The World is Watching - How Should Christians Respond to Covid-19?

      I didn't want to write a post about Covid-19, but here we are, the times have brought us here.

      Unless you've been seclusion for the past six months, or are just stepping into the era of life when we're all more aware and concerned about the news around us, I don't need to give much backstory on the issue.

     Covid-19 is here, that's that.

      BUT that's not all that. Half of a pandemic is the pandemic itself, the other half is how we humans respond to it. And frankly, the majority response from the Christian field has been a bit disquieting.

      For credentials, I've seen everything in social media posts from likening the government's response to Orwel's 1984 society to posts about the recklessness of reopening everything immediately. Also I listen to the World And Everything In It morning podcast (not a sponsor, I just think it's cool.) I assume those on social media also are listening to the news, so this is not to discredit them, this is just to say that I am also paying attention to the situation, and this is my take.

      Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL POST. 

      This is just me looking at the Bible, looking at the pandemic, and offering a theory about how we could properly respond.

     Part One: What is the Government's Order?

     So what actually is the government telling us to do?

     Well, in North Carolina, these things happened:

      - An order that no more than 10 people could gather in a home at a time
      - The playgrounds and schools were closed
      - Most big-name stores were closed
      - Restaurants only provide drive-through or delivery services
      - Bars were shut down
      - Grocery stores had varied responses (Whole Foods is a very different place from Lowes Foods at the moment.)
      - We were generally advised to stay 6 feet apart (however, this was not strictly enforced in parks)
      - Churches were shut down, but are slowly opening up again (yes, it took a federal judge to get us that part, but judges are part of government too.)

      Other states, from my understanding, are under very similar restrictions, but the rate of easing them is varied (my greatest sympathies to those in New York.)

      But are these orders unconstitutional?
      I looked into the bill of rights just now and the only amendment that seems to relate to these circumstances is the first.

     "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
                                                                                                                   - Bill of Rights, 1791

     As with most everything, let's look at the context.

     "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

     'Establishment' is primarily used today as a synonym for 'place' or 'building'. However, in the historical context of the bill, 'establishment' refers to the creation of a state government. Remember, this was written shortly after the United States split from a country with a long and bloody history of monarchs establishing state religions and persecuting those who didn't agree with it.

     Furthermore, even though our churches were closed, they were not ordered to dissolve. We still have the right to meet through live streams, conference call technology, and with small groups or individual brothers and sisters in Christ.

    "... or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press..."

    Now, Facebook and other social media platforms have taken the liberty to delete posts from their users spreading news about Covid-19 that they deem false or misleading, which is highly suspicious, but Pinterest does the same thing if you request it, and there is no record of the government actually telling them to do that as of yet.

    "... or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

    The Oxford comma is a wonderful thing, and can alter the meaning of a phrase so simply. However, as it isn't present here, my interpretation of the amendment is that the government cannot make a law preventing people from peaceably gathering to petition the government to pay for grievances that it (the government) has inflicted.

    But even if these orders are leaning on the rights, are they really telling us to do anything wrong?

   (My background did a weird thing after I pasted the following quote and I can't fix it, so... yeah.)

    Part Two: Rights vs Right

    One of the most disturbing things I've seen in response to our pandemic state is this quote from a Mr. Ted Nugent (who is evidently an American singer-songwriter) that was posted by a confessing Christian.
    Behold:

   “Why do I have to stay home just because 𝘆𝗼𝘂 are scared? How about 𝘆𝗼𝘂 stay home....𝘆𝗼𝘂 stay in 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 house indefinitely, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 wear a mask, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 socially distance yourself from me, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 avoid restaurants, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 avoid baseball games, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 stay off the roads, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 avoid malls and beaches and parks, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 believe the made up death numbers, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 believe the media hype, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 get your toxic vaccine while avoiding vitamin C, sunshine and the things God gave us to actually heal, I'm done playing 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 dumb game...I'm no longer staying in my house or catering to 𝘆𝗼𝘂 because 𝘆𝗼𝘂 are scared. I'm not wearing a mask and I'm not staying 6 feet away from you anymore because I'm not afraid of you. You are not my enemy and if I get sick, it's not because of 𝘆𝗼𝘂, it's because of me and my system..."

   .........
   .............
   *Deep breath *

   This is probably going to get me mugged outside a Texas Steakhouse, but I strongly disagree with this quote. Namely because while there's a lot of *yous* in it, the entire focus of it is *me*.

  'Why do I have to stay home just because you are scared? How about I tell you were to go, I get to go outside, I get to go to restaurants, I go to baseball games, I go to the mall and beaches and parks - by the way, you're an idiot - and I'm not going to do things because they make you feel better. I will invade your space because I'm not scared. I take responsibility if I get sick, but I don't care if I make you sick.'

  I find the masks very uncomfortable too. 
  I miss going to the movies.
  I miss having hugs.

  But I was thinking the other day, what does Scripture say about this?
    
   "And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that He answered them well, asked Him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God will all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.""
                                                                                                              - Matthew 12: 28-31

   Christianity should not be a *me* real estate. If anything, the greatest hurdle of Christianity is dying to oneself (this is not to say self-abuse is right, but that's another blog for another day.)

   I find the masks very uncomfortable, but perhaps its best to wear them around those who are the most likely to have bad reactions to the disease - and who knows who that is in the grocery store.
   I miss going to the movies, but understand that if we open the theaters back up again without any restraints, there would be sold out shows everywhere and those same people who are likely to have bad reactions - who are most definitely also if not MORE depressed in this time - aren't going to be able to enjoy themselves or feel safe.
   I miss having hugs, but I'm not going to demand them from people, regardless of how they feel.
   I can hardly wait until we can all meet up and have fun again, but until then, we've got to keep our heads.

   Complying with the government orders about Covid-19 shouldn't be a matter of fear among the Christian community, but it should be one of love.

   "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
                                                                                                                 - Matthew 6: 25-29

   A quick little fact: the hills of Israel and covered with rocks. It's hard to imagine so many rocks until you see pictures of it. And yet a few bright, beautiful flowers are able to grow in ground so harsh as that.
  This is exceptionally hard teaching to remember when you don't have a job, but there it is, in bright red ink.

   The world is watching, and what will they see?

Book Review: Sister of the Bride

     We've all been under a lot of stress lately, and we all need a break from the antagonism and the politics and the gloom - that and we haven't finished reading the next Beverly Lewis book we scrounged up. So, in the interim, I thought I'd review some books I actually enjoyed!

    Let's start off with Beverly Cleary's 'Sister of the Bride'.

    Honestly, I didn't even know this book existed until a couple weeks ago, which is odd, since Beverly Cleary was a big thing at the libraries of my youth.
    Boy, that makes me sound old...

    ANYWAY, 'Sister of the Bride' is the story of 16-year-old Barbara MacLane, her elder sister's wedding, and the lack of romance in her own life.
    Before you go running off, Cleary actually addresses the last subject very uniquely, in that this story isn't so much about romance, but rather growing up to be ready for romance -- a view seldom explored in today's stories.
   
     While there is a love triangle in play, the way it plays out is also interesting in that neither guy is wholly good or bad by the end. The one boy, Tootie (unfortunate, yes,) is attentive and compassionate, but struggles with self-esteem issues*. The other, Bill, takes Barbara for granted, but is sincere and goes above and beyond to apologize to her.

     (*Now, Tootie's self-esteem issues manifested themselves in a 'woe is me' attitude in the opening chapter, which manipulated Barbara into saying "I like you," which led to Tootie immediately asking her out to the movies, so at first I didn't like him, BUT can we collectively take a moment to thank Beverly Cleary for using this circumstance to show how uncomfortable a situation that is and the fact that just because you care about someone of the opposite gender doesn't mean you're in love with them AND that even if a person annoys you, you can still care about them (and vice versa.))

     The original publishing date was in 1963, so some aspects are very aged, but not so much as to be horribly distracting, and otherwise it's a nice example of what life was like back then.

     Overall, a simple, vivid book that once more showcases Cleary's gift of depicting growing up in the middle of chaos.