DEATH BY FOOLISHNESS

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Because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."
Proverbs 1:25‭-‬27‭, ‬31‭-‬33 ESV

¶Complacency describes the attitude of a nation, independent and arrogant, which in the face of a pandemic ignores the wisdom and prudence of experienced professionals who have spent their entire careers studying in preparation for just such a time as this. It is not a time to assert the rights of individual liberties against a raging pandemic. Our model is found in 1 Corinthians 9, where Paul laid down his rights as an apostle for the sake of others. To do so is humiliating. It goes against the "don't tread on me" nature of our national heritage. When we cite liberty and freedom as justification to ignore Wisdom, though, we come up against a harsher law: either the authority of the state, or the consequences of a viral pandemic. When we are not willing to limit ourselves, and not willing to accept the coercive control of the state, what is left is described here: terror, calamity, distress, anguish, and death for those killed by our turning away from Wisdom.

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