THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022 ST. PATRICK’S DAY AND LAST (??) COVID BLOG

 THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022 ST. PATRICK’S DAY AND LAST (??) COVID BLOG

(An illustration from the British viewpoint relating to the Irish)

First a quick look at St. Patrick’s Day.  In the 1840s Ireland lost half of its population to the Irish Potato Famine and people leaving the “Emerald Island”.  Later the experts found that the Irish Potato Famine, also known as the Great Hunger, began in 1845 when a fungus-like organism spread rapidly throughout Ireland. The infestation ruined up to one-half of the potato crop that year, and about three-quarters of the crop over the next seven years.  Potatoes were a common part of the Irish diet.  

A second major issue was British control over Ireland.  When King Henry VIII was not allowed to divorce his wives as a Catholic monarch, he broke off the relationship with Rome and helped develop the Church of England.  But, Ireland remained a Catholic Country.  (Religious friction even within the group known as Christians - the group where their prophet said to love one another, love your enemies, love covers a multitude of sins - sometimes seems so counter to their founder!!).  

My illustration today is from English media at that time showing the Irish as ape-like creatures.  Similar illustrations arose from the United States as many Irish immigrants came to the (mostly Protestant) land and had difficulty integrating into the economy.  

Labels and falsehoods have abounded.  The Irish people are shown as lazy, alcoholics.  But, there are lazy alcoholic French, Germans, Russians, <whoever>.  

Hatred exists and labels (like lazy, alcoholic, Nazi, Fascist, Communist, and many more) still get flung around like mud.

Can we ever learn to love our enemies? 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:43-44)

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Back to the last Covid blog of the week (and … hopefully one of the last blogs on Covid ever!!)

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COVID also had some negatives. The desire for a quick remedy included hydroxychloroquine - but current research suggests that hydroxychloroquine is not safe or effective for treating patients with COVID-19.  Gargling with various mouthwashes and even some questionable cleaners was promoted by some.

When it seemed as if reputable pharmaceutical companies were developing vaccines, some including myself, questioned as if adequate testing and control in the development process had occurred.  

A group of “anti-vaccine” was very vocal.  Some vowed not to take the vaccine until it had been fully proven as effective against COVID-19.  (Some even claimed that Bill Gates and Microsoft had put a microchip into the vaccine so we could be traced. Mark of the beast?)

A document from the CDC that I used on Monday stated, “During October–November, unvaccinated persons had 13.9 and 53.2 times the risks for infection and COVID-19–associated death, respectively, compared with fully vaccinated persons who received booster doses, and 4.0 and 12.7 times the risks compared with fully vaccinated persons without booster doses.”

“You can’t make me get a vaccination” seemed to become a battle cry.  “I am an American and I have the freedom to choose whether to take a vaccine or not, and I choose NOT to take a vaccination shot.  Even if the data (in the last paragraph) suggests that the vaccine works and that non-vaccinated people have a much (much) greater chance of getting COVID.

Should it bother me that some people opt not to receive the vaccine?  How does that affect me? Well, if the statistics say that the non-vaccinated have a higher propensity to get COVID - and thus to share it, I don’t want them next to me at the grocery store.  My employer (a non-profit senior health care facility) required me to have the vaccinations because the senior citizens I would be seeing do have a lower threshold to catch COVID-19.  

But, the freedom issue exists.  Can a government (my American government or Canadian government or any government) mandate vaccines and masks?  Can a business or a group of businesses - like airlines - mandate that people on airplanes wear masks?  (Would a good cough or sneeze send thousands of droplets into the confined air of an airplane?) 

Can the trucking industry mandate that truckers get vaccinated or wear masks?  (Especially  if the data strongly supports the concept that vaccination and mask-wearing can stop the spread of this vile vaccine.)

“It’s my life and I can choose for myself” seems to be the mantra of freedom.  

Taking that same viewpoint another direction - a woman who desires an abortion can likewise say “it is my life and I can choose to abort my child”.  Or a fifteen-year-old child who was born a male says “It is my life and I can choose to be a woman.  And, I want to complete in women’s sports as a transgender woman.  

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Freedom can be a challenge - I don’t know the answers - but the dialog isn’t occurring. “Come let us reason together” is a forgotten concept - where loud voices seem to carry the day.  

Oh well, maybe I can stop ever writing about COVID ever again!!!

LOVE WINS!!

Karen

Thursday, March 17, 2022