Christian pastor claims coronavirus is God's "death angel," blames parents "transgendering little...

I often hear fellow Christians say these are difficult times to be a "Believer"...for my own part, I think we're closer to the type of society Christ came into, than we've been in perhaps a millennium and a half. The United States, from a historical and sociological perspective, isn't that far removed from the Roman Empire of the 1st-4th Centuries A.D. We have a powerful military deployed globally attempting to keep the "peace". Our political system is one which often claims the heritage of republic...but flirts with absolute powers. Our society produces some of the finest warriors, athletes, philosophers, and academics in the world...but is also represented by gluttony, laziness, apathy, and ignorance. We have "everything", but seem to value a little "less" with each passing decade. We worship a panoply of "gods"...some taking human form, others appearing as objects, habits, or forms of entertainment. Our world is both beautiful...and brutal.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John walked streets where human life was cheap, sexuality was commercialized, and piety rare. They did not go about calling upon God to incinerate the Romans, nor the Greeks. The Apostles did not join the Pharisees in legalism...rather, they spoke of Christ's message of forgiveness and hope.

However...

...Contained within that message of hope were warnings. If God is indeed real, and the words attributed to Him accurate, humanity is always confronted with a choice. The ancient Romans suffered tremendous plagues, wars, and natural disasters. Their once great empire ended, not defended by glorious legions...but by paid mercenaries. I do not believe that when an innocent child dies of a terrible disease, that God takes pleasure in it. Neither do I believe He glories in the torture and death of sinners by those proclaiming themselves to be "sinless". Yet, I do believe that as a whole, mankind pays a steep price for rejecting God's love, and embracing our own wisdom. it does not seem too far a reach to suggest that where humanity brutalizes its own, or engenders privation and poverty, it may not also tempt Pandora's box to be opened.