Utah breaks yet another daily record with 546 new confirmed COVID-19 cases:\u00a0<\/span>Veterans\u2019 advocate dies with COVID-19 in facility that bears his name\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I get it. \u00a0People don\u2019t want theirs rights and their freedom taken away. \u00a0I understand the anger against enforced shut-downs.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I don\u2019t get the notion that the coronavirus is somehow a political question. \u00a0COVID-19 doesn\u2019t care whether you\u2019re a liberal or a conservative or a Trumpist, whether you\u2019re a Republican or Democrat or Libertarian or Independent.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I honestly don\u2019t understand why it\u2019s a political statement to refuse to voluntarily don a protective mask, why it\u2019s considered somehow virtuous or heroic to put oneself \u2014 and, worse, to put others \u2014 in danger by violating prudent rules of social distance.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I understand that many if not most people are heartily tired of working from home, of not attending movies and going to restaurants, of foregoing parties and sports activities and concerts. \u00a0I\u2019m tired of it, too.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it seems inevitable that, if we begin to mingle freely, if we become indifferent to the invisible killer that still surrounds us, people will die. \u00a0And it\u2019s still very possible that, if we\u2019re sufficiently imprudent, we will overwhelm our hospitals, threaten the lives of doctors and nurses and other healthcare workers, and prolong the pain of this pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Refusing to take reasonable steps to avoid catching and spreading the coronavirus isn\u2019t an act of heroic political defiance. \u00a0It\u2019s simply short-sighted and irresponsible. \u00a0It is self-centered, and it shows lack of care or concern for others.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
This should not be even remotely controversial.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Refusing to maintain social distance or to wear a mask is no more a principled stance than would be refusing to wash one\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is absolutely not a matter of political philosophy. \u00a0It\u2019s a matter of ideologically neutral hygiene and public health.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
More and more, I see large public gatherings in parks and elsewhere, as if the plague were behind us. \u00a0It is not. \u00a0And we deceive ourselves if we refuse to take it seriously. \u00a0People will pay a price for our indifference. \u00a0And those people will perhaps be the completely innocent victims of frivolous strangers or relatives who needlessly put their lives at risk.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Disturbing news, following hard on the heels of yesterday\u2019s disturbing news: \u00a0 \u201cUtah breaks yet another daily record with 546 new confirmed COVID-19 cases:\u00a0Veterans\u2019 advocate dies with COVID-19 in facility that bears his name\u201d \u00a0 I get it. \u00a0People don\u2019t want theirs rights and their freedom taken away. \u00a0I understand the anger against […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8031,9108,9101,12461,11699,9104,9063],"class_list":["post-85682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-epidemic","tag-lock-down","tag-lockdown","tag-pandemic","tag-social-distance"],"yoast_head":"\n
We're headed for an upsurge in deaths, and there's no valid reason for it<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Disturbing news, following hard on the heels of yesterday's disturbing news: "Utah breaks yet another daily record with 546 new\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We're headed for an upsurge in deaths, and there's no valid reason for it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Disturbing news, following hard on the heels of yesterday's disturbing news: "Utah breaks yet another daily record with 546 new\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-06T22:28:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-11T16:22:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/06\/101867547_1726627400811150_8613488278550609920_o.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html\",\"name\":\"We're headed for an upsurge in deaths, and there's no valid reason for it\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-06T22:28:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-11T16:22:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Disturbing news, following hard on the heels of yesterday's disturbing news: \\\"Utah breaks yet another daily record with 546 new\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"We’re headed for an upsurge in deaths, and there’s no valid reason for it\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"We're headed for an upsurge in deaths, and there's no valid reason for it","description":" Disturbing news, following hard on the heels of yesterday's disturbing news: \"Utah breaks yet another daily record with 546 new","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"We're headed for an upsurge in deaths, and there's no valid reason for it","og_description":" Disturbing news, following hard on the heels of yesterday's disturbing news: \"Utah breaks yet another daily record with 546 new","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2020-06-06T22:28:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-06-11T16:22:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/06\/101867547_1726627400811150_8613488278550609920_o.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html","name":"We're headed for an upsurge in deaths, and there's no valid reason for it","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-06-06T22:28:01+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-11T16:22:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Disturbing news, following hard on the heels of yesterday's disturbing news: \"Utah breaks yet another daily record with 546 new","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/06\/were-headed-for-an-upsurge-in-deaths-and-theres-no-valid-reason-for-it.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"We’re headed for an upsurge in deaths, and there’s no valid reason for it"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/06\/101867547_1726627400811150_8613488278550609920_o.jpg\")
<\/a>