Vice President Mike Pence enraged the nation during a daily coronavirus press conference by urging Americans to keep donating to churches despite the crisis.
The government is not supposed to promote religion, but that’s exactly what Pence and President Donald Trump promised religious leaders during a phone call last month — in addition to promising that they would tell people to keep sending them money no matter what.
“The President and I promised we’d remind people that on the weekends even though you are not in those pews, it’s still a good idea to, if you can, to go ahead and make that donation, because all the ministries are continuing to play a vital role in our communities,” Pence said.
Pence says he and Trump promised religious leaders they would advise Americans to “go ahead and make that donation” to their religious entities even while they’re not in the pews right now
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 21, 2020
Here’s the video via YouTube:
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This is a blatant solicitation for religious donations, and Pence’s use of the word “pews” made it pretty clear that he is talking primarily about Christian denominations.
As for those religious “leaders,” it’s likely they are the televangelists Trump often pals around with such as Robert Jeffress, Paula White and others who are already wealthy enough that they can take care of whole communities single-handedly without money from struggling members of their congregations.
As more and more Americans lose their jobs and their paychecks, asking them to continue donating money to the church is outrageous. And Twitter users lashed out in disgust.
Did Pence just promote church collection plate? Wtf!
— KathleenFrances 🇮🇪🇺🇸 (@Kathlee71013772) March 21, 2020
No. Do not give money to keep mega churches rich.
The reason Pence and Trump care about this is two-fold.
A. Money is going into politics.
B. Your data is going into politics.
Do not give money to a church building/org if the money could feed someone directly in your community— RR Seattle (@RRalstonAgile) March 21, 2020
I’d rather hear Pence suggest that donations be made to a food bank.
— Marlene💛🖤 (@Margo221) March 21, 2020
thoughts and cash
— kevin (@KevINthe406) March 21, 2020
Fucking ear swab looking Mike Pence: “On those weekends that the you’re not in the pews, please feel free to still make a donation.”
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE LOOSING THEIR JOBS, and as the VP he asks for DONATIONS
GO FUCK YOURSELF MIKE. pic.twitter.com/ErlgudhdmL
— CarpeDiem89 (@Carpediem4989) March 21, 2020
LOL Mike Pence wants the American religious people to know that, in this great time of crisis with people not filling pews, their churches really need to keep recieving tithes.
Jesus Christ.
— Mr. #SECBasketballFever (@fakegimel) March 21, 2020
Hey @Mike_Pence Muslims don’t sit in pews. And, it’s not a donation, it’s a tithe. “Religious communities” would include Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and other living world religions. #CoronavirusPandemic
— Tammy Gieselman (@TamaraGieselman) March 21, 2020
So much for separation of church and state.
— RealityMonger 🌈/ #ImpeachBarr #RemoveTrumpNow (@MikeFreethinker) March 21, 2020
Oh, if you fast forwarded you would have missed Mike Pence’s admonition to Americans that even if they are not physically sitting in the pews in their churches for worship services, they should still send in those contributions. WTF?!
— @realliveDee🌊🌊🌊 (@DStellato1013) March 21, 2020
I feel mildly irritated that he’s basically preaching here. 😒 It’s not the podium to use to ask for religious donations. https://t.co/25uR0E2kbi
— D McNamara 😷 (@Diana071037) March 21, 2020
We now have a White House that’s telling people if they’re not in the pews on Sunday, they should go ahead and donate. What’s next? Is Mike Pence going to tell us this is the Apocalypse and Trump’s God. https://t.co/psOpFRhwJl
— David Foster (@foster0651) March 21, 2020
I can’t believe it. Pence is using this forum to solicit donations to religious organizations. #coronavirus
— Ken Hart (@KenHartWriter) March 21, 2020
Using a press conference meant to inform people about a pandemic to promote religious donations is despicable and Pence should be ashamed of himself for sinking so low. Of course, now Trump and Pence have moved to give churches taxpayer money directly. This is an unprecedented health and economic crisis. The last thing people should be doing is worrying about making sure churches have enough money, especially churches that already have millions and billions of dollars.
Featured image via screen capture
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