Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
Over the last several months various government restrictions have been put in place based on public health recommendations and scientific research. There has been much ado about our loss of individual rights and freedom. Many of these comments have been heard at political rallies, county, city and school board meetings. Most of what is said or acted out leaves me looking on in bewilderment, wondering how anyone could say or do that. Some examples: “You do not have the authority to tell me to leave! Return to your service of Satan! The coronavirus is just a conspiracy!” Or when told to leave a store the person spits in the face of the clerk and then gives him a big hug or pulls out a gun in defiance. And in regard to wearing a mask, oxygen levels will drop and carbon dioxide will be re-inhaled thus damaging your brain or killing you; it is denying the use of God’s great breathing system; board members are doing the devil’s work or must be praying to the devil. The list could go on. I guess the one that amazes me most is QAnon. This is an umbrella term for a sprawling set of internet conspiracy theories that allege that the world is run by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who are plotting against Trump while operating a global child sex-trafficking ring.
I go back to where I started with the MLK quote, “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
Michael Erickson
Baxter
