Thursday, April 9, 2020

A Reasoned Look at the Coronavirus


A Reasoned Look at the Coronavirus
Fred Marshall
March 13, 2020

There is a quote that is ironically attributed to multiple sources, my favorite version of which is "a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth even puts its boots on."  Both Mark Twain & Winston Churchill are variously credited with this astute observation.

With all the panic and fear-mongering being spread at a rate that itself is epidemic, I thought it time to share my own perspective on this increasingly unavoidable issue.

Every time the media begins its relentless news cycle with a new virus, pandemic, etc., my general response is "here we go again".  I've been somewhat jaded by H.L. Mencken's quote

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

While I'm not necessarily saying that this latest virus is imaginary, I also am not inclined to accord it the paranoia associated with it.  It's probably prudent to avoid the extremes of believing that we're all going to die from it, and outright dismissing it as of no consequence.

(Video: Doctor Fact-Checks Media on Coronavirus [9:36] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CRxyHU9Oxo)

We can likely remember other health scares in recent history that were initially touted as disastrous, only to fade into memory after relatively minimal spread. 

Legitimate or not, health scares ultimately benefit the pharmaceutical industry when it announces the development of a vaccine that people will unwittingly accept, thinking it will protect them.

In this vein, it's instructive to recall Bill Gates' claim a few years ago that the world's population needed to be reduced by 10-15%, and that this could be accomplished with vaccines and "reproductive health services" (a euphemism for abortion).  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nLs95gUVY4 (4:37))

Who can forget Rahm Emmanuel's statement during the previous administration, "never let a good crisis go to waste"?  You can bet that the drug companies will eagerly introduce a vaccine soon that governments around the world will make mandatory for their countries' populations, "for their own protection", of course.

If you still believe that vaccines are beneficial, I urge you to do some research, starting with http://vaccinetruth.org/index.html.  The origin of vaccination is based entirely on junk science.

A good friend recently suggested that there is a decidedly political motivation for spreading panic & fear, and it is worth considering. 

There is no way to beat Donald Trump in November during a good economy, he suggests.  And as rabid as the establishment media has been about taking him down since his election almost four years ago, they are only too happy to join in spreading any news, real or fake, that will negatively impact markets.

In fact, a couple of years ago, Bill Maher said it would be worth a recession to defeat Trump in 2020.  (https://www.bing.com/search?q=bill+maher+recession+to+defeat+trump&toWww=1&redig=2534C5B89BCE44708A48BF22BB9E94CA)

We all want to believe that the media, which is supposed to serve the people, would be above that kind of shenanigans.  But that would be naïve and foolhardy, given that they have proven a willingness to forward the left's agenda to the point that it has all but destroyed their credibility.

Whatever you may think of him, Franklin D. Roosevelt was correct when he said "in politics, nothing  happens by accident.  If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."

Suppose, for a moment, that the coronavirus is real, and things are going to get really serious.  After all, there have been deadly epidemics in the past, and the bible does predict pestilence in the last days (Matthew 24:7, Luke 21:11, Revelations 6:8).

The worst thing to do in that case is to panic.  Panic prevents rational thought, and often leads instead to emotional and irrational thoughts & actions.

The better approach is to simply take reasonable precautions, some obvious and widely touted - wash hands frequently, avoid large crowds, cover nose & mouth when coughing & sneezing, etc..  Other, equally sensible steps include strengthening your immune system with vitamins C & D, and zinc, getting enough rest, drinking a lot of water.

At the risk of sounding glib, my approach to this is based on logic, and the opposite of fear.  This is in line with 2 TImothy 1:7, which says "For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

(Note that I obviously care that anyone is affected by this, and would prefer no one were.)

I'm either going to get the virus, or I'm not.  If I don't, great. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

If I get it, I'll either die from it, or I won't.  If I don't, great.  (Philippians 1:21)

If I die from it, I'll be going home to be with the Lord forever.  (2 Corinthians 5:8)

Even more important than washing our hands with soap & water and/or hand sanitizer to combat illness, is the washing of our hearts from sin with the blood of Jesus Christ, Who paid the penalty of death & hell for us so that we would spend eternity in heaven with Him.  He is the only Way.

If you're not already, please be sure you are prepared for that eventuality, compared to which coronavirus is relatively insignificant.

In Christ,

Fred Marshall
Copyright March 2020
All rights reserved. Wide distribution is welcome and encouraged.

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