Msgr. Charles Pope: Yes to Prudence, No to Fear — Why the Mistakes We Made During COVID Must Never Happen Again

Now that the COVID-19 public health emergency has officially been declared over, it is time for us to assess the horrific toll these draconian measures took on our human family. A recent commentary by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch provides us with a starting point for this assessment. In his remarks, he gave a scathing overview of how civil liberties were trampled during the COVID shutdowns, restrictions and mandates, and warned of the lessons that America should learn from it. Here are a few of his remarks:

Fear and the desire for safety are powerful forces. They can lead to a clamor for action — almost any action — as long as someone does something to address a perceived threat. A leader or an expert who claims he can fix everything, if only we do exactly as he says, can prove an irresistible force. We do not need to confront a bayonet, we need only a nudge, before we willingly abandon the nicety of requiring laws to be adopted by our legislative representatives and accept rule by decree … …

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