According to Newsweek, Vaughn immediately went on to say, “Do you know why Satan hates when you won’t put a mask on your face? Because you’re screaming loud, ‘I have no fear!’”
Vaughn went on to say that Christians needed a “shot of faith” rather than a vaccine, arguing that “miracles are attracted to faith.” Scoffing at the idea that Christians should wear masks or be vaccinated, Vaughn told congregants not to come into his church if they were bringing their “fear in the midst of our faith.”
In a statement to Newsweek, Vaughn said that he has “no problem” with Christians wearing masks if they have COVID-19 and are attempting to avoid spreading the virus. This stands in contrast to his words in his sermon, which included referring to mask wearing as “the spirit of the antichrist.”
In a recent interview with Ed Stetzer, Francis Collins, who serves as the Director of National Institutes of Health and is an evangelical Christian, expressed disappointment that so many evangelical leaders contribute to hesitancy toward COVID-19 safety measures, including vaccines.
Rather than seeing masks and vaccines as antithetical to faith, Collins has referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as an “answer to prayer,” saying, “It seems to me [the vaccine] ought to be embraced by believers. And yet there’s still a great deal of resistance, an unfortunate mixing of scientific information with conspiracies and sometimes politics, and it’s not a good mix.”
