with Rev Dr Chris Walker
Interpreting the Pandemic
We are now seeing the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria and the continuing rise of cases in other parts of the world especially the Americas. It appears that it will take longer for the world to move past the pandemic back to more normal living than first hoped. New Zealand has done well and is now COVID free but is closed to other people travelling to its land. NSW is trying to keep the Victorian experience from happening in its state and the Queensland premier is wary of both southern states. From a Christian perspective how do we interpret the pandemic?
In the past many people interpreted misfortunes such as pestilence, earthquakes, floods and famine as indications of God’s punishment for human sin. We now typically speak scientifically and regard catastrophes such as cyclones, terrible floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, raging fires, diseases and droughts as the outworking of natural processes in the earth. We need to better understand these in order to prepare for them and mitigate the consequences for humans. While our secular society with its emphasis on rational scientific explanation is right to do so, the reality is that human exploitive activity is a contributing factor. Our human capacity in developing machinery has enabled us to change the environment like never before. This does not mean that God sends catastrophes such as the COVID-19 pandemic to punish us. But we do well to recognize that our current human actions make such outcomes more likely.
In regard to the pandemic, we now know it originated in wet markets in Wuhan, China. The trade in wild animals has put humans in closer contact with the viruses that are in wild animals but do not normally cross to humans. When they do so such as in the current COVID-19 case, the outcome is a virulent virus that is readily passed on from one human to another with no natural protection. Those who get the virus mostly recover but many get seriously ill and the death count is continuing to rise rapidly not only among older people. We do not know yet what the longer-term outcomes will be for those who contracted the virus but recovered. Will they be immune to the virus in the future or will there be negative health impacts that emerge in the future? Scientists are working hard to find and make a vaccine. There have been other cases such as SARS but the COVID-19 virus has led to a pandemic not seen for a hundred years when the Spanish flu resulted in millions of deaths around the world following WW1.
Theologically, the first thing to emphasize is that God did not send COVID-19 to punish people for their sinful actions, as some very conservative Christians tried to claim when HIV-AIDS first became news in the 1980s. God is not a vindictive God who acts in such ways using God’s superior power to inflict suffering and death on people God does not like. Rather God is a loving Creator who has given us a dynamic and changing world. In this world there are viruses, just as there are earthquakes, cyclones, fires and floods which can negatively impact human lives. The present pandemic is a particularly unfortunate outcome for humans around the world.
Second, God has given humans special capacities which calls for using them in responsible ways, not only for other humans but indeed for the sake of other creatures and the well-being of the planet. The human species has been so successful that it is now the dominant species with 7.8 billion people in 2020 and continuing to rise. A hundred years ago the population of the world was under 2 billion. The capacity of humans to change their circumstances and exploit the world’s resources has resulted in massive mining, clearing of land, cutting down forests, fishing using long lines, and putting huge amounts of carbon into the skies. These exploitive practices have enabled the lifestyle people have recently enjoyed but is it sustainable? We are now realizing the impact human activity, such as the use of fossil fuels, is having even on the climate with global warming a major concern. If the temperature increases, as it is doing, the rise in ocean levels with the melting of the ice caps will inundate islands and low land areas with the poor the most effected as that is where they live.
It is not only humans who will suffer the effects of climate change. As a consequence of rising temperatures weather events will become more severe. We are already seeing this with more powerful cyclones and raging bush fires. In Australia the bush fires last summer killed millions of animals. At first the estimate was one billion but now the estimate has risen to three billion. The fires were so intense and extensive that animals could not escape to safely. Some that have limited habitats may well become extinct. Humans, especially in the past hundred years, have caused the extinction of many animals. This is partly due to unsustainable killing practices. Poaching in national parks is an issue in many countries. The trade in wild animals led to the COVID-19 virus crossing to humans. It is possible to reverse this trend, such as the increase in whale numbers when commercial whaling was banned. More significantly the destruction of habitats for animals means they are not able to live as they used to and become susceptible to dying out. Habitats can be restored, yet humans go on cutting down forests.
God has given humans amazing capacities and freedom. That freedom and ability needs to be used responsibly. We are part of earth’s ecosystem yet can now change that ecosystem in ways that will negatively impact ourselves as well as other creatures. May we be wise enough to use the scientific methods that have been developed to find ways to reverse the current trajectory for our sake and the sake of our fellow creatures.
Chris Walker
Chris is currently serving the Assembly of the Uniting Church as the National Consultant for Theology and Discipleship.
He has served in a range of positions and places in the Uniting Church including local church ministry in three congregations in NSW, as a regional education and mission officer, and consultant for evangelism and discipleship, in Queensland, as principal of Parkin-Wesley College in SA, and as a mission resource officer for Parramatta-Nepean Presbytery.
He has a passion for theology, mission and discipleship. His interest in writing has resulted in various publications including five books, most recently Peace Like A Diamond: facets of peace (Spectrum, 2009) and Living Life to the Full: Spirituality for today’s baby boomers (Openbook, 2005).