Muzzling Jesus: Liberty, Faith, Politics, and the Mask Debate

by Christopher D. Schmitz

Would Jesus wear a mask? In a crazy era where Christians make such little sense and science makes even less, thinking critically is vitally important. Culture would rather win arguments and assimilate followers than find the truth. The world has lost its collective mind over how to best act and serve human interests during this season of pandemic. Nobody asks “should we steal people’s liberty?” Instead, they ask “how much freedom is too much to lose?” Logical fallacies are lobbed like grenades from every side and the goal posts move every week; my own son very nearly died because of it. This book is far more libertarian than partisan in nature. It may challenge you to question everything and asks more questions than it answers. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” Thomas Jefferson. Is there cause for a religious exemption to forced mask mandates? What role does liberty play in faith… …how should that affect our politics?

156 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2020

About the author

Christopher D Schmitz is the author of fiction and nonfiction as well as a regular blogger.

Following completion of his first fantasy novel in the early 2000s he began working on lots of short fiction in order to refine his craft and went on to publish many pieces from 1,000-15,000 words in a variety of genres and outlets as writing exercises. Putting fiction away for a while, he pursued post-graduate work where he received a new appreciation for nonfiction, wrote Why Your Pastor Left, and then returned to his love for fiction, writing several new books.

Schmitz attained a Biblical Studies degree and a Youth Ministry minor from Trinity Bible College in 2003 and went on to gain a Masters of Arts in Religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 2014.

Other: he is generally known as a decent guitarist and played/sang in a rock band for several years. Schmitz is also an ungraded bagpipe player and has been known to pop up in random places and play them--sometimes while dressed as a pirate... because normal is boring.

Reviews

[Tim Putney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure how to review this fairly. It’s all opinion/interpretation and everyone is entitled to one. I’m not Christian, I’m not any kind of religion. I’m not a Republican or Democrat - I’m registered Independent (however I admit I generally vote more liberal) I bought and read this out of curiosity. I grew up around a variety of religions but by the time I was an adult, I’d had enough of all of them. While I don’t agree with most of the authors beliefs there were enough that I did see where I could at least find some common ground and someone who seems like you could have a discussion with and despite our differences, it wouldn’t turn into a spit flying sermon where I am inevitably told I’m going to hell. However, the author says he is more the Libertarian type (not Democrat or Republican) he definitely does slant more against the Democrats throughout the book- and kinda lumped all protesters in with the violent rioters. There were a few light jabs here and there at Christian & Republican leaders but nothing everyone doesn’t already know. I’m not sure why he threw in the part about believing homosexuality is a sin and how they are really just looking for real love - but they can never have it without the Christian god. All in all after reading the book I’m not convinced by his argument for not being required to wear a mask in public for awhile (because given a choice many people just won’t do the right thing especially if it’s inconvenient) but I agree the government and media lies to us and manipulate data to herd us. People have over reacted at first and under reacted afterwards. I also think the Karen ‘mask nazis’ out there need to reign themselves in along with all the other Karen’s out there. I don’t agree that these temporary inconveniences will be forever. We’ll all be mask free and gathered in large groups soon enough. So there’s my opinion on his opinions.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not as spiritual as I should be, but maybe if Mr. Schmitz had been my pastor my faith might have matured better. I hesitate to spotlight even parts of what he covers, because he doesn't want the reader to take one snippet or another and think that sums up the whole subject. He gives Christians strong support versus the fears of today's society. Follow the author as he discusses how recent events challenged faith, his family, his business, and the world as we view it. He presents data and exposes some of the hypocrisy of our government leaders. Several dozen notations in the book link to his sources and lend credibility to his account. I read the book, and found myself nodding my head as he shared events and examples from the past year that I vaguely remember over the fearmongering pushed by media and other sources. Like the author, I invite you to read an come to your own conclusions.