Beyond COVID-19 (as if that weren’t bad
enough!), we’re enduring a pandemic of denial. I have no corroborating data,
and my sources are limited to social media, personal conversations, online or
radio/TV sources, and the op-ed pages of a few printed sources. Nevertheless,
within that limited scope, the denial pandemic is contained almost exclusively
to the right of socio/political/economic center, and the farther right one
goes, the more widespread is the pandemic.
Within my limited field of observation, the
infecting virus seems to be “thuh guv-uh-mint.” If any manifestation of
government is related in any way to any issue, there will be opposition and
denial from the right of center. It makes no difference whether the issue is
beneficial or destructive. If government is involved, it will be rejected.
I seriously wonder, had the government issued a
prohibition against wearing masks, would we have seen . . .
Oh, never mind.
An article in a recent edition of the Washington
Post began,
“
Americans heard the pleas to stay
home. They were told what would happen if they didn’t. Still, millions traveled
and gathered during the Thanksgiving holiday, either doubting the warnings or
deciding they would take their chances. Now,
like any partygoer waking from a raucous weekend — feeling a bit hung over and
perhaps a tinge of regret — the nation is about to face the consequences of its
behavior and will need to quickly apply the lessons before heading into the
doubleheader of Christmas and New Year’s.”[1]
Denial. It’s too early to determine the
article’s accuracy; however, evidence from the overwhelming majority of leading
medical scientists has been confirmed many times over since the pandemic began.
Still, the cult of denial asserts its doctrine of liberal conspiracies, saying
“leftists” are using the pandemic to seize power and to pad the pockets of the
pharmaceutical industry.
Denial. Then there’s right-wing denial of the
recent election’s validity. A question occurs to me: If the Democrats were
going to “rig” the election, don’t you think they’d want to rig the senatorial
votes, too?
The Post article concludes:
“Public
health messaging needs to be retooled, as whole swaths of the country are
simply tuning out the warnings from officials and experts.
“We have
to rethink how we’re communicating. Blaming people, yelling at them,
stigmatizing them — clearly it’s not working,” said Angela Rasmussen, a
virologist at Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security. “We
have to show compassion and empathy. Understand where people are coming from
and persuade them to do otherwise.”[2]
Improved communication always is a valid goal;
moreover, I like the way the quoted virologist takes responsibility for trying
to resolve the obvious impasse, rather than simply blaming the denying public.
It's a good model for all of us! Still, if communication is to be dialogical,
both sides must decide to listen—LISTEN—as well as to articulate their points.
When minds are made up, …you know the rejoinder: “don’t confuse me with facts.”
And already, before a vaccine is ready to be
dispensed, the deniers are up in arms. The anti-vaxxer cult published a recent
meme on Facebook saying, “We have the flu vaccine; but we still have flu.” The
implication is clear: it’s the antivaxxer theme song.
Yes, we still have flu. It’s a viral infection
that needs annual vaccination because it mutates. The same likely will be true
regarding the coronavirus. Moreover, only 40% of Americans utilize the
influenza vaccine on a yearly basis,[3] thus
diluting the vaccine’s overall effectiveness.
Furthermore, antivaxxer logic loses credibility
totally when one considers vaccines for smallpox, diphtheria, polio, and other
historic pandemics.
Moving on: consider the rampant denial of
racism. Within my small circle of acquaintances, those who deny racism seem to
take every comment about racism as a direct accusation that they, personally,
are racist.
Hand-in-hand with the denial of racism is the
denial of “white privilege.” White privilege does not imply that whites don’t
encounter difficulties; but white people’s difficulties do not result directly
from their skin color. It simply is not enough to be non-racist. We need to
move toward a cultural climate of anti-racism.
The cult of denial is just one of many clearly
identifiable characteristics of the deeply entrenched tribalism that
divides our nation into antagonistic factions. The hostilities are accelerating,
and I fear armed confrontation is inevitable unless the trend can be reversed.
The reversal of national antagonism depends upon
the willingness of all parties to accept their human
limitations, including the possibility that their ideologies are not
infallible. At best, human ideologies represent partial truth.
I repeat here my belief in absolute truth, although I believe it is humanly
impossible to comprehend truth absolutely. Truth always is strained through the
filters of human perception and circumstance. I refer to St. Paul: “…For now we see
in a mirror, dimly…” (I Corinthians 13:12 NRSV). At best,
our comprehension of truth is incomplete.
Every position along the left/right
socio/political spectrum represents a relative imbalance vis-à-vis the greatest
good to the greatest number of people, and about the needs of society versus
the needs of the individual.
The Church is in the season of Advent, and I am
struck by the parallels of human brokenness addressed by the Hebrew prophets
eight centuries before Christ compared to the latest headline of any current
newspaper. The words of the ancient trumpets of God remain as valid today as
they were 2,800 years ago. The cynical Preacher was right: “What has been is
what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NRSV)
I see reality through the lens of a Christian
pastor; nevertheless, virtually every major religious faith upholds similar
ideals, and the truth, as I see it, is that human brokenness has not yet been
surrendered to those universal truths that call us to peace and justice and
love.
That’s the way I see it through the Flawed Glass
that is my world view.
Together
in the Walk,
Jim
[2] Ibid.
[3] How
many Americans get flu shots? - USAFacts [42.2% in 2016. My figure above is
rounded off.]
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