While I’m doing my personal best to follow the social distancing rules, and all that goes with it, unless someone knows that they’re infected, I can’t say that they’re “intentionally risking infecting someone else” by protesting closures, etc. And that's how some people see protests of closures. I saw a Facebook page the other day that called protesters of closures in Michigan "Pro-Coronavirus Protesters." Really? Is that the best we can do to discourse about these extremely important issues of today? The same posted Facebook meme posited that the reason for the protests in Michigan was because the Governor is a woman. That's pure dishonest political spin. There were protests in California, too. People are scared of the virus. People are pissed at the closures. It's not "They're wrong, we're right," it's far more complicated than that. Calling people pro-Coronavirus protestors and labeling them misogynists because they're protesting closures is wrong. Equally wrong is portraying every closure as part of a larger tyrannical scheme to control our lives and to impose dictatorial rule upon us. Surely we can differ about the role of government in our lives and in a crisis, but such characterizations and name calling are far more counterproductive and problem causing than they are solving.
I am especially troubled by government going the route of forced business closure rather than by issuing guidelines for the least risky ways to allow people to work. I saw a report yesterday of a woman who owns a salon who was arrested and will spend 7 days in jail for defying forced closure of her business. Would I go to a salon/barber shop right now? No. Hell no. But I don’t support locking the woman up for trying to protect her livelihood. She’s not intentionally infecting anyone. At the beginning of this thing closing until proper hygiene, sanitation, and distancing requirements were developed was fine with me, but now as the goalposts are moved from “flattening the curve” to “until there’s a cure” or “until there’s a vaccine” at the expense of people losing their businesses is dead wrong, too. And 7 days in jail for her while governments are setting fee criminals from those jails because of the same virus? That’s insanity.
Also troubling is the government threatening religious worship. While I do get that the intent is noble, to reduce the calamity of the virus, the Constitution is clear and absolutely unambiguous with regard to our religious freedom. Meanwhile some of our state governments have arrested pastors for having services. Would I go to a church during the peak of the pandemic? No. Hell no. But in Kentucky, for example, the government even shut down religious services at a drive in theater, where the congregants sat in their own cars. I saw an earlier story about a church in Tampa that was filled early in the pandemic. At the time I thought the poeple there were being reckless with their own health. But arresting the pastor is no less than an unconstitutional infringement on a right the government does not have the authority upon which to infringe.
Our government serves at our pleasure. Far too often in this pandemic it’s been as if it’s the other way around. Do we need more testing, a cure, and a vaccine? Sure. Absolutely. Do we need guidelines that protect workers, customers, public servants, business owners, etc. Yes we do. Will I follow such guidance? Yes I will. But unfortunately I do see infringement on our God given rights and too much intrusion and control of our lives being imposed by well meaning public servants. I don’t buy conspiracy theories about them, although I don’t deny there is fundamental disagreement about the role of our governments in our lives. For our own good? I’m not exactly sure where the line is, but I am sure that what I am seeing is the line being overstepped by people on both sides of this coin in recent days and weeks.
(This post started out as a reply on a Facebook post to my cousin,
Diane, but as I wrote the reply, it seemed to me to be taking on a life
of its own. So I made it into this blog post instead.)
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