A Comedian and a Doctor
Two characteristics of the Reawaken America Tour in Batavia NY were (1) a focus on conspiracies and (2) demonizing people. The dozens of speakers included high-profile people like Gen. Michael Flynn, Eric Tump, and Mike Lindell (“the pillow guy”), as well as preachers with a national “presence,” self-proclaimed prophets, business owners, attorneys, medical doctors, even a comedian who was a Saturday Night Live regular in the 1990s.
The comedian Jim Breuer (https://www.jimbreuer.com/home) – who has also hosted specials on VH1 and Comedy Central and is on tour right now – was on stage because he “has decided not to perform at any venues that require the RNA-modifying nano-technology COVID-19 vaccines” (according to the program). Like most current comedians, he was rude and crude and dismissive of people. How that behavior can be considered Christian seems strange to me, but he was not alone in speaking that way at this event. Even worse, though, he demonized people like Bill Gates and Barack Obama whose faces were on the “Great Reset” graphic behind all the speakers – that being a major conspiracy at this event. At times, what he said was subtle, and I almost missed it. For instance, he talked about people with faith and morals “who can think for themselves,” and said these people reject the vaccine shots, as if people who do not are without such “faith and morals.” You can get a sense of his comedy routine in this video and of how the people there felt about it in the comments below the video. At the event, the response was a lot of laughter and shouts of affirmation and long ovations. (CLICK ON THE "WATCH ON YOUTUBE" LINK TO SEE IT)
One of the doctors, Jim Meehan, MD, spoke on “How to Fight Back Against Medical Corruption.” The program described him as a “leading Oklahoma medical doctor who has successfully treated 4,000 COVID-19 patients with 0 deaths.” He is an ophthalmologist MD, now licensed for general preventative medicine and nutrition, who also runs a company committed to “healing without harming your body with harsh chemicals or pharmaceuticals laden with negative side effects.” https://www.meehanmd.com/ His approach to holistic health, however, has been accompanied with anti-vaccination activism. He was sued by a pediatrician in 2017 for his aggressive attack on her for giving vaccines to children (https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/anti-vax-message-gets-meaner-social-media-n809166). And in September, 2020, he spoke at a state Public Health Committee hearing to say that “masks are ineffective at slowing the spread of the virus and that people of color need more vitamin D in their diets to prevent them from contracting COVID-19.” (https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/thehead-of-an-oklahoma-public-health-committee-invited-anti-vax-doctors-to-talk-with-lawmakers-about-the-coronavirus/)
As Dr. Meehan spoke at the event, he claimed that “friends and family are dying because of vaccines” and called Dr. Fauci a “domestic enemy.” He referred to the government’s efforts to control COVID with masks and vaccines as “luciferian” and said “they are coming for your children.” As with many speakers, he combined a wide array of his ideas as he continued: “They're buying the fraudulent research they want. … They're going after the children to control us. ... They're going to do something this fall to shut down elections. … They’re using COVID vaccines as bioweapons unleashed on us.” And at times, he used scripture quotes to “support” his ideas about all of this.
Among other ideas, he suggested putting Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on a science board to “help work against the deep state.” In 2019, before COVID, three Kennedys wrote an article in Politico where they said “he is part of a misinformation campaign that’s having heartbreaking—and deadly—consequences” because of his anti-vaccination stance. Numerous articles have been written about his high-profile opposition to masks and vaccines since then. You can read for yourself some of his ongoing work in this area on his Twitter feed - https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor and his Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/rfkjr.
I do not doubt that people like Jim Breuer and Dr. Meehan are Christian, as they claim, in their hearts and minds. What troubles me as a fellow Christian is how that faith can be used to demonize human beings and spread disinformation and lies through conspiracy theories that cause fear and harm the lives of so many people.