Selfish Conservatives/Trads Acting Like Spoiled Spring Breakers

We were all shocked at the callousness and selfishness displayed by these Florida spring breakers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  People are getting sick and dying around the world, but all these young people can think about is the fun they want to have, giving no thought or concern whatsoever to their role in spreading this pandemic to others, causing even more sickness and death.

This is the exact same attitude I see displayed on conservative/trad websites in regard to attending Mass.  C'mon, you say!  Going to spring break and Mass are hardly the same thing!  We want to worship God, not party down with sex and drugs!  

The trads are telling us that there can never be a reason to cancel Mass and close the churches, not even in the midst of a pandemic.  After all, they didn't even close churches during the bubonic plague in the Middle Ages.  We must always have access to God and the Sacraments.  (I guess they believe that God can only be found in churches and nowhere else)

But the fact is, all large gatherings, no matter what the purpose, are putting people at extreme risk with COVID-19.  This is the most infectious disease we have seen in the 21st Century, and for many decades before that.  Church doors, unfortunately, do not have the capability of holding back this coronavirus, a completely new disease about which very little is known and to which no adult seems to be immune.  

In a Harvard forum in early March, COVID-19's global rampage was discussed by a panel including a veteran epidemiologist:

“It’s the most daunting virus that we’ve contended with in half a century or more,” Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health 

The spread of the new coronavirus has been compared to influenza, which also causes a respiratory illness. But, as the panelists pointed out, there are no drugs or vaccines yet for treating or preventing the virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, as there are for flu. In addition, we are exposed to different flu strains throughout our lives, which help us build immunity. No one had immunity to this new virus. 

“We have an entirely susceptible population,” Mina said. “The potential for this to burn through a population very quickly is very high without extraordinary measures.”As researchers race to study the virus, they are finding that it does not seem to be infecting great numbers of children, or at least making them very sick. (Experts around the globe are still trying to figure out just how broadly the infection has spread, given that many mild cases are likely to be missed.) But it is causing serious harm to older people and those with underlying diseases or weakened immune systems. 

“This virus, on the one hand, there’s a saving grace that it doesn’t seem to be impacting our young, and that is amazing,” Mina said. “But the mortality rate among people who are getting infected above 80 years old is 15-plus%.”

This disease is spreading exponentially.  The best definition of exponential that I have heard is this.  Say you are the only person in a sports arena, sitting at the top of the bleachers.  A drop of water falls to the floor, followed by 2 drops, 4 drops, 8 drops, 16 drops, 32 drops, 64 drops, etc.  It would take 27 minutes to cover the floor.  In the next 3 minutes, you, sitting at the top of the bleachers, would be covered.  

That is how fast COVID-19 is spreading.  From an article entitled, "Virus cases surge tenfold in a week to 50,000, global infections soar past 400,000" dated Tuesday, March 24, 2020:

Confirmed U.S. cases passed 5,000 just one week ago. On March 1, there were roughly 100 confirmed cases in the U.S. . . [As of March 24, 2020, 2:15 p.m. ET], the virus has infected more than 50,206 people and killed at least 600 people [in the United States].

“The pandemic is accelerating,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing from the organization’s Geneva headquarters. “It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach 100,000 cases, 11 days for second 100,000 cases, and just four days for the third 100,000 cases.”

As of the time I write this, March 25, the worldwide total cases is 452,241 confirmed cases and 20,495 deaths.  You can find the most updated information HERE. 

We have not seen any disease in modern times spread like COVID-19.  As I heard one leading epidemiologist say, if COVID-19 is not contained, it could literally crush the American healthcare system, not to mention almost every part of our economy.  

You may not care whether you contract the disease, just like these Spring breakers, but do you care if you are passing it on to others who may get very sick and even die from it?  Do you care if you are contributing to the complete destruction of our society?  That is no exaggeration.  This is what we are talking about.  COVID-19 is a monster looking to destroy everything.

This post is a response to Mary Ann Kreitzer at LesFemmes, who wrote a post entitled: "Give us the Mass! Offer it with Sensible Precautions, but Offer it Publicly!"  Mary Ann's first paragraph shows her ignorance of this disease:

I'll be honest. I'm tired of being told how unprecedented the situation with the coronavirus is. Are we hearing this because people are totally ignorant of history? The 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic infected a quarter of the world's population at the time and killed millions including Jacinta and Francisco Marto, the seers of Fatima. 

Hopefully, Mary Ann is right, and COVID-19 will not be as deadly as the Spanish flu.  But do we really need to see illnesses and deaths on the scale of the Spanish flu before we act?

The fact remains that COVID-19 is the most infectious disease in our life times.  The Spanish flu affected one quarter of the then world's population.  The estimate for this disease is 50%-80% of the world population.

As stated, I do hope and pray that COVID-19 will not be as deadly as the Spanish flu, but it is still kills far more than any ordinary flu.

Below is a chart from an article by ProPublica showing the death rate of COVID-19 compared to ordinary flu:

As the article states:

The flu kills less than 1% of infected people who are over age 65. By comparison, in China, COVID-19 killed 8% of those infected who were 70-79 and almost 15% of those infected who were age 80 or older. That’s a staggering difference. 

Even for younger people, the difference was striking. Flu killed .02% of infected patients age 18-49. It’s 10 times that for COVID-19. 

In other countries, such as South Korea, the death rate has been far lower. 

But if 1 in 12 people age 70-79 who get the virus and 1 in 7 people age 80 or older who get the virus die, and the virus spreads to 20%, 40% or 70% of the population, we’re talking massive death tolls, the likes of which we have never seen before in our lives.

Does that change your perspective at all, Mary Ann?

Mary Ann then tries to make excuses for the tremendous hit Italy has taken from this disease, including people traveling from there to Wuhan, China and back, the old population in Europe, and the number of smokers.  Yes, these are definitely factors.

But Mary Ann's analysis completely discounts the nature of this virus, that being its extreme infectious rate.  Mary Ann also ignores the fact that although the elderly die at higher rates, young people are also dying.  We have seen young, healthy athletes come down with this disease and end up in the hospital.

Mary Ann then writes:

It's sad to see so many in the Catholic world attacking anyone who urges that Masses remain public following sensible safety precautions. Increase the number of Masses and limit the number at each. Initiate distancing rules, sanitize the pews (the faithful would gladly help with that I'm sure). If Communion is distributed, have the priest sanitize his hands after each Communicant and wear a mask. If that isn't practical lead a spiritual Communion prayer instead.

Again, Mary Ann shows her complete ignorance of the way in which COVID-19 spreads.  This disease can stay on surfaces for days at a time.  People are becoming infected who have had no contact with anyone showing symptoms and no risk factors, such as traveling.  There is a reason why the epidemiologists, who have studied infectious diseases and the way they work, are telling us that we must self isolate to stop the spread.

Mary Ann then gives us this tired argument:

Be honest! Are you still going to the pharmacy...the grocery store...the gas station...Lowes and Home Depot? Is a package of toilet paper or a light bulb more necessary than the Mass?

As I wrote on her blog, people have to eat.  There are some risks that we must take, such as getting food and medicine and gas for their cars.  Yes, Mary Ann, we do need such things as toilet paper and light bulbs.

Are these things more important than Mass?  In the light of our eternal life, no.  But we absolutely need these things to survive.  No one can survive without food.  Is Mary Ann saying that if we can't go to Mass, we shouldn't go to the store for essentials?  She is comparing apples and oranges.

I love the Mass.  Since returning to the Church in 2007, I have always tried to attend Daily Mass.  I retired in 2017, and since then I have attended a 7:00 a.m. Mass every week day, getting on the subway at 6:30 in the morning to get there.  My day feels completely wrong without it.  I love going to the Mass and spending time with the Blessed Sacrament afterwards.  Every time I walk into the Church, I thank God for the Church, the priest and my ability to get there and participate.

Our churches here in NYC are now completely closed.  Last week they were still open for individual prayer, but after priests and lay people from a few churches were infected, all churches in the Brooklyn diocese were closed.

I am now in the second week without public Mass, and I miss it terribly.  I miss my 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass.  I miss spending time with the Blessed Sacrament.  But I understand and accept that it is just not possible to have the Mass without literally endangering people's lives.

Our Lord told us we must love our neighbor as ourselves, and that means doing everything we can not to endanger the lives of our neighbors.  Mary Ann doesn't seem to have learned that lesson.

Mary Ann wrote in her blog post:

Yes, it's all about priorities. Are we really so lacking in faith that we don't trust God to know the correct hour to call us home? Is the coronavirus a worse way to go than cancer, stroke, and heart disease? I can't imagine anyone deliberately seeking infection, but since all estimates show that MOST OF US will contract the virus regardless of what we do, should the Church deep six the greatest consolation for the world? Is the body really more important than the soul? [Emphasis Mary Ann]

Mary Ann seems to have no concern for anyone but herself.  She is willing to fall victim to the disease.  That is her decision to make.

But Mary Ann also feels nothing wrong with forcing that decision on everyone else, including possibly leaving small children without parents who succumb to the disease.   She feels there is nothing wrong with infecting others and crushing our healthcare system to the point where people cannot get the treatment they need.  She is literally willing to sacrifice other people's lives to have what she wants.

Mary Ann also seems to forget that because of the tremendous rate of this disease, it is also taking away from others who suffer from cancer, heart disease or any other major illness.  These people are unable to get the full help they need, not to mention the fact that they are put in great danger if they become infected.

Sounds a lot like our Florida spring breaker, doesn't it?

Since I can no longer attend Mass or even go to Church to pray, I now attend Daily TV Mass.  I have always done this when I could not attend in person.  I pray with a YouTube Mass from Canada, HERE.  Before Mass, I pray my morning prayers, including the Liturgy of the Office and the Rosary.  I prepare for the TV Mass the same way I prepared for Mass at Church.

In case, you didn't know Mary Ann, you can continue to pray to God outside of Church and even outside of Mass.  He still hears us.

When I commented on Mary Ann's blog, she accused me of being afraid.  As far as getting COVID-19, I am almost 100% sure I have already had it.  I was sick for over 2 weeks in February with all the symptoms:  dry cough, fever, shortness of breath, fatigue, lack of appetite.  Soon they will have tests for antibodies, and then I will know for sure.

But I am not afraid no matter what.  I will accept whatever fate God has for me.  I pray this every day and I mean it.  But that does not mean I think it is okay for my actions to cause other people to get sick and/or die.

It is time to start thinking of others.

BTW, the worldwide statistics for COVID-19 from the time I began this post to now have gone from 452,241 confirmed cases and 20,495 deaths to 461,929 confirmed cases and 20,852 deaths.   Keep in mind, that is only the confirmed cases and deaths. This number will be much higher by the time you read this.  Check HERE.

God bless you and watch over you and your family in these serious times in which we live.