COVID-19 Outbreak (Update: More than 2.9M cases and 132,313 deaths in US) (20 Viewers)

[DaveXA]

I would think an easy case could be made that spiritual gatherings are virtual gatherings
Semantically and otherwise

Well, you have your semantics and I have mine.

And fwiw, there certainly are times where you can have spiritual experiences through watching a service on TV. But I don't think it's truly communal in the complete sense. I mean, I think we can do OK for a time, but for months on end, it's a legitimate challenge to nurture the personal relationships we've built through close interaction. I know you're not saying it's an equivalent substitute.

It's similar to the sense of loss we feel when we can't be close to a loved one when they're sick. I feel that same sense of loss when I am disconnected from friends for long periods of time.

 

[Loose Cannon]

I see where you are coming from now and I don't disagree. Sometimes my contrarian nature just comes out.

You should feel bad, I've never been called contrarian in my life.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Well, you have your semantics and I have mine.

And fwiw, there certainly are times where you can have spiritual experiences through watching a service on TV. But I don't think it's truly communal in the complete sense. I mean, I think we can do OK for a time, but for months on end, it's a legitimate challenge to nurture the personal relationships we've built through close interaction. I know you're not saying it's an equivalent substitute.

It's similar to the sense of loss we feel when we can't be close to a loved one when they're sick. I feel that same sense of loss when I am disconnected from friends for long periods of time.

Anecdotally the people I know rushing back to church need the social/camaraderie aspect. I totally get it. Everyone has the thing that centers them. Mine is the outdoors and I'm going camping with friends tomorrow (being safe, no group food/drink, distancing etc.). If you're going to take a risk, use that card for something that your soul needs (no pun intended). I get it.

Man, that's a big risk though. Church has to be near the top of risky things to do.

 

[B4YOU]

It can and should be done. The right to pray in your house of worship is essential. And to many forms of faith, such as Catholic or Orthodox, the physical element and proximity cannot be replaced. You can't do it virtually through live streaming etc.

No, it's not essential. Food, water, shelter, and transportation are essential. A house of worship is a place of assembly no different than any other place of assembly. It doesn't deserve special treatment. To give houses of worship special treatment during a pandemic is to say one person's spiritual needs trumps another's life. If other non-essential places of assembly are open, then houses of worship should open.

I agree virtual is a poor substitute for in-person.

 

[bclemms]

Ontario hasn't had a good few days, after a stretch of pretty good ones.

Ugh, that sucks. I knew Canada would have a battle but it looked like they were really making progress.

 

[bclemms]

I said the bots were running wild on Facebook and Twitter but this confirms it. They haven't identified the source but it started the exact time the White House switched gears. This should be illegal.

Roughly half the Twitter accounts pushing to 'reopen America' are bots, researchers found

It's unclear who's behind the surge in bot activity or whether they're originating from the US or abroad.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[RazorOye]

Ugh, that sucks. I knew Canada would have a battle but it looked like they were really making progress.

It coincides with the first really nice days we had - I mean, we had 4 days of snow in May so far.

I think it hammers home the point to stay home. That's when we were seeing progress. And that's been hammered home by provincial leadership. I hope it lands.

We ain't going anywhere.

But today was beautiful and we went out for a walk and traffic was pretty heavy, relatively.

So we'll see.

 

[DaveXA]

Brazil is getting hit hard. 20k new cases in a day. Ouch.

 

[BlackandGoldXLIV]

I said the bots were running wild on Facebook and Twitter but this confirms it. They haven't identified the source but it started the exact time the White House switched gears. This should be illegal.

Roughly half the Twitter accounts pushing to 'reopen America' are bots, researchers found

It's unclear who's behind the surge in bot activity or whether they're originating from the US or abroad.

www.businessinsider.com

Breathe Comrade. You're Russian to judgment.

 

[Bayouboy]

You folks woulda had a heart attack.....stopped at Bucee's near Foley Alabama this week and it even made me uneasy!!! We talkin' wall to wall people with maybe 10% wearing masks. Like people errywhere. It was a mad house! They had a lot of signage and what not about social distancing, etc., but nobody was paying attention. I left my phone in the car, so no pics.

I honestly thought of this thread when walking around. It was apocalyptic!!! lmao

 

[gboudx]

You folks woulda had a heart attack.....stopped at Bucee's near Foley Alabama this week and it even made me uneasy!!! We talkin' wall to wall people with maybe 10% wearing masks. Like people errywhere. It was a mad house! They had a lot of signage and what not about social distancing, etc., but nobody was paying attention. I left my phone in the car, so no pics.

I honestly thought of this thread when walking around. It was apocalyptic!!! lmao

Gotta be the beaver nuggets.

 

[sammymvpknight]

Again, the best way to contain this virus and keep our economy going is to do testing and contact tracing. Take everyone who is currently Covid-19 positive. Find everyone who has been in contact with that person over the past 2 weeks and test them. Out of the people who tested positive, find everyone they've been in contact with and test them... and so on until you get no more positive cases. Those testing positive should be self-quarantined with paid sick leave (if necessary funded by the government).

If you do that, you can contain the spread without locking down indiscriminately. If an area has lots of positive cases, maybe do a lockdown of just that area (in addition to the positive case self-quarantines).

This is not a technologically difficult problem to solve -- it's a logistics issue that we are choosing not to succeed at.

The virus can shed for 40 days. ??? Are we legitimately considering someone to self isolate for that entire time? It's a big challenge because there is no way to know if someone is still infectious...can't use subjective or objective measures, because even asymptomatic patients can shed. There are no tests that say whether or not someone is infectious. I'm all for trying to get this virus eradicated, but I'm not sure I can agree with the measures that would be required to do it...especially considering the potential detrimental effects involved.

Hey Florida, the problem isn’t Louisiana, like in almost any scenario where there is the option, the problem is, in fact, Florida.

Interesting theory. I’m going to go enjoy my beach with blue water now

 

[EGLSShin]

I find it ironic that sacrficing or giving up things is a rather large theme in many religions and many religious people including pastors are upset over their right to attend church/hold services refusing to temporarly give it up and do it from home for the time being. That seems selfish to me when you have a highly contagious virus where social gatherings can have disasterous effects.

"We'll do it responsibly"

Yet people treating the virus with respect seems to be a growing minority these days if you've been out and about. Haven't you heard? Americans are tired of this pandemic and declared it over with.

 

[Eeyore]

Mandatory masks aren't doing well here at work. About half of the people are stating that the masks don't protect them so they're not wearing one. Management refuses to send anybody home for it.

I even used spray bottles as puppets (puppet shows are about the only way to get through to these oafs). I repeatedly sprayed a bottle every time that I said a word while telling them that the spray was like the water vapor that comes out of their mouths. Then I cupped my hand in front of the bottle and did the same thing while explaining that the mask is protecting us from the vapor and that, if everybody does it the masks will work.

This morning I walked in and only two people were wearing masks the right way. Most had them pulled under their chins, a few had them below their noses, and one had cut a hole where his mouth was because "it makes the mask more comfortable." I had a vulgar joke for why he cut the hole.

People are just too stupid to handle something as complicated as this. This is why the virus has spread and why the next one will as well.

My drive to work showed that the bars are open again and that people are out of practice. The combination of drunk drivers and the police not pulling anybody over for anything is going to become a problem.

 

[Brennan77]

i'm curious about this
what can you not get watching from home than you need to be in a church for?
- legit question, i'm trying to figure it out with school work as well

I thought you had a Catholic education, or maybe I misremembered. Our faith is incarnational because our God is incarnational and chooses to meet us where we are as human beings made of flesh. We receive grace in physical signs that efficaciously convey the reality they represent. We call these sacraments of which there are seven. Baptism, reconciliation, Eucharist, confirmation, marriage, holy orders, anointing of the sick. The source and summit of the Christian life is the Eucharist, given to us in the sacrifice of the mass.

It's like this. Imagine being married but only being able to see your wife through video chat. That's not going to hold up for very long. It's not a viable way of being as marriage demands a physical encounter by its nature. So it is with Christ and his Bride, the Church.