Quarantine Without Quantifying

“Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so ye shall observe to do.” (De 24:8 AV)

There is biblical precedent for quarantine.  The laws of leprosy are very descriptive.  Those with the disease were isolated from the general public.  Those whose clothing or houses were infested with it lost both.  They were burned and buried.  Leprosy is a highly contagious and potentially deadly disease.  Those infected had to be isolated rather than risk the health of the general public.  Many emotions and opinions are circulating regarding our challenge with COVID-19.  The feelings run the gambit.  Considering some biblical principles might assist in the proper response of our concerned public.  One of the most important is listed above.  Containment.  It is essential for those who test positive or those who are ill to be isolated as much as possible from the general populous.  This is what the regulation above required.  Even if there were symptoms without an affirmative diagnosis, the patient was still quarantined.  This shows sound judgment.  There really should be no dispute about this and so I will move on to another observation.

Isolation with compassion.  I used to listen to a lot of talk radio.  I don’t listen all that much anymore.  Especially to those news channels that also broadcast their shows, real-time, over the radio.  However, I was parking the car the other night and heard a brief discussion about who is to blame for all this.  One lady stated it was the fault of all unhealthy people.  Those who don’t go to the gym, eat anything their heart's desire, fail to administer the latest detox plan, or don’t make a habit of buying only organic.  She was making a judgment about anyone who does not fit her definition of what a healthy lifestyle is.  Mind you, none of the above would cause this virus to have appeared.  This is exactly what happened with the lepers.  Because they were cast out, they became the outcast.  Those who failed to fit into a predetermined definition of perfect health were seen as morally and socially inferior.  I feel the same is going to begin to happen as a by-product of our current challenge.

Out of fear of illness, even when this passes, people will look at other people in a totally different way.  Rather than seeing people as equals to ourselves sharing in the misery of the human condition, individuals in society will begin to quantify other individuals as clean or unclean.  The back death that swept through Europe in the mid-1300s was blamed, in part, on the Jews.  Their hygienic practices prevented them from becoming as sick as the rest of Europe.  The reaction was to blame a people not at fault for something the victims did not understand.  The same was true of the leper.  Yes, we must isolate.  Physically.  But it will be a greater shame if after this challenge is over (and it will be over) that the world does not practice social isolationism because of an opinion not based in fact.  What a shame it would be if after all is said and done, people didn’t get back to mingling because we have decided everyone else but us is unclean.