Dennis Prager presents a biting critique of “Safetyism” – the “religion” of being “safe” at all costs. I think the past eighteen months have shown how much this is really a false religion. The lockdowns, closings of businesses and schools, and social disruption are all causing more harm than the virus. And it remains to be seen whether the “vaccine” will help protect people than it will injure.
Perhaps worse, Safetyism gives health officials absolute control over our lives. Bureaucrats get to play god. But then, every false religion needs a false god – or gods.
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“As many observers have noted, staying safe has become a religion. “Safetyism,” as it is sometimes called, like all religions, places what it values — in this case, being safe — above other values. Safetyism explains the willingness of Americans to give up their most cherished values — including liberty — in the name of safety for the last year and a half.”
“Millions of Americans not only gave up their right to go to work, earn a living, attend church or synagogue, and visit friends and relatives, but they even gave up their right to visit dying relatives and friends. One can assume that nearly every person recorded as having died of COVID-19 died without having a single loved one at their bedside from the moment they entered a hospital until their death. The acceptance of such cruelty — irrational and unscientific cruelty, one might add — can only be explained by the failure of generations of schools and parents to teach liberty, while successfully teaching the worship of safety. If your father had to die alone, it was worth it for the sake of safety; if your mother had to be in what amounted to solitary confinement in a nursing home for more than a year, that, too, was worth it for the sake of safety. And, of course, if political leaders and leaders in science and medicine have to lie for the sake of safety, so be it; truth, too, is less important than safety.”