The Freethinker
OSTEOPATH Tenpenny first came to my attention in June after she told the Ohio House Health Committee that COVID-19 shots turn make people magnetic.
Much mockery on social media ensued, and Freethinker reader Arthur F Meinck reacted by saying:
Remember when stupid people were ashamed of being stupid? I miss that.
In a sane world, Tenpenny would have been laughed into oblivion. Instead, according Religious News Service, her popularity is has soared to such an extent that that she believes that, along with Dave Daubenmire, inset– a former high school football coach – she can raise $100 million to create “Christian training centres” that will ultimately turn America into full-on stupidtocracacy.
Writing for RNS, Jack Jenkins said:
Tenpenny is a veteran anti-vaccine activist, but her expanded reach since the pandemic began has landed her on the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s “Disinformation Dozen” list, a group that researchers deemed responsible for 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms.
Her inaccurate claims have exasperated politicians and scientists struggling to curb the virus’s spread. President Joe Biden lambasted the “disinformation dozen” in July, accusing them of “killing people” with false claims via social media. Tech giants, too, have responded: Tenpenny claims much of her content has been removed from Facebook, Instagram and other social media websites.
And he pointed out that for much of her life, Tenpenny she wasn’t an “on-fire-for-God person like I am now.”
Her spiritual outlook took a sharp turn in January of 2020, however, when she decided to leave her past as a “lukewarm Christian” behind:
I finally said, ‘OK, God, I’m in – 100% in. You can’t be waffle-y anymore. You can’t be a ‘sorta’ Christian. You’re either going to have to be in or out; you’re either going to wear a mask and be obedient or you’re not. You’re going to take the vaccine or you’re not. You’re going to stand against the globalists and the satanists or you’re not. And I think God is calling his people to do that.
Her popularity was most recently highlighted when she got “a rousing response” at Bards Fest, a Christian nationalist gathering in St Louis organised by Scott Kesterson.
In 2017 Kesterton was convicted of stealing $19,000 he collected for a woman’s cancer treatment.
Bard’s fest website claims it was:
The greatest spiritual revival in human history designed, for patriots and patriots’ families to celebrate the love of GOD and country together.
It omitted to mention the fraudsters.
In her presentation, the doctor falsely claimed the shots have no medical benefit, make people sick and amount to a “sin” because getting one involves “bowing to fear.” She also encouraged listeners to use debates with family about vaccination – which she said should focus on a loved one’s “addiction” to fear – as an opportunity for evangelism.
How many stories are in the Bible about (Jesus) healing leprosy? Leprosy back in the day, when Jesus was alive, was an incurable deadly disease. Don’t you think he might be able to take care of you in COVID, too?
Tenpenny went on to frame vaccine proponents as murderous descendants of the biblical Nimrod (“They want every one of you either subjected to satanic rule or dead”) and encourage listeners to pull their children out of school (“Grab your kids and run”).
Jenkins reported:
The precise scope of Tenpenny’s influence is unclear, but a few days after Bards Fest, Tenpenny and Daubenmire announced a new joint venture with the inspirational speaker Ohio Brett. They reportedly hope to raise $100 million to create ‘Christian training centers’that will equip their trainees to protest businesses that have donated to Black Lives Matter activists and support those who: “speak out against this global government tyranny.”
When she announced the initiative on her happy hour, Tenpenny declared: ‘We can change the course of America.’
Just like the Taliban recently changed the course of Afghanistan, huh?
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In