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Writer's pictureGlenn Dobbs

Notes on a Pandemic (Part 5)

Updated: Mar 29, 2020


“I don’t believe you really need that many ventilators”

- Donald Trump during an interview with Sean Hannity last night

“It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear”

- Donald Trump

“You’ll have packed churches all over our country … I think it’ll be a beautiful time.”

- Donald Trump on stopping social distancing restrictions and restarting the economy by Easter. That is 15 days from now.

I have been spending part of my afternoons playing a game. It’s called “The Last of Us”. It is a detailed, world building expansive game that tells the story of a post apocalyptic world after a virus has destroyed huge numbers of the population. Governments are gone after a failed response and people are reduced to tribes fighting for survival. The game is beautifully rendered and exciting.


"The Last of Us" art

It is also scary as hell.


You cannot help but think of what is going on outside now. I read my facebook feed with people hurling blame at each other and trying to defend political choices that are daily becoming less and less important. Yet, despite an honest desire to remove politics from the danger we are facing you really cannot. In times of crisis, we look to our leaders to help guide us out of the dark to safety.





In my last post, I wondered if this is a Category 1 Hurricane or a Category 5. When I posted last time we had 12 cases of Covid-19 infection in Indiana. That was seven days ago. Today there are 657. Any rational person would conclude this is indeed a Category 5 storm. Today the US has the distinction of having the highest number of cases of Covid-19 in the world. People are dying. Hospitals are struggling to find morgue space. One city is using an ice rink.




Ventilators are complex pieces of equipment. We do not have enough.

So we look to our leaders. Mayors, Governors, local leaders around the country have risen to the challenge. They meet with the press daily to tell us the truth. They point out where they have fallen short and what they are trying to do to solve the problem.




The same cannot be said about the federal response. Any objective review of the initial reaction to the threat shows a breakdown and fumbling of the warning signs. There are many articles and critical reviews of the White house that support this conclusion. These are facts that the president routinely labels “Fake News”. All of them are fake? So we get a muddled, confusing picture filled with misleading claims and distortions. Instead of empathy, we are treated to defensive hostility. I am not comforted. I am more anxious after listening to him. Others do not feel that way and I am puzzled by it.

“I don’t take responsibility for anything”

- Donald Trump




Take the issue of releasing the healthcare guidelines by Easter. Why Easter? As a practicing Christian , I appreciate the symbolism. New birth, shaking off death. I get it. The trouble with the date is it has nothing to do with facts and history. We don’t know the actual date of the resurrection. So how do we know when Easter occurred? This is how -


In 325 AD, the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first Full Moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox. From that point forward, the Easter date depended on the ecclesiastical approximation of March 21 for the vernal equinox.


Yep, that is it. We celebrate the meaning of Easter, not the actual date of the historical event.

So saying the virus will be better by an arbitrary date 15 days from now is Reality Show rubbish. The virus keeps no calendar and respects no faith. It should be noted that the outbreak in South Korea was largely due to a church that refused to close down.

There are Christians who are trying to be responsible. It is the nature of my faith to try to help. It shares this conviction with many faiths in the world. It is the faithful that are often the first to go into the hot zones to bring comfort. However, doing so in a responsible manner.

Do no harm.


Furthermore the great American tradition of charlatans preying on the unsuspecting has taken root. The internet is filled with hucksters selling cures. This terrible behavior is as old as America.





Disgraced pastor Jim Bakker selling 'Silver Drops" as a cure

For those they want to read more about the history of fake medicine. I recommend this book. It is not new and very American.




I wonder how my boys are processing all of this. They were in the 3rd and 5th grade with 9/11. When they were coming out of school to try to find their own place in the world, the 2008 financial crash happened. And now this. What will the world be like in the days to come?


Stephen & Chris

While I was typing this, my pastor called. He was just checking in on his congregation. I felt my mood lift as I listened to his cheerful voice. It was the voice of hope.


We will get through it, but will we be better for it? Will we learn any lessons? I am hopeful for a better world. I am hopeful this is not the last of us.

Yesterday, it was sunny. I got out my mower and started it up. It had spent the winter in the garage. It was a satisfying feeling listening to it cough to life. I happily started mowing when I saw my neighbors walking their dogs. I climbed off the mower to say hello. I was keeping my distance but as I reached them the woman shrieked and pulled her dog to her.


“You're too close,” she yelled, “You’re too close!”


I had stopped more than 10 feet away.




Postscript - This was a very helpful way to look at our situation








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