can’t go to a sporting event, concert, restaurant, or other large gatherings without that ever-present risk of infection, illness, and death. 

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