* from somewhere on the internets

Josh Hawley (r) took to social media last night in some kind of indignation:

Josh Hawley @HawleyMO
.@AbigailShrier⁩ nails it: congregating in public is now a “privilege” extended to political activists but denied religious believers
[….]
9:13 PM · Jun 6, 2020

Some of the responses:

You’re embarrassing Missouri

If people want to pray on the sidewalk, or other traditional public forum, they can. You’ve confused the ability to jam donors into a tax free semi-private club with free exercise of the 1st Amendment. As a former law professor I’d hope you might understand that.

Worship can be done at home, or remotely. Protesting systemic police brutality less so.

Wow tone deaf much?!

So your argument is that it’s OK for churches to have great numbers of people and get them sick? And that’s equivalent to people rightly angry about the overreach of the police? Strange Christian view to take, as I see it.

Read the room Mr. Hawley

He can’t. He’s running around wearing a bucket on his head.

Funny, my church doesn’t think it is wise to open back up yet and pushed their planned reopening. All on their own.

I live in your home state, Senator. Been to mass 7 times in the last 2 weeks. My church was never closed. Mass was done via live feed on FB or YouTube, but the church was open for worship, as were our homes. As far as congregation—did you see the photos from Lake of the Ozarks??

Let’s talk about it at your next town hall. Oh, that’s right, you were social distancing from your constituents before it was cool. Peaceful protests =/= riots and the church isn’t a building.

So much whining. Resign.

Congregations have continued to fellowship, pray, learn, and help during the crisis. They have used new and old methods. Sitting in a pew every Sunday isn’t the only way to #DoChurch. There are many believers in the protests you rail against who are standing up in His Name.

My God doesn’t require I be in a building. He requires that I stand up for & protect other sons & daughters of God for “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”. Hence why protest is 1 of the MOST Christian things we can do.

Matthew 6:5 kind of sums you up, though, Josh. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.” Quit being a hypocrite.

Being outdoor with masks and social distancing carries relatively low risk.

Sitting and singing indoors in a packed congregation for hours carries much, much higher risk.

It’s not about elite privilege – it’s about scientific reality.

Well, God’s not real. However, racial oppression is very real.

Have church in the streets and pray for justice. I have seen multiple clergy at every march I have attended.

Maybe you don’t understand religion.

No heart in that grifter or Huckster Hawley.

Oh shut up. I attend services regularly. My children go to religious school.

We all know the difference between the right to protest violence against other humans and the right to pray. We pray with our congregation online but take to the streets to protest violence.

Get your head out of your behind, Hawley. I’m tired of the pearl-clutching Christian politics.

Utter bullshit. Who writes this tripe, anyway?

What an asinine statement

Wow, that’s an interesting twist of reality. You supported armed protesters with no masks pushing States to open. Now you bash peaceful protesters with masks and claim it’s the same as church.. closed room, communion, … yup makes sense to… nobody.

are you serious??? We can worship God anywhere but politicians like you have done nothing to combat racism so you drove us to the streets

You are so purposely obtuse. Disingenuous.

[….] overcoming systemic rasicism is beyond your intelligence. Please stop embarrassing yourself.

Not one time have you condemned the murder of George Floyd or ecaressed regret for the racism in America. In your few rare acknowledgements that this is going on, you’ve exclusively presented statements against the protests. Do you just not care about the POC you represent or….

“I’m a Republican Senator; we always quote scripture when we are committing a crime.”

Oh poor you. Loser