It is now August 2020 and we are five months (or, arguably, seven months) into the CoViD-19 pandemic. Add to that the fact that antiracism has also prominently entered public consciousness and an upcoming presidential election that seems more contentious than ever, and we have a perfect storm. What hangs in the balance is nothing less than the survival of the US democracy as we have come to know it.
Racism
Having grown up in what Russell Shorto called The World’s Most Liberal City, the level of implicit racism in the US seemed incomprehensible, so it has taken a long time for me to become fully aware of it. That may be naïve, but I think it is not uncommon for those who emigrated to this country as adults, having been formed and educated elsewhere. The PC(USA)’s position is quite clearly stated by the 223rd GA[1] and Facing Racism[2] is an excellent study guide. The Presbyterian Intercultural Network[3] provides very good resources, too — though it seems to me that “intercultural” is a bit of a misnomer for what is really “multicultural”. It seems to me that declaring oneself an anti-racist should be a no-brainer; acting on that declaration may be harder for many of us.
Pandemic
Even though there is a large number of unknowns at the detail level, the overall science is clear. Sure, we don’t yet understand what makes some people asymptomatic, some people less infectious than others, how this varies with age and ethnicity. But we do know that there is a mortality rate that is non-zero, and so it makes sense to try to prevent as many infections as we can, at least until there is an effective and widely available vaccine and, preferably also, a cure. Accepting that we cannot prevent all fatalities, we also know that lack of sufficient intensive care facilities will increase the mortality rate. So, there is a strong incentive to at least keep the number of infections below what is sustainable from that point of view. And we know that the vast majority of infections are due to in-air transmission and that this is an especially high risk in enclosed spaces.
Acknowledging that life needs to go on at some level, how do we minimize the risks? Six foot physical distancing, masks to cover mouth and nose if distancing is not possible (outside, inside always use masks), no large inside gatherings (indeed: only remote worship services), work from home whenever possible, no large outside gatherings (yes, that applies to political rallies as well as sports events), and the rest you can fill in (bars, restaurants, gyms, …).
I am totally exasperated by those (choose your noun or adverb) who insist that it is their constitutional right to decide for themselves whether or not to wear a mask. Right, so you also have the right to decide whether to wear a seatbelt? Maybe that’s not a great example — after all, there is a state like New Hampshire. Let me put it this way: what about your constitutional right to choose to drive on the left hand side of the road? Well, rights come with responsibilities and true freedom lies in honoring the rights of others. We could all breathe easier if we could that concept into everybody’s head. It just seems like common sense…
Obviously, science provides us great opportunities for managing the pandemic. But, unfortunately, science is not popular with popularism. Clearly, countries governed by autocrats (North Korea, Russia, Philippines, Brazil, and, yes, the US) are not doing well. Healthy democracies are more likely to follow the suggestions offered by a scientific approach based on actual data. For instance, one could imagine a nuanced, multi-level, local reopening approach based on fairly fine-grained regional data. Several countries conduct continued monitoring of regional (choose you spatial resolution) sewage for virus proteins. That allows the detection of an uptick in infections for each city or region monitored and taking timely action. But it requires a comprehensive national testing regimen…
We recently watched a BBC series The Indian Doctor (after all, one has to do something to distract oneself). Its second season, first broadcast in 2012, deals with a (fictional) smallpox outbreak in a south Wales mining village. It looks eerily familiar: close the mine, close the pub, stay home, keep six feet distance from each other when you have to meet or go outside, wear masks, block the road in and out of the village. The reaction is also scarily familiar: after a few days people resist vaccination and feel justified to ignore the safety rules, in part egged on by an evangelical preacher telling people that they have nothing to fear, as long as they truly believe, since God will protect them. The number of cases grows as one may expect. If the BBC could paint this scenario in 2012, why were we not prepared?
The PASTCF biannual membership meeting.
PASTCF used to have an annual meeting, held during the (annual) PC(USA) General Assembly. Following the change in Bylaws last year, this was changed to a meeting every other year, finally catching up with the change to biannual GAs. The board had it all set up for this year’s GA in Baltimore last June, but that clearly did not happen. By the time you read this you will have received a notice from the Secretary, but to repeat:
This year’s PASTCF membership meeting will be held online. We will miss the opportunity to talk to each other before, during, and after, person to person, and to share a meal together, but, on the other hand, it will give more people the opportunity to attend. The date is Tuesday, 15 September 2020, starting at 20:30 EDT (19:30 CDT, 18:30 MDT, 17:30 PDT). Our speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Katy Hinman[4] who will speak on “Day to day pours forth speech – hearing the voice of God through the words of science”. Afterward, we will have a few comments from invited respondents and deal with association matters, such as approval of the minutes of the 2018 membership meeting.
[1] https://facing-racism.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/facing_racism/resources/facing-racism-policy.pdf
[2] https://facing-racism.pcusa.org/site_media/media/uploads/facing_racism/facing-racism-study-guide.pdf
[3] https://www.pin-pcusa.com/
[4] https://www.aaas.org/person/dr-katy-hinman
