Our Culture is Attempting Suicide, by Phil Lawler

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture, Aug 07, 2020

When I read the news headline it suddenly all seemed clear. The story reported that new positive Covid tests were attributed to “community spread.” Well of course! That’s how contagious diseases are contracted, right? They spread through the community.

But this is the first time, in our long history of fighting diseases, that we have sought to stop the spread of a contagious disease by abolishing the community.

The phenomena of social distancing, of wearing masks, of viewing every passing neighbor as a threat, of closing down shops and schools and churches—all these steps have been destructive to our communal life. But most Americans have been willing to accept the draconian terms of the lockdown, with our opinion-makers exhorting us to accommodate ourselves to a “new normal.” Why is that? I suggest that in the Western world today many people, especially among the elites, are quite willing to forfeit community life, while others are actively working to destroy it. We are witnessing—perhaps even unthinkingly participating in—the suicide of our culture.  …

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