On Theology and the Virus

So what, in a cosmic sense, is the meaning of the virus? Here are the possibilities:

1. The virus is the product of bats and poor policy. It has no ultimate purpose; like everything else, it just is, and we have to deal with it. (Materialism)

2. God created the universe, but does not intervene in its operations. As for the virus, see #1. (Deism)

3. God’s purpose in creating the virus are unknowable to humanity. Who are you, mere mortal, to question why? (Book of Job)

4. Like all apparent misfortunes, the virus is actually a blessing from God in disguise. Treat it as an opportunity to be a better person and a better society. (Optimistic Christian)

5. The virus is a plague sent by God to scourge us for our sins. (Pessimistic Christian)

I’ll leave it to you to decide which to believe. I will say, however, that the worst effects of the virus fall too randomly on the population to constitute any kind of justice, the pain that it has caused outweighs any opportunity it creates by a large margin, and anyone who thinks I accept demands for blind intellectual obedience is reading the wrong blog.