Open Blogging
Kate Bowler found the words that I have been unable to find, especially in the video posted here.
“There has been no unified voice from the church”
There has not been, and it is a scandal.
I leave you with her words that I have taken as mine as well.
“I can’t be quiet about this anymore.
We are living in a time of great fear and uncertainty, and in the last month or so I have watched as people’s ability to process risk has increasingly deteriorated. The pandemic’s risk to our health is as terrible as before, but there is such a deep desire to go back to “business as usual.” I really, really get it. When I was diagnosed, I was given only a couple months to live. Then a couple more. It feels impossible to live like that.
The pandemic is creating a world in which we get only a few month’s horizon at a time and it makes us all feel completely disoriented. But if we pretend…if we fail to live in the world as it truly is…we are buying into a delusion that fails, ultimately, to act with love. We must forgo small pleasures to do what is just—to love our neighbor. To love our elderly neighbor. To love our sick neighbor. To honor all those who *do not have a choice* except to be out in the workforce–vulnerable and exposed–by creating less risk to them.
The world is rendered unsafe for all those like me and like SO MANY who cannot be exposed. But I refuse to feed this madness anymore. Yes, we are tired of being afraid. But people have lived in times of great uncertainty with kindness and courage and truth before, and we can do it again.
So please, if you can, stay at home. If you can’t, wear a mask. And if you are out there taking an unnecessary risk, for the sake of your neighbor, don’t put it on social media anymore. We, the vulnerable, need you to love us too.”
Now, it’s all yours today…
Michael,
This is from a priest friend of mine in the UK, but its expression of sentiments matches mine:
“I write this in love. I adore our Church. I see it wilting before my eyes, failing to rise to the occasion; failing even to realise there is an occasion to rise to. It has become obsessed with process, terrified by risk, incapable of hearing dissenting voices. It has become a bureaucracy which will, sooner rather than later, succeed in destroying whatever remains of the credibility of the Church of England.”
Duane,
Yes…
We are so bereft of leaders…
Ive been wearing an N95 for weeks and, until i visited the doctor’s office this week, i haven’t seen a single other person wearing one. !akes me feel a bit sill, but….
I think, as Christians, we should show a visible concern for others. It isn’t a lack of Faith to do so… IMO
Em,
“a visible concern for others”…I like that…
This country is in a bad place on so many levels.
I’ve seen my Mexican peeps posting about the murder of Vanessa Guillan I think because they identify with a Latina, murdered though the woman who helped dispose of her body was a Latina. Yet there’s a meme joining her with Brionna Taylor, who was shot during a no knock raid, caught in a crossfire by her boyfriend who was legally defending their home from masked and armed intruders. One thing has nothing to do with the other though both are tragedies and scream for justice. Vanessa’s perp killed himself and the accomplice is in jail.
Meanwhile, I texted my buddy in Portland today about the 34 strait days of protests and violence, where rioters seemed intent upon murder, trying to burn a building down with people inside. Apologies to my son’s 4th grade teacher who sympathized with rioters “that’s what insurance is for” but the intent to commit murder is unacceptable. Those are mostly white antifa types also.
Em,
Amen! I see mostly unmasked people here in west-central Georgia. Funny thing though…a few weeks back wife and I went to an art supply store in Atlanta. You weren’t even allowed in the store without a mask on. And they meant it. Several people were told to leave upon entering without a mask. My wife and I go into stores with our masks on. Most don’t.
Hi CM,
I saw your question over at Internetmonk. Sorry for the delay. Answer is: Meteorology (not the TV kind).
Agreed TNV. The attempt to burn the police precinct in north Portland crossed the line. They also vandalized businesses in the area owned by people of color.
It’s Independenve Day – stay safe and keep the doggies and kitties safe, too… 💥 💫 💥 💫
Dan from GA,
So more like atmospheric physics (or similar atmospheric science)?
Hi CM,
Atmospheric science….more like applied atmospheric science. I work in the aviation industry. We don’t do original research per se, but we do use principles of the atmospheric sciences to develop or refine forecasting techniques and for (near) real-time diagnosis of the atmosphere in relation to our operation.
The mayor of my town just issued a mandatory mask order. It has drawn a lot of vocal opposition. One of the objectors wrote: “My body, my choice.” I found this absurdly ironic.
Jean,
That is ironic…probably was a pro-lifer?
I don’t think protesters are united.
Jean,
The easiest thing is for all the local business to say, “No mask, no shoes, no shirt, no service.” Period.
If they refuse to comply, have them ejected from the store. They come back, it is criminal trespass.
CM, you just gave the definition of freedom and capitalism.
One of my sons works at a local restaurant.
They have a drive-thru. When the boss told the ipatron they weren’t allowed to come inside, the driver swore at her and called her an obscene name.
How sad. Some people apparently think they’re “entitled” I guess. The selfishness inherent in this is unbelievable. It’s just “me, me, me” with no regard for the health/safety of, in this case, the safety of the owner and his/her employees.
Thankfully, I don’t think this is the norm for most people. At least I hope not!
bob1,
From what I’ve seen reported, many people don’t respect the distinction between public and private property. They see going into a store or restaurant unmasked as their right. They don’t recognize the right of the property owner to establish a mask policy. One reason, perhaps the main reason, why I support official government mask policies is to support private businesses who want to do the right thing. It can’t fall on individual line workers to enforce mask policies in private businesses at their own bodily risk.
Hi Jean,
Yes, I’m sure that’s right.
But I also think there’s a strong element of human selfishness going on.
I had previously thought that only the Word of God could speak reality into existence; but now we have a powerful leader who is trying to speak reality into existence. It brings up the question asked 2,000 years ago: What is truth?
Can he succeed and convince you?
Question for the house:
If you care about the public health of your citizens, and
If you care about re-opening and rebuilding the economy,
Is this either truthful or helpful to your priorities:
“Now we have tested over 40 million people. But by so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless.”
Jean,
It’s not only POTUS. I’d also include all the false prosperity idiots that he surrounds himself with.
I am above average pissed off right now. In the many years I’ve contributed here, I don’t think I’ve ever said that a national leader is intentionally attempting to destroy our society.
I can’t say that now. I actually believe, based on what is being said, that the current POTUS is intentionally trying to, at the least, destroy the fabric of our nation, and at the most, to stoke a civil war. What he calls a deep state, may very well be Hadrian’s wall against a lawless, satanic president.
Bob1 and others,
The unmasked people who make a scene restaurants are part of a whole new meme of coronavirus Karens in which a cursory Googles search will turn up plenty of examples. Here is but one:
https://fox6now.com/2020/07/06/costco-karen-throws-fit-over-face-mask-policy-twitter-video-shows/
Plenty of other Karens and “Kens” (aka Male Karens or Karen’s Husband) are also on video. But if they want to act stupid and they get the internet version of being shunned, tarred, and feather, then tough.
Since there are so many derogatory views of Trump here…
My view is we are watching a presidential attempt to preserve what built this nation
I see, at work now, a blind attempt to turn us all into childish victims and we WILL find ourselves in a playpen with iron bars – a totalitarian state
If that isn’t clear to all, well history does tend to spiral downward over time, so no surprise here….
My question is, do we, all of us, just see what we WANT to see?….. Dunno, though do i? 🙆
Em,
Do you deny that Trump over the weekend said, “Now we have tested over 40 million people. But by so doing, we show cases, 99% of which are totally harmless”?
Besides the veracity of the statement, is that the statement of a president who gives a damn about the citizenry, or healthcare workers, or his own CDC and NIH, or the governors of the States who are trying to battle the virus?
Jean, i suspect that you think like an academic and that is okay.
However, “totally harmless” can be debated – poor choice of words? Yes
That said, most do recover – only a small percentage, the frsil among us, do die.
Over the years of my life i have come to the conclusion that much public verbal “niceness” is phony or intended to mislead, to manipulate…
No worries. ☺ time will tell
Em,
Is the deployment of military medical personnel to Arizona and Texas to reinforce the hospitals there debatable?
Jean….. Why? They were deployed to Calif. and NYC
Em,
The problem with Trump is that he is a carnival barker that talks but doesn’t deliver. But his ego requires him to put the Trump brand seal of approval on everything. It doesn’t matter if the new Trump brand deal is the same or worse, it is better because he has name on it (USMCA trade deal is Exhibit A). Longtime residents of the Northeast (especially NYC) knew this and even the politically conservative folks there have been warning about Trump for years (even before he put his hat into the ring).
In regards to COVID, people are discovering than not an insignificant part of the healthy adults who do recover have all kinds of side-effects (like diminished lung capacity and other chronic medical conditions). Sure you don’t die, but you have the lung capacity of a lifelong smoker.
Second, the idea of Trump and many of his sockpuppets push that the rapid increase in cases is due to the increased testing is at best incomplete, and an outright attempt to deflect at worst. What this increased testing shows is that the positivity rate is increasing. This means that the change in the number of positives is going up at a faster rate than the number of tests. Ergo, the disease is spreading.
https://www.covidexitstrategy.org/
Go to either the first or 4th table and look at the column labelled COVID+ rate.
Anyone who has a background in engineering statistics such as statistical quality control (SQC) and acceptance sampling will be able cut through all the Trumpista BS about testing and infection rates. But then since so many Trumpistas are anti-science it is not surprising they buy into all of the BS (hydroxychloroquine and Trump and his minions pushing it is Exhibit B).
The bottom is line is Trump is not a conservative nor a Constitutionalist in any sense of the terms. His populist BS (especially on trade and tariffs) is no different than that of Bernie Sanders. Both of them are 2 sides of the same coin. Populism is not conservatism. This is why so many principled conservatives are NeverTrumpers (which includes me).
Hi CM!
I think that was you over at Wade Burleson’s blog that posted a response to “RB”…if so…well put! Not only what you said, but I keep telling my wife that people should be wary of people who get their medical information from YouTube, Facebook, etc.
Yeah Dan it was me. Wade Burleson and his band of fanboys is truly a blight on Christianity. His enablers at WW are just as bad. But I guess if you stand up to bullies and against church abusers that makes you an expert on statistical acceptance sampling, statistical design of experiments, physics, and electrical engineering. Who then throws a tantrum and plays the “I’m standing up to the bullies card and individual liberties card” when people call him out it. And all the while pitching the latest nutty conspiracies.
Isaac Asimov is so right:
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
And Evangelicals wonder why people the STEM fields want NOTHING to do with Christianity. Wade Burleson is truly a POS and Exhibit A as to why.
Let’s say a country is in the middle of a pandemic and its citizens all over the country are sick and in the hospital from the pandemic virus, in addition to all the other illnesses, sicknesses and diseases that are the norm in the country; is it a legitimate national policy to have no national strategy to equip healthcare workers, hospitals, nursing homes, day cares and dentists with personal protective equipment, so that they may safely serve their patients and clients? Should the federal government serve as a back up, when all states need the same things and are competing with one another, in addition to foreign countries, for the same limited resources?
If you went through this pain once in March/April, should one expect the same country to go through the same shit show again in July? What was our leadership doing between April and July (not to mention January and March)?
At some point, at any point, should the federal response be judged as a complete and utter failure and disgrace for a superpower? America spends more money than any other country on its healthcare system and its government. Should Americans demand more from their government? Should we expect more? Can we get through this pandemic without more? Can you spot an F grade when you see it? We are a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.
Jean,
Yeah, it makes me crazy to realize all the hard work of sheltering at home (which we and millions and millions of other Americans) did since mid-March) seems to be all for naught. Yes, I know some folks couldn’t stay sheltered but when I see kids, etc. partying on the beaches, well…Words can’t describe…
More what, jean?
Kate Bowler ^^^^
Thanks very much for posting, Michael.
CM,
Thanks. For some time I liked Wade’s writings, but there are recently some things he writes that I find concerning. Anti-intellectualism seems to be on the rise among many believers. This need not be, but I guess that is what happens when we have been told by “famous” Christians for the last several decades that science hates God and is out to get us.
I’m disappointed in some things Burleson has said, but he did some really good work for years.
The ladies at WW are friends of mine…
CM @7:57 am
You are being unfair to Trump – IMO – if you’d take a good look at the condition of the world, the globalusm/anti- American bureaucracy waiting for him at his inauguration… The waters he’s navigated since… I think that even holding this nation together for the last four years took some skill beyond the ordinary….
Sometimes as i read here i think we might, maybe mix up our standards – we wont see perfect administration until Christ returns
FWIW
Pray that he can keep us out of war with China, NOKO and the middle east… Maybe even Russia ? ? ?
As i watch the scenario, i think that electing the other party would be the end of the U.S.A.
And…
i spent most of my adult life married to a brilliant mathematician and flight control systems integration engr. – ever look at the controls in front of the pilots of big planes, commercial and military – statistics? A sideline – now i am sure you’re qualified to comment, but, still it is hard to impress me. 👵… just is
“As i watch the scenario, i think that electing the other party would be the end of the U.S.A.”
The bar which the current POTUS has set for presidential leadership is so low that it’s hard, nearly impossible, to imagine who would not be a step up. There is no doubt in my opinion that Biden will make a far superior President on the critical issues facing our nation. Not that Biden is ideal by any measure, but the incumbent is largely both (a) incompetent and (b) not aligned with the concerns of the American people.
Most if not all Presidents face a serious test of leadership during their term. For this incumbent it has been this pandemic. At first, the incumbent attempted to step up. He called it a war and called himself a wartime president. But when he couldn’t defeat the enemy within the period of his short and narcissistic attention span, he made two turns: (1) he moved on, so that he could not be held responsible for the national tragedy now unfolding; and (2) he has espoused a narrative, trying to create a reality, that the virus is under control and that the country is doing well, “open” and is rapidly recovering.
In order to perpetuate his false narrative, he is attacking everyone who disagrees with him, including, but not limited to, his CDC, his public health officials, and even school districts and education experts who are urging the opening of schools in a safe and sustainable manner.
Not everyone in the country has a personal physician who is at their beck and call 24/7. Millions of Americans depend on health insurance that the incumbent is actively trying to end.
The only thing that may save this country, IMO, would be for people to not swallow the BS from the incumbent, but just take a good look in your own state and see how his narrative is helping or hurting you and your neighbors. Anyone can say, “we’re open,” but most people will not expose themselves and their loved ones to death or serious illness (including permanent side effects for many) for the sake of the ego of the incumbent.
I think Biden will do a superior job at unifying the country (which the incumbent does not even attempt, so Mickey Mouse would do better on this issue), health care for Americans, a national strategy for battling the pandemic, support for middle class and working Americans, and foreign policy that leads through creating coalitions.