V. Georgekutty, Karunagappally

Faith in theTimes of Pandemic V. Georgekutty, Karunagappally

“I have no idea what's awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing” (Albert Camus, ‘The Plague’).

On April 3, 2015, Bill Gates, philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, gave an eight minute speech at TED Talk in which he said, “When I was a kid, the disaster we worried about most was a nuclear war…” We then had big barrels down in our basement, filled with cans of food and water. When the nuclear attack came, we were supposed to go downstairs, hunker down, and eat out of that barrel. But today, the real threat comes not from missiles, but from microbes. “If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it's most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war,” he said. While we have invested heavily in nuclear deterrents, we have actually invested very little in a system to stop an epidemic. All assumptions on the behaviour of the virus have been

Bill Gates was talking against the backdrop of the 2014 Ebola epidemic that had killed about 10,000 people. Ebola did not cause greater damage for more than one reason. One of it is that Ebola virus does not spread through the air. Another is that by the time you are contagious, you would be too sick to move around and spread the virus. Besides, Ebola didn't get into many urban areas. That was just good luck. But “You can have and die. But it ended up compounding the misery of

a virus where people feel well enough while they're infectious that they get on a plane or they go to a market.” It might make things a thousand times worse in comparison. Bill Gates was truly prophetic, so were several others.

At the same time, some of the Christian preachers, who purportedly have a hotline to heaven and claim to be privy to all divine plans for humankind, had told their audience in 2019 that 2020 would be the year of unprecedented prosperity. ‘It is going to be the year of heavenly and remained separated. Almost all activities went online

blessing. So, be ready to receive heavenly bounties in the coming year. Therefore, with our whole being, body and soul, let us shout praises to our Lord for his amazing grace.’ The preachers raised their hands over their heads and hollered ‘Hallelujah’; the frenzied audience smote the air with their palms and roared, ‘Hallelujah!’, ‘Hallelujah!’ It was a blatant lie as usual.

On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was formally notified about a cluster of cases of Hubei province. Ten days later, six people were dead, 51 were severely ill and 12 were in a critical condition in Wuhan. Cases were also reported from Japan, South Korea and Thailand. The cause of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that came to be called COVID‐19 was identified as a novel coronavirus (SARS‐CoV-2). The virus had probably jumped from animals to humans at a wet market in Wuhan. The rest is history –a history that is being rewritten constantly.

Across the world, nations were too busy augmenting their arsenals with weapons of mass destruction to bother about speculation on a pathogen waiting on the wings. So, when COVID-19 started spreading, making millions sick and thousands dead, epidemiologists all over the globe stood shaking in their boots with hardly a clue about what to do to contain or combat this invisible monster.

proven wrong. All forecasts about the infections peaking and declining have turned out to be fallacious. Wonder drugs and magic cures have all fallen by the wayside. The world suddenly realized that all the economic, scientific and technological advances are powerless against this ‘crowned’ virus that measure about 120 nanometre in diameter.

As panic spread, governments imposed lockdowns. Businesses pulled down their shutters; markets wore a deserted look; campuses fell quiet; vehicles went off the roads and railroads lay idle. The lockdowns had hardly any impact on viral spread. People continued to fall sick many. The abrupt stalling of all economic activities impoverished populations. The poor, the aged, the sick, the migrants and the ethnic minorities were hit the hardest.

Terms like Mask, disinfectant, sanitizer, physical distancing, personal hygiene, quarantine and work-fromhome suddenly acquired a prominence unknown in the past. The world suddenly shifted into a ‘new normal’. Social gatherings were banned; places of worship were closed down and the aged were banished from the outdoors. Family members got stuck it distant locations pneumonia in Wuhan, the sprawling capital of China’s

–shopping, banking, working, worshipping, medical aid and even funerals.

The novel corona virus is an unknown player. Its behaviour remains unpredictable. The virus is back in New Zealand after the nation had remained free of infections for over a hundred days and celebrated its great ‘success’. It has also been reported that a 33-year-

old techie from Hong Kong has become the first-ever confirmed victim of COVID-19 reinfection, some four months after he was cured of the first infection. Researchers from the University of Hong Kong have reportedly discovered that the man had been infected by two different strains of the virus. This comes after news of finding a 10 times more infectious COVID-19 mutation in Malaysia.

The signals suggest that this ‘new normal’ of life and death in isolation is likely to continue. As I write this towards the end of August 2020, all theories of antibodies protecting people from reinfection for long look more like fiction than fact. There is little hope of the return of our cosy, crowded pre-COVID-19 world. None knows how much this ‘new normal’ would undergo further changes in the coming days. Apparently, the old world is gone for good.

The pandemic has impacted every sphere of life and religious faith is no exception. Christianity is rooted in the traditions of Judaism. It apparently teaches that all blessings come to us because of the grace of God while all sufferings are caused by disobedience to divine laws. As a rule, human sin offends God. Consequently, when Israelites were victorious in their battles, they praised Jehovah, whose mighty hands annihilated their enemies to facilitate their win. But when they suffered devastating defeats, people were told that their defeat was caused by their sins against the divine. You can’t blame God for your own failures!

The Bible teaches that “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God” ((Nahum 1:2). And plague is a means by which God punishes people who offend Him. Thus, the ten plagues of Egypt were sent down from heaven in order force a defiant Pharaoh to release the Israelites. Even the Israelites had been victims of such plagues. Obviously, for many Christians, the COVID-19 is a pandemic sent down from heaven, in order to punish the arrogant world that has sidelined God to rely more its amazing scientific and technological advancements.

Also, like Judaism, Christianity is an apocalyptic faith. It believes in a violent end to the existing world, preceded by a series of natural disasters and plagues. Thus, many Christians propose that the COVID-19 pandemic is part of the divine operation preparing the world for the Second Coming. So, many believers are busy combing through the scripture to prove how it was all foretold in divine revelations. For many Christians, COVID-19 is simply God pouring out His wrath over a sinful world or preparing the ground for Second Coming!

But the reality is different. Epidemics are great equalizers. Everyone is open to infection and death. The innocent ones die as much as the guilty. Priests and bishops have fallen sick; many have died. Christian leadership might put own royal raiment and claim the power to act on behalf of God, the king of kings. But, they know that they are as vulnerable as the rest. No wonder, as the virus struck, the Pope and the Patriarchs scurried into hiding! As Steve Jobs said, “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there”.

Epidemics have nothing to do with religion or faith. Everyone is a potential victim. Those who escape uninfected are not special in any way. They are better protected or possess better immunity. There are no divine shields against pandemics. That is why the places of worship and other ‘holy’ spots remain deserted in the wake of the pandemic. It is futile to blame epidemics on fate or an angry deity. It is of no use questioning why the gods have ignored the fervent prayers and soulful supplications of their devotees. Investing in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is wiser than bribing the gobetweens of the divine!

I am not suggesting religious faith is foolishness or prayers are useless. These have their useful roles in human lives. But I do not subscribe to the view that a vengeful God sends down pandemics from heaven in order to punish the inhabitants of the earth. I do not believe that the God of the Gospels is a deity seething with rage. He is a compassionate and forgiving Father waiting anxiously for his prodigal son to come back home. He does not send down plagues from heaven to torment and kill people on earth. Nor does he shower disinfectants from the skies to eradicate pathogens.

Such stories were meant for a different population in a different age in a different context. As Professor Yuval Noah Harari puts it, “When a thousand people believe some madeup story for one month, that's fake news. When a billion people believe it for a thousand years, that's a religion, and we are admonished not to call it "fake news" in order not to hurt the feelings of the faithful (or incur their wrath).” (21 Lessons for the 21st Century). Perhaps, the pandemic is an opportunity for us to review those stories embellished with marvels and miracles.

In his famous fictional work titled ‘The Plague’ (French: La Peste), Albert Camus (1913-1960), French author and philosopher, tries to address the roles of faith and science in the face of an epidemic. Written in 1947, ‘The Plague’ tells the gripping tale of a deadly epidemic sweeping the city of Oran, Algeria. The victims of the plague are condemned to great suffering and horrifying death. Fear, isolation and claustrophobia follow as the afflicted are forced into quarantine.

The author presents two characters to articulate the viewpoints of the secular and the religious. The secular view comes from a medical professional named Dr. Bernard

Rieux. The religious position is articulated by Father

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