Covid-19, Natural Selection and Christmas

The peh Factor

“Seeking balance in a polarized world

I am about half-way through Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present, by Frank M. Snowden, Andrew Downey Orrick Professor Emeritus of History and History of Medicine at Yale University. It is my attempt to find the context of the present pandemic through which we are going. I hope its 500 pages will give me insight into some of humanity’s attempt to respond to pandemics and how our attempt fits in.

Like most of you, I have been watching our response to the Covid-19 pandemic unfold. We have cried, despaired, sheltered in place, rebelled, and now we are in the midst of hope. As I mentioned in a previous blog, the unfolding has represented the worldview from the political world, the business world, the religious world, the medical world and other areas of life. Most recently I have been attempting to process two different responses from within the medical worldview.

The first response is represented by the common phrase from various governors around the nation as they attempt to reopen their states. Spoken in different ways the statement is, “…but, we are going to follow the science.” The following of ‘the science’ has been best presented to the broad scope of America through the almost appearance of Drs. Fauci, Brix, and other medical experts. They have done a magnificent job of presenting the data of what is going on, their understanding of how a virus spreads and the growing knowledge of this virus. I am grateful for their work and the controlled presentations they give in a volatile time.

The discussion of science has led me to think about a major shaper of our scientific and evolutionary thinking, Natural Selection. Natural Selection is the

“Process that results in the continued existence of only the types of animals and plants that are best able to produce young or new plants in the conditions in which they live.” Cambridge Dictionary

It is the key phrase that defines biological evolution.

Now, I am not a scientist. Truth be known, I shied away from science classes. My mind simply does not work in that way. I guess it is part of the Natural Selection process. Because of that, I missed the part that Natural Selection is the defining phrase for the ongoing development of life. In my thinking another phrase took its place: Survival of the Fittest.

Survival of the Fittest is defined as

The principle that animals and plants suited to the conditions they live in are more likely to stay alive and produce other animals and plants than those that are not suited.

Cambridge Dictionary

Similar definitions but I am told Natural Selection is the most accurate within the scientific model. My take away has been that it is either the strongest or the smartest that will win the day and survive to make it to tomorrow. Obviously they, the stronger or smarter ones, are more suited to continue on. One example used in the literature is that the Wooly Mammoth was once king of the hill because it was biggest and strongest. But then, man came along who could outthink the animal and, over the course of time, the mammoth was made extinct. We are still here. Therefore, we who have survived are the fittest. Poor dumber animal.

The survival of the fittest spin on evolution fits much better with my competitive personality. It fits well into the worldview of a player who wants to be challenged to run faster and lift more weights and protect their turf just like we would protect our home against an intruder. Certainly, this motivational approach had its long-term weaknesses. I feel the repercussions of those weaknesses in a body that was injured and has aged.

The more organic understanding of Natural Selection has been the biological foundation for a great deal of modern understanding of our world. It is the glue that holds much scientific thought together. However, it too has had its weaknesses. Eugenics is certainly one of the negatives.

ugenics (/juːˈdʒɛnɪks/; from Greek εὐ- "good" and γενής "come into being, growing") is a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population, typically by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior and promoting those judged to be superior. Wikipedia

We certainly have seen the negatives of this natural selection process in our own country as well as in the trials of Nazi Germany.

Enter the second response I have observed.

Now, over these months of quarantine, reduced activities, public debate and rebellion, rise of numbers of cases and related deaths and watching 24/7 stories on our response to the Corona Virus, Covid 19, this thought has occurred to me:

If Natural Selection and its more aggressive sibling Survival of the Fittest are true, then why are we spending so much time, energy, and money attempting to stamp out a virus that is obviously thinning the herd of those less fit for our day and age. CV-19 is simply a natural part of a worldwide process that is going to make us better.

Are we not fighting against nature in our attempts to defeat a virus-threat? And,

Shouldn’t we be cheering instead? The weak, old and compromised are being weeded out. I am still here, therefore, I am stronger and selected. Yeah!!

Instead, as a human and a Christian human, I cry. I want to see those who are sick healed. I pray for the ill and those attending to them. In a scientific and evolutionary world, from where does this compassion come? What moves us to tears as well as expending billions of dollars and countless hours in an attempt to eradicate the virus through the creation and deployment of a vaccine. Why?

Enter Tom Holland.

Tom Holland is a British author whose newest book is Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. You may want to google him to get a broad overview of his life, education, and previous writings. I became familiar with the author via an article I discovered on stream.org, titled, “Atheist in Praise of Christianity.” The website is conservative in nature as is its author, Jonathon Van Maren. Keep that in mind if you go to the site and read this or other articles. The opening two paragraphs set the stage for the article.

Tom Holland is known primarily as a storyteller of the ancient world. Thus, his newest book Dominion…came as something of a surprise for several reasons. First, Tom Holland is not a Christian. Second, Holland’s book is one of the most ambitious historical defenses of Christianity in a very long time.

While studying the ancient world, Holland writes, he realized something. Simply, the ancients were cruel, and their values utterly foreign to him. The Spartans routinely murdered “imperfect” children. The bodies of slaves were treated like outlets for the physical pleasures of those with power. Infanticide was common. The poor and the weak had no rights.

If you choose, you can read the rest of the article for yourself.

Holland’s point is quite simple: “Those who make arguments based on love, tolerance, and compassion are borrowing fundamentally from Christian arguments.” The way I translate his thought is by saying, “No matter how much our present day thought is based on Natural Selection, no matter how much we quote science, when it comes to our humanity we are motivated by the ethics that have come to us through the Jewish Scriptures, Jesus Christ who brought a new understanding to them, and the writings of those who were changed by him as they followed his teachings and his life.” Note the following Scriptures.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NRSV) 26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Matthew 22:34-40 (NRSV) 34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" 37 He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

John 13:34-35 (NRSV) 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

1 John 4:16-21 (NRSV) 16 God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

It can be argued that these texts are only written to those who believe. They certainly apply to believers and believers are justifiably criticized when (not if) they do not follow these teachings. However, in a general sense, a Western cultural sense, these beliefs have infiltrated our behaviors and if they are removed we face grave risks. Van Maren concludes his article with this statement:

Without Christianity, we are heading into a thick and impenetrable darkness. Christianity gave us human rights. It gave us protection for the weak. Compassion rooted in commands to love. Forgiveness for enemies. It revolutionized the world. We are now in the process of undoing that revolution…

We should look at what we are destroying before we carry on. We should ask why fences were built before tearing them down. We should listen to the atheists nervously telling us that Christianity is necessary. And we should fight to ensure that our post-Christian culture is again a pre-Christian one.

As we approach Christmas, as we remember the incarnation of Jesus, let us not forget the incredible impact he had, not only on Christians, but upon the entire world. When we hear the angel proclaim,

I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:10-11 (NRSV).

Our celebration of Jesus coming into our world is not just about a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is about a Savior whose life and teachings, death and resurrection, has transformed this world in which we live.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come.