August 22, 2021

In a news story about H. Scott Apley, a republican City Council member in Texas, who died of Covid, the writer highlights, with intentional irony, no doubt, one of Apley’s tweets from April. In the tweet, Apley responded to a doctor who had praised the Pfizer vaccine, claiming it is safe and effective, and effective against variants as well. In his response to the doctor, Apley claimed: “You are an absolute enemy of a free people.” Apley surely meant what he said, for freedom is one of those principles most agree upon, but as the previous post pointed out, what is done in the name of such universal principles sometimes results in harm being done. In the story about Apley’s death, for instance, the writer reported that there are many people who are blaming the republican party for Apley’s death since it has peddled in misinformation and skepticism about masks and vaccines, and it has done this in the name of freedom. In Louisiana, for instance, which is where I happen to live, we have had freedom rallies and protests at school board meetings where the threat, as those who attend these rallies and protests largely see it, is a government that is forcing us against our will to wear masks and get vaccinated. Why has there been so much anger and frustration vented at masks and vaccines? Why the vitriol rather than compassion, concern, and doing what one can to help during a pandemic? I want to explore a possible answer.

(more…)