Fear

This is not about COVID or vaccines or the like. I start out pointing to them to illustrate the concept. There is an interesting dichotomy in our standard conversations about COVID. On one hand, we have people absolutely certain that if we don't get vaccinated, we're all going to die. Saner minds will prevail and assure us that, no, we won't all die; we'll all just get COVID. Now, the truth is that less than 10% of the world's population has been infected with COVID. Infection rates are small. WebMD suggests that an average of 5% to 20% of the U.S. will get the flu each year, a higher infection rate than COVID. But, no, if we don't force the vaccine on everyone, we're all going to get COVID even though the numbers radically deny this. If the "glove does not fit" -- if the numbers deny the claim -- why is it out there? Well, the news media is pushing the stories of crowded ERs and ICUs and several other acronyms. Of course, the fear of COVID brought on by the media is causing primary care physicians to refuse to treat COVID patients and any hint of COVID is perceived as a death sentence to the population, which is why ERs and ICUs et al. are piling up, but that's beside the point. The media points at the numbers. "Thousands are getting COVID." So, obviously, if we don't all get vaccinated, we're all going to get COVID.

The argument doesn't work in reverse. The CDC is hesitant about releasing numbers, but some reports say that more than 60,000 people who have been fully vaccinated have come down with COVID. Tens of thousands. So ... why no panic? Because the media isn't reporting it. If someone brings it up, what they report is "It's a small fraction of those who have been vaccinated." And that is true. Just as true as the fact that it is a small fraction of the world population that has contracted COVID. But that's not what the media reports from that side. Consider, if we shouldn't panic about being infected after getting the vaccine because it's a relatively small percentage that do, why should we not panic about being infected with COVID in the first place since it's a relatively small percentage that do?

As I said, this is not about COVID or vaccines. It's not even about the media. It's about you and me. We have this tendency. If the news reports it, we assume 1) it's true and 2) it's everywhere. The shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, really did happen. It really was bad. So did the Columbine event. Bad stuff. I'm not suggesting they didn't happen and I'm not suggesting the media lied. But what did we do? We panicked. "Kids are dying everywhere! We've got to do something about this now!" In truth, school shootings are news because they are exceedingly rare. There are over 75 million kids in schools in America, and as of October 17, 2021, there have been 86 deaths in school shootings over the last 5 years. Just briefly, that's 1 in 872,000 kids. That's 0.00011%. That's infinitesimal compared to the COVID statistics. But we're still scared because the news has reported it so it's everywhere. Like COVID. It's not almost nonexistent (like COVID) because the numbers say so because the media isn't reporting that aspect.

What's my point? It's not COVID or vaccines, guns or not, school shootings or not. It's not even the media. If the media did not slant the news (it does) and was completely unbiased (it isn't), they'd still tell us about unusual things going on and we'd still conclude, "The sky is falling!!" My point is us. We believe the scary lie. We conclude there is much to fear. We don't do due diligence and think. "This is not the time to think! This is the time to feel, to panic!" And voices that suggest "Fear not" get shoved aside as "misinformation." "Don't panic," our world tells us today. "Be very, very afraid."

I know a God with a better idea (e.g., Isa 41:10; Josh 1:9; 2 Chron 20:15; Php 4:6-7; Matt 6:34; Psa 34:4; 1 Peter 5:7).