Confusion and reality in the era of COVID-19 by Raymond Alcide Joseph
Much confusion has surrounded Coronavirus or COVID-19, regarding its origin and meaning for humankind. Unquestionably, it has not discriminated in its choice of victims, though some groups have fared worse than others have. Will it cause those in leadership positions in the world to change their policies and usher in an era of genuine collaboration for the sake of humanity and our planet, which is under environmental assault?
There’s no doubt that we first heard about coronavirus when, in mid-December of last year, China admitted publicly that the deadly virus, which first exploded in the city of Wuhan, in the Hubei province, had infected thousands and caused innumerable deaths. It will never be known how many succumbed to the disease in China because it is doubtful that Chinese officials truthfully reported the number of victims.
Apparently, Coronavirus began to cause havoc in China as early as November of last year and the U.S. was apprised of what was happening. Recently it was revealed that American intelligence services had prepared memos for U.S. authorities last November warning about a deadly virus on the loose, which represented a threat to the United States. President Donald Trump said he did not see the memos. Who saw them and did they withhold information from the Commander-in-Chief? No need waiting for an answer! Anyway, failing to act on available information so early in the game must be blamed for the United States becoming Number One in people infected with Coronavirus and in the number of deaths through- out the world. No way to Make America Great Again
Fake news about the virus originating from wild animal meat sold at a market in Wuhan were soon replaced by information concerning an experiment gone awry at a laboratory in Wuhan. Early in February, in a video circulating on various social networks, so-called experts mentioned that French scientists from the Pasteur Institute, working with some Chinese counterparts, “created” the virus and were working on a vaccine to counteract it.
The motive for “creating” such a monster was greed. The folks at the Pasteur Institute, including their investors, were poised to reap millions, if not billions of dollars ― euros also ― from their anti-COVID vaccine. Thumbing through a document said to be more than 300-page long, the speaker on the video sounded quite convincing. How- ever, nothing has been said about it since that early video campaign. One wonders whether some powers-that-be clamped down on that internet campaign. Anyway, it would be some sort of karma that France has become one of the countries hard hit in Europe by COVID-19.
What did the 34-year-old Chinese doctor, Li Wenliang, at the Wuhan Central Hospital, know about that lab experiment? He was the first to warn the Chinese authorities about the dangerous virus. He was upbraided by higher-ups for propagating information that would be detrimental to the State. One will never know the truth about his death, on February 7, said to have resulted from complications from being in contact with Coronavirus in the line of duty. He was quickly forgotten. However, 11 days later, on February 18, Liu Zhiming, 51 years old, the director of the hospital, also died from the virus, Associated Press reported. Did he know something about the virus, which accidently escaped during experimentation? The people of China have suffered greatly from whatever went wrong at the Wuhan lab. It will be difficult to know how many thousands really died because, at a certain time during December, furnaces were operating around the clock in Hubei province.
There was finger pointing early on when the Chinese economy began feeling the effects of Coronavirus. It was a United States creation some America bashers floated. It was meant to cripple China, the second economic power in the world, which was threatening U.S. international dominance. Very doubtful, but if that were true, karma would be again working, because the United States has become the Number One victim of COVID-19, as previously mentioned.
Much is said about the major Western nations heading the list of victims of COVID-19, while Africa is far behind. Some say it is God’s punishment on the West for the slave trade that spanned four centuries, beginning in the early 1500. There’s plenty evidence to show that the wealth of Western powers was built on the backs of slave labor over four centuries.
When Pope Francis was seen, kissing the feet of some African leaders, mainly from South Sudan, the rumor mill went wild. The Pontiff, it was said, was atoning for the sins of Italy, which attempted to colonize Ethiopia. Others, especially Protestant conservative extremists, say because Rome is the seat of the papacy, Italy’s suffering is greater than that of all other European nations. That Spain is about to displace Italy as Number One victim of COVID-19 in Europe, they say, underscores the inhuman treatment meted out to the original inhabitants of the American continent by the Spaniards during their colonial conquests, after Christopher Columbus “discovered” the island of Hispaniola in December 1492.
Religious conservatives in the United States are adamant about Coronavirus being God’s punishment on a world that has turned its back on Him. That is why they contend only a return to God will heal the inhabitants of the planet. I was flabbergasted when, on March 24, I saw this big headline, all in caps, in The Intercept: “TRUMP CABINET BIBLE TEACHER BLAMES CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ON GOD’S WRATH ― SOMEHOW IT INVOLVES CHINA, GAY PEOPLE, AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS.”
Intrigued, I read on about Ralph Drollinger, “a minister who leads a weekly Bible study group for President Donald Trump’s cabinet [that] released a new interpretation of the Coronavirus pandemic. . . . It’s “God’s wrath upon nations, not as severe as the floods in the Old Testament or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Drollinger states: “A biblically astute evaluation of the situation strongly suggests that America and other countries of the world are reaping what China has sown due to their leaders’ recklessness and lack of candor and transparency.” The Intercept says, “He condemns those who worship the ‘religion of environmentalism’ and express a proclivity toward lesbianism and homosexuality.” The minister asserts, “These individuals [who] have infiltrated ‘high positions in our government, our educational system, our media and our entertainment industry’ are largely responsible for God’s consequential wrath on our nation.”
To counteract them, Drollinger, who operates the non-profit Capitol Ministries in Washington, holds Bible studies and prayer meetings at the White House every Wednesday morning with members of President Trump’s cabinet, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Housing and Human Development Secretary Ben Carson, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Health Secretary Alex Azar. Vice President Mike Pence, says The Intercept, is “a listed host of Capitol Ministries.”
Special sessions are held on Tuesdays and Thursday for legislators. “At least 52 GOP lawmakers,” says The Intercept, “also participate in a Capitol Hill version of Drollinger Bible study which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” For the public at large, there is a new video on some social net- works, which sounds like the work of a professional, a Christian man, who says he headed the largest unit of Vodafone in Newbury, England, between 2013 and 2015.
For more than 30 minutes, he spins his theory concerning the 5G technology, being used to upgrade communications around the world, as the root cause of what is being experienced in Coronavirus. It’s “our bodies reacting to this technology” that “they” are using to control us completely and carry their mission in the world, leading to the Antichrist. He never spells out who the “they” are, but when he is through speaking, the man who introduced him, returns and, with evangelical fervor, makes a plea to turn to Jesus Christ now.
Meanwhile, State and municipal leaders are working feverishly to protect their constituencies from the deadly virus. Through distancing, “stay-at-home” and other protocols, such as hand washing, masks and gloves, they are showing some success in cutting down on the rate of infection. One would hardly believe it, considering the higher rate of death. Nonetheless, their actions appear as a distant light at the end of the tunnel.
They deserve applause for the good job they are doing, at times without timely an adequate federal support. Of those, we single out the mayors of the hardest hit cities in America: Bill de Blasio in New York and Eric Garcetti in Los Angeles who are at the forefront of the fight against the “invisible enemy” that is COVID-19. To be commended also are the governors of four major states: Gavin Newsom of California, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Andrew Cuomo of New York, who have shown leadership in dealing with what must be the deadliest challenge to their administrations.
- RAJ, April 15, 2020
cet article est publié par l’hebdomadaire Haïti-Observateur, VOL. L No.14 New-York, édition du 15avril 2020 et se trouve en P.1, 8, 12 à : http://haiti-observateur.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/H-O-15-april-2020-1.pdf