MEDICAL TERRORISM
A few years ago Brené Brown wrote something about terrorism. At the time she was thinking in terms of the terrorist acts we witnessed since the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York, but what she wrote has some current, chilling implications. Here’s what she said:
“Terrorism is time-released fear. The ultimate goal of both global and domestic terrorism is to conduct strikes that embed fear so deeply in the heart of a community that fear becomes a way of life. . . Terrorism is most effective when we allow fear to take root in our culture. Then it’s only a matter of time before we become fractured, isolated, and driven by our perceptions of scarcity.”[1]
I want to introduce you to a new kind of terrorism: medical terrorism. If the “pandemic” of COVID-19 has done anything at all, it was effectively made the entire world afraid. It has convinced people around the globe to be afraid of each other for no other reason than the spread of a virus. Of course, our world is filled with various viruses, and until COVID-19, no global panic occurred over the flu, common colds, shingles, or herpes. We lived with them. But all of that changed with the media-driven panic of COVID-19. I am not suggesting that COVID-19 isn’t a real medical threat. People have died. That isn’t my point. My point is that COVID-19 is the perfect terrorist’s tool. It effectively promotes the fear of the impending death of everyone! It is no longer possible to return to life as normal. COVID-19 has embedded fear into our lives.
As Brown suggests, it’s only a matter of time before we avoid social gatherings, disconnect from personal engagement, self-isolate, break off face to face connections, and view the world as a place of scarcity (we rush to buy toilet paper and the government limits how much meat we can purchase at the store). We have adopted a non-human approach to living.
Why do I say that? Because being human is being connected. It is being dependent on others. Isolation and fear of connection are symptoms of the breakdown of humanity. Human beings are a herd species. People are designed to live in groups. Interdependence is what makes humanity flourish. Even the Genesis account suggests that being alone (separated and apart) is not good. Everything about us leans toward socialization. The COVID-19 terrorist attack has challenged the very basis of human community.
What can we do? If we treat COVID-19 as a terrorist attack, we should respond to it as we would any other terrorist plot. First, we do not negotiate with terrorists. That means we don’t continue the myth that everyone will die. Yes, we need adequate medical treatment for those who are infected, but by and large we already have that. What we don’t need is a world that’s afraid of itself. So we stop acting as if everyone is a threat, everyone will get sick and everyone will die. We’ve handled viruses before. We know what to do. Get back to social living as soon as possible and stop fearing each other.
Second, we insist that the draconian government interference with social life end now! No one goes crazy over flu contagion or herpes. We treat and go on. No government tells us how far we need to be from each other during the flu season. What gives them the power to do that now? The answer is simple: fear. As long as we act afraid, we hand over our power of personal choice to government officials. Why should we do that? Take the power back. We didn’t elect government representatives for them to tell us how many people can ride in a car or where we have to sit in religious assemblies.
Finally, connect! As often as you can, be with people. Sure, you’ll want to be safe, but being safely together is very different than being safely isolated. Find ways to spend time with each other. Resist the mythology of universal death. In other words, BE HUMAN!
It’s time to respond to COVID-19 as we would respond to any other terrorist threat. When the Twin Towers were attacked, air travel changed forever. Life became more complicated because of the fear of flying. Are we now going to let the fear of breathing change what it means to be human?
[1] Brené Brown Braving the Wilderness, p. 56.
