Well, here we are in the 500th week of enduring the Coronavirus outbreak. You know, when this all first started, it seemed sort of unreal like we were being punked. “Pshhhh,” I thought to myself, “this all will be over here pretty quickly.” That’s what wishful thinking can do for you.
As it became apparent that things were getting more and more serious, I optimistically thought we would all band together as the country did during WW2. Our hearts would swell with compassion, our love of country would bind us to our fellow man, and our resolve would stoically shine through. (Insert proudly puffed out chest here.) That lasted for approximately two days and now we are at war with each other…six feet apart, of course.
I think one of the things we were supposed to learn through this mess is that humans are not perfect, governments are not gods, and we need to bring Christ back into our lives. For far too long, we’ve made our political parties our idols and it’s causing us to implode. I was seriously hoping that we’d come to see how much we worship at the altars of our given political parties, but, nope, we’ve only dug in deeper.
Quite predictably, most have drawn the sword for “our” side and we will defend “our” side with feverish passion. I can’t even hardly handle social media right now because of all the “one-uping” people are trying to do.
“My guy’s right! Yours is power hungry!”
“No, my guy is! Yours is a moron!”
What has emerged through all this is the morality game. Each side is trying to “out moral” the other. I’ll give you an example from both sides of the political spectrum.
Those on the far left play the game this way:
“You! You just want people to die! All you care about is money and your big businesses. I’m interested in saving lives over here and you want to open everything up and just watch people die so you can make money. Lives are precious–PRECIOUS–(except babies in the womb, they don’t count)! Your heart is black as coal, you have no compassion for people’s lives. I’m so disgusted.”
Those on the far right play the game this way:
“You! You just want people to suffer from a lack of jobs! You don’t care about the working man. How are parents supposed to feed their kids with no money? Because you are such a socialist, you think we can just print money and add to our already toppling national debt while the government takes care of us. You don’t want freedom! You live in fear and are controlled by it! I’m so disgusted!”
To play the morality game, you have to present a false dichotomy. The dichotomy on the left is: You either want to keep things locked down for 12-18 months or you want people to die. The dichotomy on the right is: You either want to open things back up or you want people to financially suffer. And there is no in-between. If you are a person who wants to ask a question to try to talk about things, you will be shut down immediately.
“What do you think you’re doing?! No one’s allowed to ask questions in this fun-old fashioned national pandemic! Oh, no! We’re going to press on…”
“Are you asking questions?! There’s no question asking during pandemics!”
See, what the false dichotomy does? It shuts down any conversation because the person or side offering it wants to score points. It doesn’t allow for any nuance or exploration of thought. They shame you by feigning moral disgust. The goal is to try to win the moral debate and this accomplishes nothing but political wars and disunity.
I believe, though, that most people sit in the middle of all this. They have broader thoughts and deeper questions. It’s not so black-and-white. I believe that most people in this country are very concerned about protecting our fellow citizens from death but at the same time are worried about the lack of jobs and money. You can be equally concerned about both. I think a lot of people want to explore how to protect the vulnerable while slowly and smartly opening things back up to get people back to work. They know that our economy can’t go on like this forever. That doesn’t mean they are greedy money-grabbers; it means they are practical people that realize money buys things that are needed. It’s not sustainable for the government to keep giving us money that it doesn’t really have to begin with.
I think a lot of people see practical ways of protecting the vulnerable. We are capable of locking down nursing homes and assisted living facilities. For those that are at risk because of compromised immune systems, everyone understands if you continue to stay home. For most people, I believe this is a both/and issue, not an either/or as so many in the media are trying to make it.
What often happens, though, in these situations is the far extremes are the loudest and are the only ones heard. They try to get their way by clutching their pearls and declaring their moral disgust at the other side. They think their snarky memes and blasting social media posts will silence people into submission. When all it does is divide us more and more.
So, how do you handle this? For one, don’t respond to snarky false dichotomy memes. Just keep on scrolling. You will not change anyone’s mind by trying to argue over a meme. Memes should only be used to make us laugh, they are not meant to inspire thoughtful, meaningful discussions. Too often, though, they are used to make the other side feel like stupid morons. This is the equivelent of putting your fingers in your ears and chanting like Tom Hanks in The Burbs, “I’m not going to listen to this. I’m not going to listen to this.”
If you do respond to a social media post or an appropriately spaced face-to-face conversation, tell the person to stop presenting such a limited view. Those of us in the middle need to be more vocal. We don’t need to be the silent majority and just sit on the sidelines. It’s okay to speak up, just make sure you remain calm, respectful, and clear. We don’t need to be angry, fear-inducing pearl clutchers. Don’t play their games. God gave us good strong minds and we need to use them well.
It is morally good to be concerned for both the vulnerable and the jobless. Nobody is advocating for just opening up willy-nilly with no thought put into it. Some people are genuinely scared for people’s safety and their own. I know as a healthy 41-year old, I’m not too worried about myself but I do have family members that I want to protect.
Our response, Catholic Pilgrims, to this pandemic should be one of rational thought, prudence, compassion, integrity, thoughtful discussion, and prayer. Meeting in the both/and middle of this issue is a place where everyone’s concerns can be heard. If you are more concerned with your political side winning than with doing what is right and just, it may be time to check your pride. If we just LISTEN to each other instead of talking past each other, we might find that we have more in common than we think. Wouldn’t that be a breath of fresh air?
