I feel that it's important to address some of the common critiques of the anti-mask/COVID denial movement, and why it is important to be aware of the language we are using to call out their bullshit.
@JaneQCitizen @ARCCollective @nolifeneet @TonyYvce @C_Stroop @YYCantiracist

"These people are just mentally ill." Mental illness does not cause or justify racist or deliberately harmful behavior. Just because a person or group lacks critical thinking skills and chooses to prioritize religious belief does not mean they are mentally ill.

By dismissing the actions of Street Church and the anti-lockdown crowd as "just a bunch of crazies", this contributes to further shaming of mental illness, and absolves these individuals of responsibility for their actions, as many are choosing not to comply for personal reasons.

As a person with several mental health disorders, when I hear language saying that this kind of behavior is just a natural outgrowth of mental illness, I hear a lack of compassion, and a desire to dismiss or remove mentally ill folks from the rest of 'normal' society.

If we are going to call out the anti-mask movement for being harmful--and we absolutely should be--it is important that we are not also perpetuating harm in the way we choose to do that. I realize this may rub some folks the wrong way, and I encourage you to reflect on why.

A critique specific to the religious groups who deny COVID is that they "lack empathy", or aren't living up to the "true nature" of christianity by doing so. As someone who was raised in an environment very similar to Street Church, this assumption is incorrect for a few reasons.

Each church will interpret and prioritize which parts of the bible they want to follow, which usually includes teachings on what things are evil, and as a result, which people are serving evil. This creates an 'us' and a 'them'. The drawing of these lines are very important.

Over the years, sermons will continually describe the outside 'them' as evil, perverted, lazy, sinful, lost, deceptive, wicked, and disgusting. After listening to these messages, something begins to happen to members of the 'us' group inside the church.

The natural empathy response humans possess begins to be broken down and reshaped by these messages about others. There is a dehumanizing taking place, where you can only feel and recognize empathy for a select few folks whom you have been taught to recognize as pitiable.

When others have been painted as evil and hostile, it is easy to dismiss them as not really human, or at the very least, an existential threat to the carefully crafted world some churches have convinced themselves they live in.

The majority of these individuals have not been taught critical thinking skills, and when cognitive dissonance comes up, it is seen as a test of one's faith to ignore those doubts and just accept what one has been taught without question.

This is not to give any of these individuals the benefit of the doubt, on the contrary. By painting the pandemic as a vehicle for religious persecution, it has activated the only empathy response they have been taught to recognize: 'fight the evil threat.'

By prioritizing a theology that requires separation and superiority to the rest of the world, these individuals can justify the harm they are doing to the community, because they cannot recognize the rest of us as anything but 'fallen' and 'lost.'

By dismissing these individuals as a ‘fringe group’ that does not have much influence on the rest of society, there is no push back against harmful ideologies and beliefs.

Street Church has 6 members running in municipal elections this year, with an express desire to bring their brand of christianity and theocracy into City Hall. Regardless of whether they win, there is still a public platform being given to propagate hate and harm.

Please continue to hold these individuals and groups to account. But recognize and call out their motives and illogic for what it is, rather than trying to dismiss them as 'crazy' or 'religious nuts.' Many of these people are making a deliberate choice not to comply.

They are living out their faith as sincerely as they know how, even if that chosen interpretation is to be incredibly harmful and unaware of the realities of the world.

The pandemic has created a unique situation, as many people would be unaware of the kinds of things that are preached behind closed doors. COVID has brought their 'morality' out into the streets, and the collateral damage is unfortunately going to be grave.

Please be aware and help hold these individuals to account. https://twitter.com/ARCCollective/status/1386122130559967232?s=19