I often do a “Q and A” on theology. I’ve decided to try a question and answer post on COVID-19. Please keep in mind that I am not a physician, and will not be giving any medical advice. The types of questions I envision for this post are how Covid relates to eschatology, to the Church, to society. I can also answer some questions on the current state of the research on Covid-19. See, as an example, my recent post on Covid-19 vaccines.
Feel free to ask your questions in a comment below. I’ll do my best to answer them.
Ron Conte
“not a doctor”
the reproach of Christ 
The breakup of families is being planned, starting on the west coast. https://www.sgtreport.com/2020/05/must-hear-childrens-emergency-quarantine-centers-ammon-bundy/ You may or may not choose to publish this.
Covid-19 really is as dangerous as they say. And the idea that this is a pretext to take away religious freedoms or to give “global elites” power is absurd. Are all the doctors and nurses and hospitals in on this conspiracy? Of course not. Disease outbreaks occur from time to time. And there are thousands of research studies already on this disease, Covid-19, proving that it is dangerous and widespread. Comments to the contrary will not be published on this blog.
Of course it is real. Thank you.
Good news. More than 20 churches throughout Oregon sued the governor to be able to reopen, and won.
Were churches closed down for the Spanish Flu, which was as bad as Covid-19? Were they closed down for the Black Death, which was worse?
Irrelevant. If they had closed the churches, and had taken similar lockdown measures, maybe those pandemics would have been less deadly.
Ron, my source is the Epoch Times. In Minnesota, the lawsuits brought by churches together with small business complain that if Walmart is open, then churches and the rest must be opened due to the 14th amendment, equal protection under the law. The govt doesn’t get to pick winners and losers.
You are ignoring the morality of the situation. Covid-19 is a deadly disease. The Church has the right and duty to consider the safety of Her priests and people, and to dispense the obligation to attend Mass for their safety. It doesn’t matter if stores are open. The Church must make a decision, independent of what the stores do, based on what is best for her members, temporally and spiritually. You could argue that the benefits outweigh the risks. But I don’t think that is true in this case.
It is one thing if churches shut down on their own. Government taking control violates the first amendment. Indian casinos are open in California, but you can’t go to church.
Government has a responsibility to protect the lives of its citizens. The Pope and the body of Bishops are not saying that this is religious oppression. Why are so many Catholics today led by their own minds and not by the Pastors of the Church?
Just for clarification, the churches filing lawsuits are almost universally Protestant.
Could there be a point where the Lockdown is killing more people by “Deaths of Despair” (suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse, psychosomatic illness, etc.) than Covid-19 would kill?
No. It’s a very deadly disease, with the potential for grave lasting health complications for many survivors.
I am a new reader and this was just released. On May 19, a letter sent to President Trump by more than 500 doctors related that calls to suicide hotlines are up 600 percent, and liquor sales are up by as much as 600 percent. The doctors urged the President to end the lockdown, which they called a “mass casuality incident.”
With jobs demolished, crime can be expected to soar. Prior to the lockdown, at least 30% of all data transferred across the internet was estimated to be porn-related (HuffPost).
I wonder if in a way that God, being so infinitely merciful, and knowing how weak and unprepared we are, is allowing this Worldwide pandemic, as a sort of ‘soft’ preparation for everyone before the real Tribulations begin, rather than shocking the World on the Day of the Warning.