Letter: Don't encourage gatherings

Don Niemeir, what is wrong with you? Maybe you should stick to preaching the gospel, which I hear you're very good at, because you seem to know nothing about science. You could be a respected voice for following the guidelines of medical experts who are trying to save our lives! It's not as if they are asking us to fly to the moon (probably a safer choice these days), just THIS ONE CHRISTMAS, since Thanksgiving produced 1,500,000 more cases of COVID: avoid crowds, indoor dining, traveling to "grandma's house," and spaces where there is no mask-wearing or social distancing.

Why would you, pastor Don, encourage your flock to throw themselves to the wolves (aka Virus) by having them gather to celebrate the birth of a man who surely would not lead His flock into danger? You rant and rave about women snuffing the life of embryos and, in rare cases, viable infants, but you don't seem to care that in the last few weeks one viable American has died every 30 seconds from COVID-19! All lives matter, remember? Don't just offer "thoughts and prayers" to those victims and their loved ones, do something meaningful for those still alive.

Stand up and be a man, be a leader, be a Christian, be a preacher who can actually protect friends, family, and strangers by begging them to do the right thing: stay home, wear a mask, open some windows for an interchange of fresh air with possible virus-inundated air, don't hug and kiss everyone JUST THIS ONE CHRISTMAS, JUST THIS ONE NEW YEAR'S EVE, until the vaccines and new therapies have a chance to work and overwhelmed hospitals can breathe a sigh of relief. It's not political, Don. I am reaching out to you because your voice is much more powerful than mine. (You are probably liked better too.) We all need people like you to uphold the truth. Can you do it? Your God might thank you too.

With hope, Liz Cain