Rex M Rogers - Discerning What Is Best

Discerning What Is Best
with Dr. Rex M. Rogers

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 19 May 2020

The impact of statewide stay-at-home orders, or lockdown, in the US has thus far resulted in 36.5 million people losing their jobs.

“The pandemic shutdown has piled on the economic agony, with 52% of lower-income adults saying they or someone in their household have lost a job or taken a pay cut during the outbreak, according to the Pew Research Center."

About 1 in 5 small businesses may not make it into a post-pandemic market. While some economists suggest nearly half of all small businesses will close permanently by the end of this year due to the coronavirus crisis response.

It’s a Humpty Dumpty economy if there ever was one.

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.”

So here we are now, trying to phase in reopening but facing a Humpty Dumpty economy that “had a great fall, i.e., was broken by over-zealous politicians, particularly state governors and big city mayors in their desire to make people safe by quarantining healthy people.

I’ve noted before, we’re suffering from inverted logic. To date about 1.6 million C-19 cases have been recorded in the US, with about 90,000 deaths. Meanwhile, 36.5 million have lost jobs since February—some economists saying less than half of these jobs won’t come back—which will result in greater personal and societal suffering. Many unemployed haven’t seen a nickel of unemployment benefits or federal relief funds. And this says nothing about delayed “non-essential” medical care.

So, with an understandable, maybe even compassionate, and give some the benefit of the doubt and say humane, desire to protect people from a pandemic, politicians acted with the advice of public health and medical “experts.” Problem is, many of them acted in unprecedented overreach, walked over civil liberties as if these historic ideals, principles, and legal guarantees didn’t really matter, strong-armed citizens and churches, and much more of considerable concern.

Meanwhile, there was another way: South Dakota never enacted a lockdown. The state recorded four cases per 100,000 people, lowest in the nation and the lowest job losses in the nation. And South Dakota citizens gave Gov. Kristi Noem a well-deserved parade. She took media abuse but stuck to her well-articulated position. She is a too rare, independent thinking politician, one I hope we hear more from in the future.

Jobs provide not only income but focus and purpose. Long-term unemployment is a crisis in itself. But in a Humpty Dumpty economy people suffer from more than loss of income. Some face more domestic abuse at home and a host of other social pathologies increase, including suicide.

Stay-at-home, shelter-in-place, lockdown policies, though possibly helpful in slowing the spread of C-19 or flattening the curve in some areas—the jury is really out on whether this is scientifically demonstrable—has nevertheless created a host of ripple-effect-problems of their own.

Any chance of successfully putting our Humpty Dumpty economy back together is certainly dependent upon reopening as quickly as possible.

State governors need to get people back to work, meaning rescind stay-at-home orders ASAP.

The American people can rise to the occasion of this layered crisis…if they are given the opportunity to do so.

For governors to insist upon extending lockdowns into June is to flaunt their legally suspect authority and to tempt increasingly angry, desperate individuals to go “too far” in protests that can create contexts for violence.

With the advent of warmer weather in the North people are going to reach the end of their rope and allow frustration to boil over, or they are simply going to ignore “orders” and thus be in a position of civil disobedience whether or not they chose to do so. Some county sheriffs and local police chiefs are already defying governors, mayors or councils, saying they will not enforce stay-at-home orders. This may be understandable in terms of a point of view, but it is a development fraught with potential disorder and violence.

Humpty Dumpty can be put back together again but for this to happen, we need pandemic governors to help not hinder us.

*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 16 May 2020

The fear, even panic in response to the coronavirus pandemic that we’ve seen in the United States is unprecedented, not the virus itself.

Young people in general, a lower risk group for contracting the virus, say they fear dying of COVID-19.

I cannot prove this, but I believe this fear is rooted in a lack of understanding of God and certainly biblical theology.

In a country where 80% of the population say they believe in God, it’s another question entirely who that God is and what they believe about his person, character, and purposes. Christians say they believe in God’s love, omniscience, and omnipotence, but they, too, have been susceptible the fear of the pandemic.

But Christians’ understanding and application of a Christian philosophy of life has declined precipitously. Just 6% of people claiming to be Christians actually demonstrate they hold a biblical worldview, and in the general public this biblical worldview has declined by 50% in the past twenty-five years. According to Barna Group, “A mere 2% of those 18 to 29 years old possess a biblical worldview.”

People are understandably afraid, and I do not knock them for this. But if their understanding of the character of God is a bit less than skin deep, they have nothing to fall back on for perspective, solace, and peace, nothing but screen time and celebrities. No wonder people are afraid.

Fear is a part of human life and Christianity is nothing if it cannot help us deal with our fears. This is where faith comes in.

“Faith does not know why, but it trusts God who know why. We do not trust God because he guides us; we trust God and then are guided, which means that we can trust God even when we do not seem to be guided. Faith may be in the dark about guidance, but it is never in the dark about God. What God is doing may be a mystery, but who God is is not.”

“We do not know why, but we know why we trust God who knows why.” Os Guinness, God in the Dark.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal,” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

“Dear Lord, Although I am sure of my position, I am unable to sustain it without Thee. Help Thou me, or I am lost,” Martin Luther.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 15 May 2020

I like reading biographies or autobiographies - not celebrities but people who matter. I've not read all these, but it's interesting what the title says about the person:

To Hell and Back, Audie Murphy (USA's most decorated WWII soldier and later star of Western movies, buried in Arlington).

I Was Wrong, Jim Bakker.

I Can’t Wait Til Tomorrow Cause I Get Better Looking Every Day, Joe Namath.

Me, Katherine Hepburn.

Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela.

Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington.

Kiss and Make-Up, Gene Simmons.

They Made a Monkee Out of Me, Davy Jones.

Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis.

My Experiments with Truth, Mahatma K. Gandhi.

The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King.

Mein Kampf, Adolph Hitler.

Steps In Time, Fred Astaire.

Happy Trails, Dale Evans and Roy Rogers.

Beam Me Up, Scotty, James Doohan.

The Good, the Bad, and Me, Eli Wallach.

A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Future, Michael J. Fox

I Never Played the Game, Howard Cosell.

What would the title of your autobiography be?

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 13 May 2020

Breaking news!

The death rate in the United States, and apparently globally, is 100%.

This agonizing trend will continue until a vaccine in the form of a Fountain of Youth is discovered, tested, and marketed. Researchers the world over are frenetically looking for this Fountain but have been thwarted by reality.

Until the Fountain is found, the public is advised to avoid family, friends, food, fresh air, and fun.

Remember: Stay Home, Stay Alive…well, maybe. Hide under your bed.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 13 May 2020

Breaking news!

The death rate in the United States, and apparently globally, is 100%.

Until the Fountain is found the public is advised to avoid family, friends, food, fresh air, and fun.

Remember: Stay Home, Stay Alive…well, maybe.

Details: Written by: Rex M. Rogers; Published: 12 May 2020

When the COVID-19 statewide stay at home, shelter in place, lockdowns finally end there will be a Post-Pandemic Period. No one knows for sure what this period will be like, but it’s not rocket science to predict a few guarantee-you developments.

1— Economic Upheaval. The longer the lockdowns, or if you prefer, stay at home executive orders, continue the more damage will be done to the American and world economies. Many businesses and other organizations will not survive. More than 30 million are out of work now and this may rise – unemployment is now a major problem. Perhaps one-half of all lost jobs will not return, at least in their earlier form. Some people—the lower sector or poorest or least educated or most challenged—will suffer most, some falling farther into poverty, hunger, and despair. Without significant focused help, similar to the Marshall Plan after WWII, these people will struggle to survive and social-political unrest, including likely violence, will occur.

2—Lawsuits. The US courts will be inundated, which is to say “plagued,” by post-plague litigation, owners who were forced to close “non-essential” businesses for extended periods, suffered serious financial setbacks or even lost their businesses, while other “essential” businesses were illogically and irrationally permitted to continue to make hay while the sun did not shine.

For example, what if you owned a mattress store, were forced to close, yet Sam’s Club continued to sell mattresses? Does this make sense? Is it a level playing field? Is it due process?

What if you owned a medical practice specializing in various “elective, non-essential” surgical procedures, were forced to close, and could not financially maintain your employees or customers during lockdown? Meanwhile, “essential” abortion clinics continued to operate. The list of examples could go on ad infinitum.

3—Political Recrimination. Both American political parties will blame the other, and their respective leaders, for the fact COVID-19 happened, that the US was not prepared or did not respond effectively, that the condition of the economy is due to the other party’s leaders’ missteps, and that whatever happened, their party and leaders need to be put in power via the next election. No surprise here and perhaps goes without saying, but sadly, there will be no Kumbaya unity.

4—Higher Education Online. Some colleges and universities, already struggling or uncertain of their mission pre-pandemic, will close their doors. More students than ever before will pursue and gain their degrees online. This won’t replace the value of face-to-face experiences with learned mentors, but such opportunities will diminish. The purpose of higher education will shift, moving still farther from the classic liberal arts model toward preparation for specialized careers in science, technology, information services, and business. Universities will experience an identity crisis; in fact, they already were well into this malaise. What once were places that believed in and sought truth and tested ideas against other ideas in legitimate open debate, have become places that no longer believe in objective truth and wish to silence points of view not deemed politically correct. This is a dangerous trend for open and free democratic society, but it’s happening and a host of faculty members not just youth have already bought into the idea of moral relativism, thus as the Scripture says, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). This sounds like fun and games, but it ends in nihilistic despair.

Post-Pandemic is not a bright future.

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