Rev. John F. Naugle

Three years ago I felt the depth of the darkness which had entered the world, and I was moved to choose defiance in favor of the light. This brought my path to be part of the good work being done here at Brownstone. A Happy Easter to all, and let us continue the good fight against weaponized fear which seeks to prevent us from experiencing our highest goods.

Calls for general amnesty or accusations that those of us who got things right only did so through luck are lame attempts at self-absolution. To apply the logic of the confessional: there can be no reconciliation without contrition and firm purpose of amendment. It is important then to demand the attitude of mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa even among the most stubborn.

Civil society in general and public health specifically needs a list of “Thou shalts” and “Thou shalt nots.” Without them, any evil imaginable can be justified when the next panic hits. If we want to avoid a repeat of 2020 or, God forbid, something even worse, we must make it clear what we will never ever do, no matter how scared we might get. Otherwise, the siren call of “just saving one life” may lead us to previously unthinkable evils.

These weren’t prophets warning us about the future. They were profiteering charlatans who knew what they were paid to predict. Their training taught them that this was utter statistical malpractice but not one of them objected as to how their work was being used. It was produced to be propaganda and they were happy to please their benefactors.