Last week, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear warned people — not just Christians, but everyone — that if they gathered in groups in defiance of his stay-at-home order, law enforcement officials would record their license plates so that the state could send out orders urging people to self-quarantine for the next 14 days.

As with all governors, this isn’t about trying to arrest Christians celebrating Easter. It’s about making it clear that COVID-19 is a real threat and we all need to make sacrifices by staying inside and limiting our interactions to only essential services. If saying the police will send you a letter is what he has to do, even if it’s a political blunder, then it’s hard to disagree.

Some Christians are now making his point for him.

On Sunday, at Maryville Baptist Church in the city of Hillview, more than 50 people gathered for a service. And cops were there to record their license plates. The owners will be sent letters telling them that they should stay indoors for the next two weeks.

The Christians said in response that they don’t give a damn. They don’t care who they infect. They don’t care who suffers because of their negligence. They don’t care who dies because of their arrogance.

Several said as they left [the church] that they had no intention of abiding by the notice on their windshields that called for a 14-day self-quarantine or face the threat of “further enforcement measures.” … “Everybody has to do what they feel comfortable with,” [Rev. Jack] Roberts said. He did cover his own license plate, as did several other parishioners. It didn’t matter. Troopers took down the VIN numbers instead. … At Maryville, the people who stayed in their cars and listened to the service through the outdoor speaker did not receive quarantine notices.

I don’t get what else Beshear is supposed to do at this point. He doesn’t want to arrest Christians, but Christians are threatening the health of the entire state by doing the one thing they’re not supposed to do. Who knows how many of these worshipers went to a grocery store or a neighbor’s house later that day? How many of the will develop symptoms of the virus in coming days and weeks?

How much longer will we all have to stay indoors because some wannabe Christian martyrs decided their “religious freedom” was worth more dead people?

Incidentally, some vandals poured nails in that church’s parking lot that morning.

I’m at Maryville Baptist Church, which continues to hold in-person services despite orders to cease . This morning, piles of nails have been scattered at every entrance. pic.twitter.com/WcxkqtVZQw — Sarah Ladd (@ladd_sarah) April 12, 2020

That’s equally stupid. Besides giving them a larger persecution complex, destroying their cars isn’t how this situation will be resolved. We need Christians in positions of power to call out these idiots sharing their faith umbrella. It starts with Rev. Jack Roberts, the irresponsible preacher who decided to hold a service no matter how much it threatened everyone’s health. If not him, then people close to him need to speak out.

We’re in this mess because conservatives refused to listen to science at the highest levels of government. But conservatives aren’t listening in their own communities, either. So we all have to suffer even longer.

