We cannot shut society down because of something that might happen. Life is full of risks, you cannot control the risks other people take. If you're afraid of the virus, stay at home. But don't you dare tell me and other believers that we may not worship as God commands us to do in order to appease your fears.
Except that it doesn't affect others and even if it did we are called on by God to worship him publicly via corporate worship. It is far more important for believers to be at church, worshipping God and fellowshiping with the saints. That Christians think its okay to forsake gathering together over this virus is a testament to how little belivers value worship. I have long argued against the American view of church, that it's a commodity or product that we shop around for and ditch when it no longer suits our personal preferences or tastes. When people give up on church because of a virus what they're really saying is that the commodity isn't worth the risk. That is a sad state of affairs for the church. At least now the Supreme Court has signaled that it will not tolerate tyrannical dictators shutting down churches.
In the OT, especially in Leviticus, God makes very clear commands for what to do when there is an infectious disease. It's clear that He is for fighting it in any way possible, even to putting people out of the camp until they are healed. One verse says that even after they come back into the camp they must remain outside their tent for another seven days. He was more concerned with not spreading disease than people meeting together with other worshippers.
What Biblical evidence do you have for the proposition that God would rather we not go to worship?
You may be able to argue that those who know they are sick should stay home based on this passage, though that's a stretch considering this is specific to skin conditions and was ceremonial in nature. I'm not arguing for the known sick to show up at church, I'm arguing for everyone else to show up at church. We can't hide in our homes, fearful of what might be outside. God doesn't tell us to not foresake meeting with the saints, except when virus hysteria sweeps the land. We must be the level headed ones, we have something much greater to offer the world and the saints at church. We have eternal life to look forward to and we must be allowed to freely worship our creator corporately, virus or no virus.
That one verse is about skin disease many others are not they include diseases such as leprosy and others that are observable. I don't know why you would think they are ceremonial practices, God didn't give them as ceremony any more than He did laws about theft, or what should be done if someone's animal kills someone.
With this disease one can't always know that they are sick, neither can they know if someone else is sick. Do you think that the President or Herman Cain knew that the person who gave them coVid was sick? Did Benson Carson know that the person he was hanging out with was sick, did the spreader themself know at the time that they were sick and could give to Dr. Carson, the President, or Herman Cain? They had to have caught it from someone else...and every one of those people caught it from someone else.
You're still risking your life and others, per your standard by going to the groceries and being around people. Not only that, there are compound factors. Did you drive there? You risk crashing or someone crashing into you. You risk running over someone or someone running in front of your car. Are you walking in rainy weather? You risk slipping and killing yourself.
I think you dont have Christian commonsense or bravery. Corona isnt Ebola, it isnt something that kills everyone who has it.
