pandemics


Vaccinations and Tender Consciences

by Rachel MacNair I’m about to make some heavy criticisms of the way the Covid vaccines came to be, so I start by saying I’ve now gotten both of my Moderna vaccinations. I encourage everyone qualified to be socially responsible to the community by getting theirs as well. Failing to do so, under current circumstances,…


Masking Up but Not Shutting Up: Defending Freedom of Speech during a Pandemic

by John Whitehead Shortly after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, activists and journalists raised concerns about how governments’ response to the crisis might restrict freedom of expression and other civil liberties. More than a year later, we have a better sense of how the pandemic response has limited press freedom and…


Pandemics Related to Christmas

by Rachel MacNair         Widespread plagues have been a part of the human condition throughout history. Therefore, it stands to reason traces of them can be found in a holiday season often used to help people cope and be resilient. It’s a Wonderful Life When George Bailey was still a boy, one of the ways…


The Random Death Sentence: COVID in Prisons and Jails

by Sarah Terzo “COVID and Corrections: A Profile of COVID Deaths in Custody in Texas” is a report released by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas  This report documents cases of deaths by COVID in state-run prisons and jails in Texas. It breaks down the demographics of the…


The Danger That Faces Us All: Hiroshima and Nagasaki after 75 Years

by John Whitehead The nuclear age turns 75 years old this summer. Over seven decades have now passed since the first test of a nuclear weapon in Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, and since the first use of nuclear weapons in wartime, against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (on August 6) and Nagasaki…


Mask Up: It’s Pro-Life

by Sophie Trist and Alex Christian Lucas First section by Sophie Trist: In Japan, where the culture emphasizes communal welfare over individualism, wearing masks is common even outside of a global pandemic. Japanese people often wear surgical masks if they have a common cold, to reduce their chances of spreading germs to others. In countries…


#SayHisName: The Medical Murder of Michael Hickson

by Sophie Trist The death of forty-six-year-old Michael Hickson of Austin, Texas from Covid-19 exists at the intersection of several critical social justice conversations: pervasive prejudice within the medical system, the devaluing of disabled lives during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the catastrophic effects of the novel corona virus on Black and Brown communities. But apart…


“Millions Who Are Already Hanging by a Thread”: The Global Repercussions of Covid-19

by John Whitehead The Covid-19 pandemic threatens life in multiple ways. The virus not only has killed people directly—more than 400,000 to date—but has also worsened poverty and inequality. By disrupting the world economy, the pandemic has taken away many people’s livelihoods and harmed the poor. The illness and the resulting economic hardships don’t fall…


Post-pandemic: What Worries Me

by Lois Kerschen  We have a long way to go before the Covid-19 pandemic is at an end. Nonetheless, people are already speculating about what kind of world we will have afterwards. Case in point, the May 22 edition of Peace & Life Connections, the Consistent Life Network (CLN) newsletter.. The feature article of that…


Sickness is the Health of the State? Civil Liberties and Conflict during a Pandemic

by John Whitehead The COVID-19 pandemic has consumed the world’s attention during these early months of 2020. The virus’ health threat, especially to older people and other vulnerable groups, is correctly the primary concern right now, with the pandemic’s economic consequences perhaps being the second greatest concern. Both these aspects of the pandemic fully deserve…