This post really should be around six thousand words. I could probably write a fifteen-page essay on this topic, but, for the sake of wordcount, I shall restrain myself and discuss only what is necessary.
Yesterday, West Virginia governor Jim Justice announced that all winter sports (including my sport, basketball) are completely canceled until January 11th at the earliest. This is just another example of the American government completely failing in their duties to the American people. The decision has absolutely no logic behind it and was passed because of fear and peer pressure.
America’s problems begin from the top down, starting with Donald Trump. While I am Republican, I refuse to be one of those that ignore Trump’s faults. While Trump did a decent job in the “Covid-19 Presidency”, he failed to properly lead the American people in accountability, propriety, or responsibility. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he pointed fingers to the Democrat party, shifted blame, or refused to acknowledge a tangible problem.
Yet, for all his faults, he actually managed to drastically reduce the overall production time of a COVID vaccine. Through the work of American scientists and doctors, a breakthrough was found….exactly a week and a half after election day, and three days after Joe Biden’s victory was announced.
Coincidence? Absolutely not.
You see, Pfizer (the creator of this vaccine) did not release the news of the vaccine until directly after Joe Biden’s victory. While I cannot claim that Pfizer definitely withheld information for political reasons (and thus I cannot claim such information as fact), I firmly believe that this vaccine was withheld until Donald Trump had lost. If the vaccine had been announced before the election, as it should have, the numbers may have turned and Trump could have won. If these assumptions are true, then this is just another example of the disgusting combination of politics and the pandemic.
There are too many such examples to count. We, the American people, have lost all sense of decency (the Presidential debate), graciousness (the riots), servanthood (corrupt cops), leadership (Jim Justice and California’s governing body), and love. We are a selfish, self-absorbed, easily-angered and quickly-speaking country. The very principles upon which this country was built have been discarded and left to rot.
When are we going to wake up? When are our governors going to begin making decisions outside of pressure, with the best interests of their people at heart? Instead of giving into peer pressure and making decisions with no logic (canceling sports, requiring masks in your own yards, etc.), governors have to understand that their people are tired of the governmental yoke of oppression. For almost a year now, we have withstood new mandates, laws, and even arrests over refusal to exercise the right to not wear a mask.
When are we going to realize that this virus is not going to magically disappear because the American people wore their masks, social distanced, didn’t go to church, conducted school online, and stayed in their homes?
This virus is massively contagious. It spreads through human contact, a part of life absolutely necessary for maintaining the sanity of a human being (by which I mean that the majority of Covid transmissions are between family members that spent time together). While mask mandates and social distancing laws may partially slow the spread of the virus, why are we overestimating their effectiveness? Look around you. We have had over ten million cases and 238,000 deaths. This virus is bigger than anybody anticipated, and it isn’t going to be stopped by a stupid piece of cloth or paper.
Many will argue with such points, claiming these numbers would be much higher if we had not imposed nationwide mandates. To such a claim, I point to the country of Sweden. From the beginning, they have emphasized personal choice and discretion with masks/social distancing. If someone has a health issue or is at risk, they can stay at home or wear a two-way mask in public. Otherwise, the people are free to act at their discretion. Schools were not closed, and businesses remained open. Guess what? Sweden’s numbers are almost precisely the same as the neighboring country of Finland, a country that did close schools, impose mask mandates, and require business to shut down for ridiculous amounts of time.
What does this say to you? These procedures do not slow the virus as much as we thought. Yet the American government insists on abiding by them, even going so far as to ask citizens to call the police on non-mask-wearing people (Jim Justice said this yesterday). This is absolute and utter madness! In fact, the only explanation that makes even the most remote sense is found in a single word: politics.
Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic coincided with the election year. While we quarantined in our homes, Donald Trump and Joe Biden dueled in commercials, advertisements, radio discussions, and debates. State governors, knowing their time was almost at an end, fought to buy the most voters instead of actually trying to restore some semblance of real life. Most governors have long since proven their disinterest in the mind of the people (as proven by anti-lockdown riots and demonstrations across the USA), exchanging interest in the people for interest in their jobs.
It is only by the grace of God that the end is within sight. The vaccine, despite its apparently-delayed appearance, is beginning production. By January, most of America should be vaccinated. I only hope that the American governors are smart enough to realize that vaccinated people cannot get the disease and will thus return us to completely normal life.
Christians: we are not excused from our duty to prayer. While my frustration in the American government is valid, as asserted by many around me, this does not give me an excuse to stop praying. Despite my absolute disliking for Joe Biden, I will pray for him every time I hear his name. He needs Jesus, just like the rest of us. Please don’t forget that you do, too.
May the grace and peace of God be upon you,
Elisha
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Elisha McFarland 