Somewhere along the way, I developed an appreciation of history and language. Maybe I was born with recessive historical or writing genes which somehow became activated. I don’t know how this occurred, but I’ve come to understand there are a lot of things I don’t know, and there are things I’ll never fully comprehend. The apostle Paul articulated this beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13:12.
Most have heard of Alexander the Great, the only person to have conquered Afghanistan and the known world. Fewer have heard of Alexander’s father, Philip II of Macedon, who taught Alexander how to be a leader of men and a mighty general. Philip coined the term, “divide and conquer” which is the perfect phrase/word or mot juste. Dividing and conquering is the modus operandi that remains operative in America today. A classic example is the politicized diversity movement.
Easter is over, but America remains entombed. I’m praying for “freedom at last” and America’s resurrection.
Recently, I was challenged by a church marquee. Paraphrasing the caption, it read, “Your faith should be greater than your fear.”
I’ve read that some groups are meeting during the coronavirus pandemic without social distancing and claiming the Lord’s protection. Well, I believe the creator and sustainer of the universe can do anything, but I also believe humans are imbued with reason and should use common sense and good judgment. It would be ill advised to walk some places in Knoxville at one o’clock in the morning and claim the Lord ‘s protection. I will remain prudent during the COVID-19 crisis, but I refuse to be paralyzed by fear which is now being used as a cudgel to take away American freedoms and damage the economy for political gain.
I recently saw an impactful FaceBook meme depicting a sheepdog herding a group of sheep. Sheepdogs use fear to control the sheep. The analogy is clear.
I know people who are paralyzed by fear and have become lost to reason and simple common-sense precautions. Interestingly, NY Governor Cuomo just released a coronavirus analysis which revealed that two-thirds of New Yorkers who were hospitalized with coronavirus infections were exposed at home while sheltering in place. And most of these denied using mass transit. Perhaps if they had been allowed to be out in the sunshine in parks rather than locked up in apartments, and if the NY subways had been regularly disinfected, rather than just last week, the exposure would have been less.
The decision to shut down America was predicated on what we now know were flawed apocalyptic models and observations of COVID-19 infections in other countries. The original goal was to flatten the curve and prevent hospitals and our healthcare system from being overwhelmed. The first mistake of our experts (Fauci and the boys) was to trust the Chinese Communists. We now know that China was lying to the WHO (World Health Organization), the CDC and the NIH about the disease’s human to human transmissibility. The Chinese Communists also systematically destroyed Covid-19 data, suppressed the warnings of Chinese doctors and shut down air travel from Wuhan to Beijing, but not air travel to the rest of the world. And yet, in a recent poll, 60% of registered Democrats blame President Trump rather than the communists for the coronavirus. This is delusional thinking and insanity.
Jesus was once asked when the so-called apocalypse heralding the end of the world would occur. His prophetic answer is recorded in what is known as the “Little Apocalypse” (Matthew 24). Throughout history, people have been contemplating end-times, especially as plagues, wars and famines rage. I am not an apocalyptic-minded person and I’m certainly no prophet. But it does make me wonder about America’s fate as power-mad Governors, mayors and judges deign to usurp We The People’s freedom. Progressive-socialist-Democrats and their perverse media mouthpieces have become nothing but fear mongering sheepdogs.
In his famous soliloquy, Hamlet mused, “To be or not to be, that is the question.” Businesses are now confronted with, to open or not to open. The original mission of the experts was to prevent a collapse of the healthcare system. This mission has now morphed into “saving lives.” Granted, saving lives was the ultimate goal, but now saving lives has become sacrosanct without consideration of societal safety ramifications.
The book and magnificent musical, “Les Misérables,” addresses the fundamental question of need. The protagonist Jean Valjean is imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. In Dallas, Texas, the owner of a hair salon was recently imprisoned for defying local executive dictates by opening her salon to “make a living.”
This woman was imprisoned at a time when criminals were being released from jails due to fear of COVID-19. The activist judge’s salary was not in jeopardy as was the private business owners. I suspect that America would experience a resurrection if the salaries of government officials were suspended and they were forced to choose between their personal risk of the coronavirus and starvation.
Early in my early medical education I, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, almost chose a career in infectious disease, a subspecialty of internal medicine. I decided that I was more a generalist than a subspecialist, and internal medicine was sufficiently specialized. And I have secondary subspecialty boards in geriatrics.
How fortunate that I had the freedom to make this choice of career, and my conscience now tells me it was the right choice. By analogy, I have the right to choose to be responsible or irresponsible and suffer the consequences. I do not need Nancy Pelosi, SCOTUS, POTUS or other petty functionaries to tell me what is right or what I should do. I welcome the guidelines of experts. However, guidelines are not laws which are constructs of imperfect men and too often politicized.
Philosophically, I am trinitarian and often sense perspectives of three. I have common sense, conscience and a Constitution to guide me. It is enough. At our own peril, we violate these precepts.
