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Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

Welcome to Varied Expressions of Worship

This blog will be written from an orthodox Christian point of view. There may be some topic that is out of bounds, but at present I don't know what it will be. Politics is a part of life. Theology and philosophy are disciplines that we all participate in even if we don't think so. The Bible has a lot to say about economics. How about self defense? Is war ethical? Think of all the things that someone tells you we should not touch and let's give it a try. Everything that is a part of life should be an expression of worship.

Keep it courteous and be kind to those less blessed than you, but by all means don't worry about agreeing. We learn more when we get backed into a corner.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Opus 2020-125: Fear Factor

A link from Don Surber to an ABC affiliate took me to a story linking the panic lockdown to an increasing suicide rate.  We are starting to see stories about the deaths caused by the response to the Chinavirus.  The damage is more than economic.  There are calls for an end to the nonsense.

While I agree wholeheartedly with the call to end the lockdown, I don’t think its end will bring the healing we want.  The problem is not the jackboot government officials and their draconian attempts to do what is best for us.  The problem is the amount of fear that has been generated and how that fear is eating away at the inner being of so many people.

Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed the words that have been paraphrased so many times:  “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  That is a bit of wisdom that is coming back to bite us.  I go to a store and see people wearing masks and gloves and carefully keeping their distance from everyone else.  I see fear everywhere.  I think that if all the pocket Nazis went away tomorrow we would still have millions of people cowering in their rooms, afraid to come out, knowing in their hearts that The Virus is going to get them.

If I had to lay this craven panic at someone’s feet I would pick the news media.  They have hyped, cherry-picked and outright lied in order to get people to look to them for direction.  I think the classic moment was the news conference where the cameras kept rolling and showed how the reporters all took off their masks and gathered together after they thought they were off the air.

I have no hope that they will ever repent of what they have done to the country.  There are a lot of people like this.  Most are relatively harmless because they never get the power to do much.  Others, like these media people and some politicians, are described many times in the Bible.  Here are just a few references from the Book of Proverbs.
(Pro 2:14 NAS77) Who delight in doing evil, And rejoice in the perversity of evil;

(Pro 4:16 NAS77) For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
We need to learn to ignore them.  Take off your mask.  Take a deep breath.  Hug someone you love.  Will you catch a bug?  Possibly but your body is designed with those bugs in mind.

And use common sense.  Wash your hands, brush your teeth, don’t take rides from strangers, never vote for a Democrat and don’t believe anything you hear from the news. 

homo unius libri

4 comments:

  1. "never vote for a democrat" is the most important.

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  2. I remember repeatedly saying things like, "The only thing that could get me to vote for John McCain is Barak Obama."

    Grace and peace

    ReplyDelete
  3. Re: masked, gloved and distanced people, it may not be "fear" but the result of lack of reliable info. I, at 83, am the main caretaker of my "fragile" husband. I feel my only moral action is to proceed with maximum caution. We have been in since March 10. Still hoping for an all clear signal. Julia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would suggest that the precautions you are taking are ones that should be taken anyway. I was at Walmart yesterday and was shocked (amused?) at the people wearing masks who had them pulled down below their nose. If you are 83 and he is fragile then you are in the prime target of any infectious disease. Stay safe and ignore people like me.

      Grace and peace

      Delete

Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.