Menu Close

COVID-19: Evangelicals Practice Situational Ethics

anti-mask

As a teen in Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) churches in the 1960s and 1970s, I heard numerous fiery preachers rail against situational ethics. In their minds, everything was black and white. THUS SAITH THE LORD! No space was given for differences of opinion. Either you were on the preacher’s side, uh, I mean God’s side, or you were backslidden/out of the will of God. Every aspect of life was strictly regulated.

Wikipedia defines situational ethics this way:

Situational ethics or situation ethics takes into account the particular context of an act when evaluating it ethically, rather than judging it according to absolute moral standards. With the intent to have a fair basis for judgments or action, one looks to personal ideals of what is appropriate to guide them, rather than an unchanging universal code of conduct, such as Biblical law under divine command theory.

As you can see, situational ethics has no place in Fundamentalist churches. (Please see Are Evangelicals Fundamentalists?) Driven by arrogance and certainty, Fundamentalists resolutely believe that the Bible teaches them everything they need to know pertaining to life and godliness. In those (many) instances where a Bible verse does not cover a particular behavior or action, Fundamentalists use implication or inference to give a behavior or action Biblical justification. If all else fails, pastors appeal to church standards — lists of rules and regulations that supposedly can be found in the Bible if you get a 6x magnifying glass out and look really, really, really hard.

And then came COVID-19. The CDC and state/county health departments published rules and guidelines for protecting oneself from getting infected. Once Trump was thrown out of office, these health organizations authored clear guidelines for churches and parachurch groups to follow if they wanted to keep people safe from infection. Had churches followed these guidelines, there would have been fewer infections and deaths from COVID-19. Instead, many state governors exempted churches from health department mandates, saying that the First Amendment trumps public health and safety. Some churches — typically mainline/liberal congregations — did the right thing, but other churches — mainly Evangelical churches — did not. Instead of following the law, these churches practice situational ethics. Instead of making a Biblical case for social distancing, mask-wearing, and vaccinations — and a case can be easily made — pastors tell congregants to follow their hearts, to do what they think is best. Pastors, in fact, go out of their way to NOT tell people what to do about COVID. (Well, those who aren’t anti-maskers/anti-vaxxers — a huge problem in Evangelical churches.) Yet, pastors and congregants don’t take this same approach to abortion, same-sex marriage, LGBTQ people, premarital sex, masturbation, and a host of other behaviors considered sins. Instead, people are left to their own devices when it comes to COVID-19. (Please see Bruce, How Do You Know Your Wife’s Mom Was Infected with COVID-19 at Church?)

Jesus commanded his followers to love their neighbors. It seems to me that loving one’s neighbor in the midst of a killer pandemic requires, at the very least, social distancing, mask-wearing, and vaccinations. Further, it can be argued that loving one’s neighbor demands refraining from holding group gatherings. Instead, situational ethics are the norm in many Evangelical churches when it comes to COVID-19. Crass indifference put others at risk of infection and death. The Bible says there are two great commands: love God, love your fellow man. I used to preach that you can’t say you love God if you don’t love your fellow man. Want the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the World to think well of you and your church? Show through your conduct that you love them. Wear a mask, practice social distancing, and get vaccinated. If you are unwilling to do these things, don’t tell me how much you “love” Jesus. Your words are shallow and meaningless.

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Connect with me on social media:

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

10 Comments

  1. Avatar
    Lesley

    As someone from England, I was wondering if people from the US feel more hopeful since Joe Biden became president and set a Covid plan in force?

    • Avatar
      BJW

      Lesley, I think in general the country is more hopeful. I know I am. But those of us more hopeful are also aware that a large proportion of our population believe whole-heartedly in their delusions, that Trump was cheated out of the presidency (in spite of over 60 lawsuits rejecting this idea). And those of us who live among them have to find our comfort elsewhere. It’s easy for liberals and leftists to tell us to reject every single person who supported Trump, but if it is all around you, including in your family, you still have to live with people.

      • Avatar
        Lesley

        To BJW – I can imagine how difficult that must be. It caused quite a bit of tension within me and I only had to view it from afar.

    • Avatar
      Ozymandias

      BJW said, “hopeful” is matter of one’s politics. The atmosphere is certainly calmer, and we’ve come to realize how much of our minds had been given over rent-free to the narcissist with a bullhorn.

    • Avatar
      Ozymandias

      Sorry for the double-post; trying to edit.
      As BJW said, “hopeful” is a matter of one’s politics. The atmosphere is certainly calmer, and we’ve come to realize how much of our minds had been given over rent-free to the narcissist with a bullhorn.

      • Avatar
        BJW

        I agree Ozy. I’m much less irritable now that Trump it out. And I can think of other stuff besides Trump’s daily circus!

        • Avatar
          Lesley

          “I can think of other stuff besides Trump’s daily circus.”
          Absolutely! He was like a car crash – we felt drawn to watch what he got up to. It’s been a whole lot calmer since he lost the election and got kicked off Facebook and Twitter.

      • Avatar
        Lesley

        To Ozymandias – I rejoiced with you when Trump didn’t get another term, though the aftermath was dreadful.

  2. Avatar
    BJW

    Well, evangelicals can no longer talk about ethics. They were willing to throw ethics out, they were willing to practice “the ends justify the means” as a philosophy with Trump as president to gain power. In the end, they don’t want to do right, and in fact too many of them practice plenty of secret sins. But they DO want to force the rest of us to follow what they claim to believe. Pro-lifers get abortions, but don’t want any other women to get them; leaders who coerce people into sexual relationships want to ban consensual same sex relationships, and the beat goes on. Oh, and they really care about pedophilia unless one of their own is accused, and then it’s all victim-blaming.

  3. Avatar
    William

    A favourite Biblical passage for me was Philippians 2:4 where we are told to look to the things of others which was the very mind of Christ (2:5).

    Are evangelicals looking to the things of others by creating super spreader events? Do they care that their actions cause vulnerable people to live a life of isolation because they are frightened of dying?

    This is the slow belly of fundamentalism. They don’t care about anyone but themselves.

    Who knows, maybe the fundamentalist movement will someday do something to cheer us up 🙂 A genuine act of kindness 🙂

    But here’s the thing, I’ve found with a mind free from religious dogma, without all the church rules, it’s easier to do selfless acts.

Want to Respond to Bruce? Fire Away! If You Are a First Time Commenter, Please Read the Comment Policy Located at the Top of the Page.

Discover more from The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Bruce Gerencser