I was sitting outside on my terrace before the clouds came back again, with my tablet. I had a lot of conversations today with friends with varying thoughts about the shuttering of the society, the closing of commerce and the mandate of "social distancing" because of the Coronavirus, which perhaps not apropos of anything is more often now called in the media, Covid-19--which surely has a more catastrophic elan consistent with the terrorization that has been round the clock (what else?) media coverage.
Those who believe this particular virus warrants the shutdown of every aspect of American life (and global) life are legion. It is practically worth the life everyone says they want to save to suggest that maybe, just maybe, there is something untoward, to put it mildly, about the ruinous existence ending measures being impressed and imposed with nary a concern about the long term consequences let alone those freedoms that once defined the nation. The health of others is definitely an interest to be balanced against freedom. But what, no one seems able to explain, is different about this virus than about any number of illnesses and natural and unnatural conditions to which we human beings--who always die no matter what safeguards are proposed or implemented? Speak about numbers, in any commonsensical terms, and "experts" are invoked, who quite frankly, themselves don't agree on anything with all that expertise.
I entered a search term while I was sitting on my terrace, "The Cure is Worse than the Disease." Among the articles that came up was this one.
I guess I'm with him. What kind of life will we go back to, after one month, two months, or that nine months some of those "experts" are predicting? One that has put more people on the streets? One that gave up freedom of assembly and pretty much all freedom of movement with nary an objection or consultation of the citizenry?
Although my pastor made a valiant effort to keep our parish open, while abiding by the distancing rules, and the suspension of public Mass, the number of reported "cases" of the virus in my area, as of yesterday, reported with breathless urgency, required that he give up the ghost and lock the Church doors. No Mass. No Communion. No praying inside the Church, each individual assuming the risk of living in a world where one could die. Where one will surely die. I would have thought that it would be harder to separate the faithful from their practice. It turns out it is even easier than in the days of Henry VIII.
Will we be Venezuela fully and finally? But there's nothing wrong with that. Right?
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