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April 23, 2020 Volume XXVII, Number 36 As Boulder County's only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper. 690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2020 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.
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BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
Death cult or survival in a better world by Dave Anderson
T
he president’s statements this morning encourage illegal and dangerous acts. He is putting millions of people in danger of contracting COVID-19. His unhinged rantings and calls for people to ‘liberate’ states could also lead to violence. We’ve seen it before. “The president is fomenting domestic rebellion and spreading lies — even while his own administration says the virus is real, it is deadly and we have a long way to go before restrictions can be lifted. — Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington, April 17, 2020. The virus is the boss until we have a vaccine. However, we can I
control our behavior. When Trump started talking about big crowds in the churches at Easter, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, we “don’t make the timeline. The virus makes the timeline (to go back to normal).” He and other public health experts have said we need much more testing and even more contact tracing. In response, it seems the Republican Party is turning into a death cult. The Rev. Tony Spell, the pastor of a megachurch outside Baton Rouge, held in-person services on Palm Sunday and Easter in violation of a statewide stay-at-home order by APRIL 23, 2020
Louisiana’s Democratic governor John Bel Edwards. He was arrested and charged with six misdemeanors as a result. Hundreds of people attended the services (which were livestreamed), including many who came in a fleet of 26 buses. Spell was asked if he thought he would have blood on his hands should congregants became infected and die. He responded: “Like any revolutionary, or like any zealot, or like any pure religious person, death looks to them like a welcome friend. True Christians do see THE ANDERSON FILES Page 6
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