Your life, my life, every life, is precious. Every life lost during the pandemic is a tragedy.
We’ve been hearing this from media talking heads and politicians for almost three months. One has to wonder though, how many of them really believe this?
Essential & Non-Essential
The governors of all 50 states have employed various executive orders to make sure the loss of life from Coronavirus is kept to a minimum during the pandemic. ‘Stay home’ and ‘lock down’ orders have been especially popular.
Businesses that governors decided were ‘non-essential’ were ordered closed in a number of states. If you’re the owner of a non-essential small business, gee, that’s too bad. If you are going to lose everything you have worked hard to build, tough luck. Don’t even think of re-opening your business, some mayors and governors decreed. You will be fined and maybe even arrested. We don’t trust you to be careful.
And Church attendance on the Lord’s Day was also deemed ‘non-essential’ in some states.
The lock downs are essential the governors say. It’s too bad that elderly people in nursing homes are dying as a result. In fact we now know that 43% of all the coronavirus deaths were in locked down nursing homes.
And in most states where church attendance was effectively declared non-essential, abortion was deemed an essential service. It is “life sustaining,” even though it clearly ends human lives. It’s okay to kill babies. Babies are an exception to the precious life rule. Their deaths are not tragic.
And, by the way, feel free end your own life if you are old and senile, if you have a life threatening condition or disease, or if you are just tired of living. Death from suicide or euthanasia is not tragic either.
So all life is clearly not precious to secular progressives. Innocent, unwanted babies, old people, or anyone with an incurable disease or medical condition are non-essential. Some deaths are tragic but some really are not.
A Good Crisis
“Never allow a good crisis go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do the things you once thought were impossible,” one Democrat famously said. We are now seeing that play out.
Just prior to the outbreak, long-time Democratic strategist James Carville made the Democratic position on governance perfectly clear. “What we need is power! Do you understand? That’s what this is about. . . . The purpose of a political party is to acquire power. All right? Without power, nothing matters.
“We have one moral imperative here, and that’s beating Trump. Nothing else matters.”
So the single moral imperative of the Democratic Party is beating Trump. That sounds about right for the party of abortion, euthanasia, gender-bending, and celebrating intrinsically disordered behavior. Governing is not about doing what’s morally right. It’s about having the power to put into effect the left’s vision of Utopia.
All the coronavirus deaths are Trump’s fault, Democrats are now telling us. Trump was unprepared. He is a terrible president. He’s responsible for 30 million job losses. He needs to be replaced come November.
Full disclosure before I go any further. As I have written before, I am not a Trump fan. I am an Independent, politically. But statements like ‘it’s all Trump’s fault’ are outright lies. They are a violation of the Eighth Commandment.
For far too long the Democratic Party’s moral compass has been spinning wildly out of control. But even some Republicans are losing their moral compass as well.
Governors run their states, not the president. And governors have been calling the shots in their respective states since the outbreak began.
The “Unlucky” 7
As of June 2 the seven states that had the most Coronavirus deaths (assuming we can trust the accuracy of the reporting) were New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and California. All seven states have pro-abortion Governors (six are Democrats and one is a socially liberal Republican). These seven states, representing just 14% of the 50 states, also account for one-third of all the job losses.
The governors of these seven states essentially declared church attendance to be non-essential while abortion was deemed essential. Is it at all curious that these seven states have the highest death rates?
Preparedness
Why were the governors of these seven states not prepared? Why didn’t they make sure their states would be able to deal with a crises/pandemic? They are much closer to the needs and populations in their own cities and towns than the Federal government could ever be. Why weren’t there enough hospital beds in their cities? Why didn’t they have enough ventilators on hand? All of these responsibilities fall to the governors of states, not the president.
The governors of these states have been saying they are basing their decisions on what the medical experts on their boards of health are telling them and on computer models. But experts are not always right and computer models are often badly flawed. Conversely, other governors relied on good judgement and common sense.
From the get go the experts have had conflicting opinions on how best to deal with the Coronavirus. It was nothing to be overly concerned about initially. And don’t bother wearing masks. Then, all of a sudden, the virus was going to kill millions and masks are a must.
We need more data the experts keep crying! But the data that is coming in is often conflicting. The experts can’t seem to agree on what to do.
And here’s a newsflash – computer models are not “science.” Models are programs written by computer programmers. And as any programmer will tell you, ‘garbage in, garbage out.’
Elsewhere in the World
South Korea and Japan both managed to rein in the coronavirus fairly quickly without shutting down. The number of deaths from the coronavirus in each country, per 1 million people, are about the same, at 5 and 6, respectively.
South Korea received high praise for all the testing they did to control the virus. As such, a number of governors latched on to a ‘we need more test kits’ mantra. They were able to point the test kits finger at the federal government.
But in Japan the testing was 20 times less than in South Korea even though the population is two and a-half times larger. And yet the number of deaths per million was about the same as in South Korea.
So, no, testing is not the key to defeating the virus, despite what a number of governors, mayors, and ‘experts’ have been screaming. Face masks, clean hands, avoiding unnecessary contact, common sense, and good judgement were the keys to Japan’s success.
Life is Risk
The lock downs are costing the U.S. an estimated $1.1 trillion per month. Even worse, they are resulting in a projected 80,000 deaths per month. These deaths are due to missed and delayed healthcare treatment, and increases in suicides, alcohol and drug abuse, and stress-induced illness due to unemployment. So two months of lock downs may have already accounted for more loss of life so far than the coronavirus.
It makes sense to do what we can to mitigate risks and avoid getting infected. If people wear masks, wash their hands often, and avoid unnecessary contact there’s a very good chance they won’t get infected. But we take risks every time we walk out our front door.
Some people are naturally immune to the virus. And the virus is no big deal for some people who do get it. But some people, we don’t know who, will die from it. Some people also die from the flu, pneumonia, and other diseases. Everyone who is born dies.
Some people will even die in car crashes unfortunately. An estimated 38,800 people died in car crashes in the U.S in 2019. Even worse, an estimated 70,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2017.
We’ve had tons of data on driving and drugs for decades, but we still can’t seem to prevent people from dying in car crashes or from dying of drug overdoses. And ‘deaths-from-drug-overdoses’ is considered an epidemic in the U.S. (The only difference between a pandemic and epidemic is that a pandemic is spread over countries instead of states.)
Our Bishops Caved
But dying from the Coronavirus can be painful and unpleasant. And no one wants to die a painful death. So shouldn’t we be doing everything possible to avoid becoming infected?
In a word, no. We should be taking reasonable precautions against getting sick and spreading the virus. But governors (and mayors) should not be acting like tyrants. They should not be treating citizens like little children, and telling them to ‘go home and stay there until we decide it’s safe for you to come out again.’ They should not have shut down their states or been allowed to effectively shut churches and prevent people from going to Mass on Sunday. This was clearly a flagrant violation of the Constitution.
Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, was asked recently if he thought allowing the nation’s churches to be closed down was a good decision. In hindsight, he said, “I think we could have been just as effective with mitigation efforts and maintaining a partially opened status.”
Unfortunately, it seems that our bishops were duped by the secular progressives. They bought into the fear mongering narrative much too quickly. Maybe they forgot St. Paul’s words to the Romans [Romans 12:2], “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Hindsight
“It is becoming increasingly clear that the hierarchy’s quick surrender to secular authorities and the cancellation of public Masses could have devastating unintended consequences,” said Fr. Jerry Pokorsky in a recent article at Catholic Culture. “The bishops must jump-start the public celebration of Masses (using sensible precautionary methods) even at the risk of offending immoral (and quite possibly illegal) government interference in the practice of religion.”
Three cheers here for the bishops of Minnesota who defied the Democratic governor of Minnesota. Why aren’t all the U.S. bishops following their lead?
Christ Destroyed Death
God certainly does not ‘will’ our suffering. And we have no way of knowing how He will bring good out of this pandemic. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” [Isaiah 55:8].
But here’s the thing – every Catholic does know that our time on earth is limited. Our real home is Heaven. In dying, if we have kept God’s Commandments, have led good, moral lives, and are sincerely sorry for our sins, we will live again, in heaven, in total joy, with God our Creator. So why such fear of a microbe?
The relativistic secular progressives, and their lapdogs in the media, have been driving the narrative of fear on this crisis from the get go. It’s rather tragic that the fear of death is being used to create a political advantage. This is an election year don’t ya know. People tend to vote out the incumbent when the economy is bad.
But the real tragedy is that too many people are being suckered in to thinking that life on earth is preferable to living forever with God in Heaven.
Note: This article has been corrected. The original article stated the governors of the “unlucky” seven states are all Democrats. The governor of Massachusetts is a socially liberal, pro-abortion, Republican.)
18 thoughts on “Is the Pandemic Narrative Being Controlled by Secular Progressives?”
Captcrisis, nobody “kicked out church personnel” least of all Trump. The DC police, under orders of the Democrats DC government, had earlier moved on violent protesters from the area who were breaking the DC government imposed curfew (which Trump has opposed). It later transpired that the protesters included a couple of people who worked for the church.
Trump went there for a photo op with the Bible to show solidarity with the church which protesters had attempted to burn down the previous night.
Pres Clinton had also gone there for a photo op with the Bible, to deflect attention from his predatory sexual exploitation of a young girl working for him. Surely of the two Trump’s photo op was the less offensive?
Maybe my reading comprehension is a bit fuzzy after following the events of the past week, but this piece seems to go all over the place. One moment it’s stating that the left hates LIFE (abortion, euthanasia, physician assisted suicide), but then it rails against the left for making us stay home and recreate locally in order to sustain the LIVES of the vulnerable. Let’s at least do our part to protect the lives of the few (relative to the size of our population), necessary individuals we all need: doctors, nurses, priests, farmers and farm workers, truckers, etc.
“In dying, if we have kept God’s Commandments, have led good, moral lives, and are sincerely sorry for our sins, we will live again, in heaven, in total joy, with God our Creator. So why such fear of a microbe?” I’m going to say something very upsetting here, but an abortion-supporter might think, “well, an aborted baby at least will be with God, where he or she can be eternally happy”. That’s a ludicrous statement, isn’t it?
All life needs to be protected and sometimes common sense (such as using masks and avoiding indoor crowded places) is the way to protect it.
The use of masks has never been proven to be effective in preventing the spread of the virus, which helps explain why they World Health Organization to this day does NOT recommend masks for any except those who are ill or caring for them.
The the limitation on indoor crowds was far from the only protections. There were virtual stay at home lockdowns in most states and the closing of supposed “non-essential” businesses which, as the article points out, allowed governors to pick and choose to suit their own political agendas, and to do so without any supporting science behind their choices.
“The use of masks has never been proven to be effective in preventing the spread of the virus, which helps explain why they World Health Organization to this day does NOT recommend masks for any except those who are ill or caring for them.“
Obviously no controlled studies have been done yet. But it has been established that Covid is spread by breath so that’s good enough for me.
What you said about the WHO is false. They recommend masks for people who are coughing or sneezing.
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-masks
Have you coughed today? Do you have children? Why take the chance?
Here’s the Mayo Clinic recommending them. Of course to you they’re part of the “Deep State”. Your man Trump won’t wear them due to his fragile masculinity.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-mask/art-20485449
Samantha,
You might want to read it again. I am pointing out the hypocrisy of the progressives. All life is NOT precious to them. They are using the ‘pandemic crises’ as a means to gain power. They drastically played up, with the help of the media, the fear factor regarding the Coronavirus to help wreck the economy in an election year. Their essential vs. nonessential rules were ludicrous. It’s possible more people are going to die as a result of the stay home orders than from the virus itself. And our bishops bought into the fear mongering tactic hook, line, and sinker.
Wow, you really don’t like Democrats. That is your one-size-fits-all analysis.
If you want to see “our only purpose is defeating the President” thinking, from a politician who actually was highly placed and could do something about it, you should remember Mitch McConnell saying the same thing about Obama.
As far as criticisms of the difficult state-by-state decisions various governors have made, it is only due to the incompetence, refusal to lead and coordinate, and divisive rhetoric of Trump, a man you refuse to criticize. He sacrileged a church this week. Did you notice?
If secular progressives are gaining control, it’s only because they’re acting Christian. We’re in this together. Instead of I-refuse-to-wear-a-mask separatism.
You need to stop reading fake news – here is the truth regarding the “sacrileged a church” incident:
https://twitter.com/JP2Shrine/status/1267862270098452481/photo/1
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-advancing-international-religious-freedom/
Note the clear implication of the JP II Shrine statement. It approves of his original intention in visiting but . . .
I was talking about his order to violent disperse a peaceful demonstration so that he could walk to a church, without its permission, eject the church personnel who were there, and have that photo op, this least Christian of Presidents holding a Bible that most assuredly he hasn’t read.
As usual you are reading things that aren’t there in the JP II Shrine statement. In regard to Trump’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which known as the Church of the Presidents, and which is across the street from the White House, you might want to read this statement from the US Park Police regarding what you refer to as a peaceful demonstration [https://www.nps.gov/subjects/uspp/6_2_20_statement_from_acting_chief_monahan.htm]. As Christopher suggested, you should stop reading (and watching) fake news. And no, Trump is not the least Christian of Presidents. That title belongs to Thomas Jefferson. He was a Deist who rejected Jesus Christ’s divinity. Of course Obama “rarely” went to church on Sunday or even on Christmas day in his eight years as president [https://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/president-barack-obama-religion-113791] but his close friends all said he was very Christian in his beliefs. Yet championing abortion and homosexual ‘marriage’ is not Christian.
You lost me after you said, “Note the clear implications”.
Monahan is a federal employee, and under Trump, federal employees are told to lie. Federal web sites are revised to reflect a lie that Trump has just told. Information is removed if it’s inconvenient to Trump. If people push back, they get fired. That has been proven over and over. It began on the second day with reports of the “record” Inauguration crowd and has not stopped.
Monahan is trying his best not to lie but he is lying. The protesters were peaceful. They only resisted because police moved in ahead of the curfew time so that your man Trump could indulge in another act of childish (and sacrilegious) narcissism. And the claim that warnings were given is disputed by journalists who were there.
And of course Trump did trespass on church property without permission and had church personnel evicted from where he wanted to do his Bible stunt.
Everything you said is completely fallacious, including the trespassing remark. Since when does anyone need permission to enter a church that is open to the public?
I would be quite upset if a politician barged onto church property, kicked out church personnel, and staged a photo op holding a Bible. As indeed the rector and the bishop were upset.
Is there no end to your making excuses for Trump? You say you care about gay marriage (which he does not oppose) and abortion but you cover for him on every issue. Ask yourself: why do you do that?
The eighth Commandment states: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You said “under Trump, federal employees are told to lie,” but you have no way of knowing whether that is true or not. You accused Trump of trespassing. I corrected you and now you are backtracking that statement. Ask yourself, why do you continue to bear false witness against your neighbor?
Once again, since you can’t seem to comprehend this, I am not a Trump fan. I also have never made any excuses for him and I do not cover for him on every issue. You continue to accuse me of this (bearing false witness again) even though I have not written one word about him since May, 2016. You are correct that he does not oppose homosexual ‘marriage,’ and I fault him for this. He has numerous other faults as well. But at least he does not condone the killing of innocent babies.
Nicely done, Gene. I hope this gets passed on to many, many people who need to think about, and come to understand, what’s really been going on here.
Massachusetts has a Republican governor. Check your facts. Rhode Island has one of the lowest death rates from cornoa because they took early, swift and stringent measures. They have a Democratic governor. Again, check your facts.
Cathy, I stand corrected. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is a Republican, but he is also pro-abortion. On most social issues he also leans left. He is only conservative on fiscal issues. So he is a bit of an odd duck as far as Republicans go.
My point, however, still stands: the top “unlucky” 7 states in Coronavirus deaths all have pro-abortion governors and they all called church attendance on Sunday non-essential. Rhode Island is not in the top seven. However it doesn’t hurt to point out that while RI Governor Gina Raimondo is a Democrat and does appear to be pro-abortion, she at least did push for HealthSource RI to offer plans that do not cover abortion except in very limited circumstances.
“Be not afraid, for I am with you always. Come follow me, and I will bring you home.”
I don’t remember specifics, it is a song from Mass.
Peace.