A Plea for Unity in the Midst of the COVID-19 Crisis

By Robin G. Jordan

I am convinced that the United States is heading for a major catastrophe that will impact the nation for generations to come. Based upon the evidence that I seen to date, the United States has yet to come to grips with the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of bots on Twitter that are spreading all kinds of conspiracy theories and other forms of misinformation indicate that foreign powers are not only exploiting the confusion and division in the United States but also fueling it. There is much to be gained from a United States preoccupied with the battle against an epidemic of catastrophic proportions and the accompanying economic woes.

As the old saying goes, “when the cat is away, the mice will play.” A virus-ravished United States will be focused on itself and not what is happening elsewhere. The ultimate aim of these foreign powers is a permanently weakened United States, one that is no longer a power to reckon with in the world.

I am amazed at a number of the posts that I have been reading on Facebook. Some clearly suggest a well-organized campaign of disinformation, statistics that have been cherry-picked to suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic is far less serious than the health experts maintain and that Americans do not need to adopt the kind of measures to protect themselves, their families, and their communities that the health experts recommend. As researchers are documenting how badly COVID-19 can damage the human body, the claim that COVID-19 is no worse than a bad case of the flu continues to circulate on the internet.

Intelligent, thoughtful people are arguing that there should have been a debate over the need for a lockdown before it was implemented. When people are seriously ill and dying and doctors and other health care workers are struggling to care for them, a nation does not debate what measures it should take. It takes those measures that have proven effective in the past in mitigating an outbreak of a dangerous, highly-infectious virus.

The failure of the nation to come to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic accounts for why the virus continues to spread in many parts of the United States. Measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus during the early days of the pandemic were not only inadequate but they may have actually hastened the virus’ spread. The lack of a coordinated, uniform response nation-wide is hampering those trying to mitigate the virus’ spread in their state. A restless public that does not fully appreciate the seriousness of the pandemic is also contributing to its spread.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the weakness of the United States—a divided people who cannot agree on the seriousness of the threat that the pandemic poses to the nation and how to respond to that threat. Let us pray that it also reveals what has in the past been the nation’s strength—the ability to rise above its divisions and to unite against a common enemy. If not, the pandemic will leave a lasting scar on the American psyche—a scar that will not heal in this century or beyond.

As we honor on Memorial Day those who laid down their lives in the service of their country, may their example and sacrifice inspire us to a greater unity in combating this latest threat to our nation. As we joined together to defend our country's freedom in the last century, let us join together to defeat COVID-19 in this century.