It’s Baaaaack!

Actually, it never went away.  “It” is the COVID-19 virus.  Like other viruses, COVID-19 keeps mutating and looking for more human hosts to stay alive.  And, like most viruses, it weakens over time as more infected people develop antibodies to combat the virus.  

Two features distinguish the COVID-19 virus:  1) its likely origin inside China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and 2) its use by government officials as a weapon of propaganda and control. 

Almost a year ago, President Biden declared an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.  That was about six weeks before the mid-term Congressional elections.  Now that the nation is ramping up to another contentious Presidential election in 2024, the President wants additional funding for a new COVID-19 vaccine, even though the severity of the virus has weakened significantly and despite the fact that previous COVID shots have caused substantial harms. [See the damning results of research into Pfizer’s own data.  Setting aside clinical arguments about vaccines and how the CDC changed the vaccine definition in September 2021, how can we better prepare for the weaponization of propaganda and control heading our way with new vaccine rollouts and the possible return of mask mandates?  I offer two suggestions: one a book, the other a movie.

My first suggestion is to read Stella Morabito’s seminal book, The Weaponization of Loneliness.  Morabito’s book is the product of her decades of study about communism, totalitarianism and the propaganda techniques which enable tyrants to amass and abuse power.  Her studies delve into the effects these techniques have on human beings and our relationships with each other.

The Weaponization of Loneliness was published in 2022 when societal upheaval surrounding the COVID pandemic was fresh in everyone’s minds and we were still trying to make sense of what happened.  Morabito’s book helps to make sense of what happened by shining a bright light on the history of tyrannical regimes and the ways in which they manipulate their populations.  

During the pandemic, our federal government mandated such things as: social distancing – even trying to limit family gatherings around the holidays, mask-wearing, school lockdowns, business closures (except for liquor and big box stores), and the cessation of religious services.  

What these mandates had in common was that they were highly disruptive to human relationships and the natural longing for human connection.  The mandates separated and isolated human beings and established a COVID-19 narrative that could not be challenged.  When crafting this national narrative, the federal government called anyone who disagreed a “science denier” –- even actual scientists and medical doctors who looked at data differently and tracked medical treatments with contrasting results.

Amidst the uncertainty and mayhem, individuals struggled to understand the severity of the virus and what to believe.  Add to this confusion what Morabito calls “the conformity impulse and behavior of crowds” and what emerges is a “machinery of loneliness.”  As she explains, “the machinery of loneliness threatens to turn people into social pariahs in order to extort compliance.”  In other words, there was a strong impulse among people to do what the government told them to do because they wanted to conform to society’s expectations and feared being labeled non-compliant … even if compliance meant they were isolating themselves from other people against the natural human instinct.

Human nature is such that individuals have a need to “belong” and fear social rejection.  People will mimic obedience they see in other people around them, such as mask-wearing, to signal that they “belong” to the group.  

Totalitarians isolate people to control them through fear.  But the primary weakness of a totalitarian regime is free speech.  Author Morabito declares, “Free speech is the lifeblood of the private sphere, which is the ultimate target of totalitarians.  A robust private sphere built on free speech … neutralizes the effects of propaganda and groupthink.  We have to find ways to overcome our instinctive conformity impulse along with the intense fear of social isolation.”

Stella Morabito observes that mass conformity can give the illusion of unanimity.  She writes, “Whenever that unanimity is punctured – even by just one voice – the power of the group starts to collapse.”

As a COVID 2.0 narrative looms on the horizon, ask yourself if you are prepared to puncture the next compliance narrative by using your right to free speech to ask questions in pursuit of truth. Encourage your friends and acquaintances to do likewise. There was much we were told that proved to be false during the pandemic.

My second suggestion to combat the weaponization of COVID propaganda and control is to watch the movie, “The Essential Church.”  If the movie is not playing near you, it can be pre-ordered on DVD and Blu-Ray.  

The Essential Church stands as a powerful example and encouragement for people who want to understand how to fight tyrannical government.  It is a documentary about tensions between church and government throughout millennia.  But its primary focus is on three pastors (one American and two Canadian) who challenged COVID-19 edicts to close their churches.  These pastors kept meeting with their congregations even while facing tremendous pressure from their governments, including threats of crippling fines and imprisonment.  Despite the pressure, they stood firm to defend religious liberty and to continue shepherding their flocks, who longed to maintain human connection during a time of government-imposed isolation.

John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, is one of the three pastors featured in the movie.  The film draws a stark contrast between MacArthur’s efforts to keep his church open and the State of California’s tolerance of BLM rioters in Los Angeles when social distancing mandates were in place.  Grace Church sued the State, arguing that, “Free exercise and enjoyment of religion without discrimination or preference are guaranteed.”  The church won its suit.

The Essential Church illustrates numerous profiles in courage during times in history when people suffered religious persecution at the hand of the state, yet they stood firm – sometimes to martyrdom – to defend their beliefs.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, pastors who challenged government edicts to close their doors understood how vital human connection is, face-to-face human connection.  Perhaps they understood it better than other sectors of society which followed orders without question. Now with the passage of time, we recognize the tremendous harm that befell our society during forced isolation, especially evidenced in the rise in teen suicides and loss of learning across education levels.

A Canadian evolutionary biologist has named the next COVID-19 variant “Eris.”  According to Greek mythology, Eris was the Goddess of strife and discord.  It’s a menacing name.  Don’t allow yourself to succumb to strife and discord designed to promote human isolation and mass conformity. 

Prepare for the next COVID narrative by resolving to pursue truth even in the face of public pressure to conform to untruth.  Resolve to maintain your human dignity and self-worth.  Resolve to strengthen your connections with family and friends and resist isolation.  Recognize the tools of propaganda and refuse to be swept up in the machinery of loneliness.