| It seems there have been very few lulls in pandemic hysteria. After two years of wall-to-wall coverage, variants, and rumors of variants, it is clear who has benefitted from the “pandemic of fear.” As many are beginning to see however, stepping away from fear is key for beating back the totalitarianism that is riding in on the wave of panic. In a Substack post, philosopher Peter Limberg presents the problematic result of fear as pushing people into two camps. He sees a “thesis” group (who fear the virus and approve restrictive COVID measures) and an “antithesis” group (who fear government coercion and segregation). Limberg is convinced that the two sides can coexist if they are willing to consider the other’s fears. Limberg writes that he has opened himself to “ontological flooding,” which seems to be philosopher talk for “maybe-there-is-more-to-this-than-I-was-aware-of.” It is interesting that he even entertains the idea that there might be spiritual forces behind the fear and irrationality. Following his lead, writer Paul Kingsnorth penned an article concluding something similar: “The rage that swirls around the attitude to the Covid jab is a substitute for something else. Underneath the arguments about whether or not to take a vaccine glides something older, deeper, slower: something with all the time in the world. Some great spirit whose work is to use these fractured times to reveal to us all what we need to see: things hidden since the foundation of the modern world.” Mad readers will understand what this means – we live in this physical world but we aren’t batting against flesh and blood. We are not overcome with a spirit of fear, but with the sound mind of one redeemed by Christ. He is risen and that makes all the difference. Alleluia. |
