How should Christians talk about the Coronavirus? I am not sure we have been doing a terribly good job at it.
Last weekend, many states began the partial re-opening of economic activity. In many instances, that resulted in little change to the way people have been going about their business. While activists on left and right argue loudly about what should or should not be done, the mushy middle seems to have found consensus that caution remains in order. While that disappoints the activists on either side, in this instance it seems wise. Those in the middle who apparently have no leader nowadays seem to be acting in a way that fails to comport with the political disintegration that afflicts the country.
The small church that I attend opened its doors with spread out seating and continued streaming the service. For reasons I will describe momentarily, I watched on a computer. When I attend again personally will be based on my best understanding of the level of risk living in an area where the infection rate has been relatively modest but continues to increase, albeit slowly at present.
Anyone entering this fray should be aware of their own biases, and I believe I have an understanding of my own, which are affected by political predilections and interactions based on my employment, but most of all by health status. By most measures, I am actually currently in better health than I have been in for many years, going back to when I was younger but not as physically active. However, a health condition requires me to take medication that keeps me in remission while compromising my immune system. Thus, if I got this, it probably would not be a good time.
I am not paranoid about this -- my dog is enjoying daily walks in the nearby park, and I make frequent quick trips to the grocery store. I just stay away from anyplace I would expect to find crowds or gathered groups. In terms of the hot button questions of opening the economy or not, my views tend toward the more cautious side, but it does not bother me that others disagree -- my wife and I do not fully agree (though she is of course respectful of my personal situation) -- and our marriage has somehow remained happy even though she has to tolerate my nearly constant presence while I have worked from home these last two months. So, it remains possible in America to have differing opinions and still walk together.
Thus, I do not worry about differing conclusions. What strikes me as shocking is the reasoning with which people get there. It is one thing to weigh the relative merits of public health impacts versus economic damage (though I will note in passing that very few making these arguments possess either the skill or the effort needed to assess the economic impact of more widespread morbidity and death: what would it mean to the economy if what has happened to the meat processing industry was occurring in many more industries had they not shut down). What strikes me most is an increasingly dismissive attitude toward the lives that could be lost. I most note those who take pro-life positions on other issues that quickly dismiss concerns for the sick and the elderly as mere collateral damage that should not be bothered with.
It is not that the sick should imagine the world revolves around them. But, are Christians regarding their plight in a way that shows brotherly love toward fellow believers, as well as kindness toward those outside the household of faith?
The questions facing the nation are not easy, and Christians should expect that among us there will be a spectrum of understandings. I have my own views, but they are leavened with a considerable amount of uncertainty -- perhaps I am learning humility in middle age. The novelty of our situation finds wisdom in admitting that there is much that we do not know about the ramifications of our decisions. All of that said, while circumstances may require hard, even unpopular, decisions, they never permit us to leave the Second Great Commandment at the church house door.
No comments:
Post a Comment