I was listening a few days ago to Sam Harris on his Making Sense podcast, where he discussed with Paul Bloom the ethical issues surrounding how we deal with our responses to the pandemic. What is the value of human life? Look how crazily dependent the context is. If we were to say only 800 people died worldwide of the virus today would seem like an amazingly positive thing to say or think, and yet we would be horrified to hear of the same number resulting from a fire in our town, right?
What connection can we make with the task of making faith and scripture relevant or even useful? Much can be said of wisdom, of the peace and mental health that can be drawn through regular meditation/meditative prayer. We need to be concerned for and take care of our mental health more than ever - for Christians, like everyone else really, that means digging in deeper to their beliefs. What do I fundamentally believe about life? What are my priorities? What am I so thankful for? Who am I so thankful for? Just how extraordinarily beautiful is our natural habitat? Can we glimpse our own inner beauty and value? How aware and tolerant am I of my internal worries and fears? The Bible is a solid resource for grounding a good number of these questions and I'd encourage folks to seek some out, such as:
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34).
Flourishing is an important word in this debate, which also brings in economic concerns. People's lives are profoundly impacted in negative ways to increase worldwide suffering, by:
- lockdown raising one day early
- lockdown raising one day late
- lockdown raised in ways that are not perfectly defined, followed and enforced.
Clearly, our national and local authorities are faced with a daunting task.
In any case, the ethical dilemmas are complex and cannot hinge solely on short-term results. In our own personal circumstances, we pray particularly for wisdom for authorities governing the conditions under which French schools can return to some degree of operationality. The French education minister appears quite indecisive and limp. Many of the very important practical details appear overlooked. Home support from children's teachers for parents choosing not to return their children seems ready to be cut starting next week (I'm homeschooling the children in the mornings using these materials).
- lockdown raising one day early
- lockdown raising one day late
- lockdown raised in ways that are not perfectly defined, followed and enforced.
Clearly, our national and local authorities are faced with a daunting task.
In any case, the ethical dilemmas are complex and cannot hinge solely on short-term results. In our own personal circumstances, we pray particularly for wisdom for authorities governing the conditions under which French schools can return to some degree of operationality. The French education minister appears quite indecisive and limp. Many of the very important practical details appear overlooked. Home support from children's teachers for parents choosing not to return their children seems ready to be cut starting next week (I'm homeschooling the children in the mornings using these materials).
What connection can we make with the task of making faith and scripture relevant or even useful? Much can be said of wisdom, of the peace and mental health that can be drawn through regular meditation/meditative prayer. We need to be concerned for and take care of our mental health more than ever - for Christians, like everyone else really, that means digging in deeper to their beliefs. What do I fundamentally believe about life? What are my priorities? What am I so thankful for? Who am I so thankful for? Just how extraordinarily beautiful is our natural habitat? Can we glimpse our own inner beauty and value? How aware and tolerant am I of my internal worries and fears? The Bible is a solid resource for grounding a good number of these questions and I'd encourage folks to seek some out, such as:
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34).
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