DCP Gets Scolded for Traveling During the Pandemic

[Doctor Scratch]

It occurs to me that Dr. Peterson is in a bit of a pickle. On the one hand, he wants to reinforce the advice of public health professionals vis-a-vis the COVID pandemic. On the other hand, though, he also wants to give people "other things" to read/think about, hence this jaunty little tale:

Yesterday, driving down to St. George, we took a few minutes to exit I-15 and drive to the east for a look at Kolob Canyons, or (I guess more properly) Kolob Fingers, a relatively little-known sector of Zion National Park. We couldn’t resist, since the time and the lighting were absolutely perfect as the sun was beginning to set to the west.

I suspect that most people hurtling along the Interstate have little or no idea of the glory that is just a few minutes away, concealed by some intervening ridges. If you find yourself driving along the stretch between Cedar City and St. George and you have any time at all while it’s light, go over and have a look. Especially if you’ve never done so before.

Of course, this isn't the only road trip that DCP has taken during the pandemic. (I believe it's the *third*, actually.) And one of the regulars--Chris365--takes notice of the apparent hypocrisy:

People that take covid seriously shouldn't travel unless needed. Clear example of mask believers making things worse because they have the illusion of protection from wearing a mask. Covid is being spread across the world right now predominately by people wearing masks.

You decide what's needed, but don't kid yourself that you can protect others remotely as close as if you didn't travel around at all.

Southern Utah got the virus from people traveling there after months of flat numbers. Generally wearing masks.

That said I welcome anyone who wants to travel here, masked or not.

Unsurprisingly, DCP bristles at the criticism. Not only that, he takes in "personally":

The personal criticism is duly noted, Chris365.

We do little differently on these little jaunts than we do at home.

We travel by ourselves, isolated in a car. The place in which we're staying has been reasonably sterilized. We wear masks, maintain physical distance from others, avoid dining-in, buy our food at grocery stores and fix it at home, wash and sanitize our hands frequently, do our church services privately at home. The limited places we visit are isolated and outside. But if there's anybody there, we put on our masks.

Nothing of this makes it an absolute certainty that we'll avoid COVID-19 or avoid spreading it. But the odds of that aren't very different, given our practices, than they would be at home.

And, yes, we had a particular reason for making this trip. One that I feel no obligation to report here.

The problem here is that he later goes on to give further details about the trip:

Driving with some friends early Sunday afternoon to visit some other friends in their new home in Washington, a suburb of St. George, my attention was caught by a large number of cars and trucks — as far as I could see, there may have been about two hundred of them, if not more — festooned with American flags and “Trump 2020” banners and cruising along on the frontage road that runs parallel and to the east of the I-15 freeway. It was, obviously, a “Trump train.”

I confess to being more than a bit disappointed to see such a thing on the Sabbath here in St. George. And it has nothing to do with my particular political views; I would have been just as disheartened to see a Biden/Harris “train,” if such things even exist, or — remarkable even to contemplate the hypothetical possibility of it — a Jorgensen/Cohen train.

Even during the days when I had political opinions, which extended up until just a few months ago, I made a very serious and largely successful effort not to post on politics here on Sundays.

So, as they sometimes say: there's a lot to unpack here. "Driving with some friends"? And "to visit some other friends *IN* their new home"? (emphasis added) That doesn't really square with what he said to Chris365, does it? It sounds, in fact, like his flipping the bird at health authorities' recommendations. And then there is the bit about the "Trump train" when he's allegedly sworn off politics altogether.

Suffice it to say, the past few days have been rough in terms of honesty and integrity on "SeN." Of course, I'm kidding. And those of you who enjoy Mopologetics will no doubt understand why this passage is so sidesplittingly funny:

I made a very serious and largely successful effort not to post on politics here on Sundays. That’s because, although I have/had strong political views, I regard other things as much more important and fundamental than politics. Civil behavior, charity, and respect are among those things.

Fake it till you make it, I guess? LOL.

[Doctor Scratch]

I should add that I hope that Dr. Peterson, his wife, and everyone they were in contact with goes and gets tested for COVID. I think that everyone understands at this point that there are reasons why people will go against the official recommendations: e.g., the George Floyd protests. But the ethical and responsible thing to do in the wake of that is to go and get tested.

[Moksha]

I'm with Dr. Peterson. I am very disheartened about these so-called "Trump Trains" (a bunch of yahoos out celebrating someone less savory than Manuel Noriega) parading up and down the length of Utah. Why can't these Latter-Day Saints have better values? Anyway, that view of Kolob Canyon sounded spectacular. Did you stop in Scipio and get some of that wonderful cheese curd?

Glad I can post on a board where political opinions are allowed. You should come over here and share your thoughts freely without Republican donors getting all huffy at Sic et Non.

[Kishkumen]

Dr. P definitely takes more risks than I and my little family have or will. I understand he feels he is being sufficiently careful, but I wince when I read the details of his activities. I hope he neither gets nor transmits COVID-19.

Yesterday, I called a dear friend, an elderly emeritus professor. I happened to catch him in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. He has COVID and he did not sound good. I was surprised he had picked up the phone, but I think he was terrified and wanted a familiar voice in his ear, if only for a minute.

Will my old friend live? I sure hope so, but I am deeply worried.

I really don’t want to receive news of Dr. P’s COVID.

[Gadianton]

Chris365 is about a poor a source of information as they come. He does have a minor point that wearing masks urge riskier behavior. The same is true of seatbelts and condoms, and so in the end, so what? You should still wear them. In the case of masks, the mask is for the protection of others, and so the risk you take is how close you get to others and whether others are wearing masks. This added twist is very difficult for many people to understand. I am not sure the Proprietor understands this. And there is one more twist, and that is, the grip of religious thinking. There is a token, sacramental angle to mask wearing (or hand washing) for the mind that leans toward religion. You wore the mask and so you've done your good deed for God's protection and now lets move on. That compounds the possibility of failure, when it's understood that the mask doesn't actually help you. The next time the Proprietor thinks about ducking into that crowded restaurant to grab takeout, or sit in that theater to watch witnesses, or take a load of at the residence of that friend -- would he feel just as comfortable being there if he wasn't wearing a mask? If the answer is "no" then he shouldn't be there.

[Kishkumen]

Chris365 is about a poor a source of information as they come. He does have a minor point that wearing masks urge riskier behavior. The same is true of seatbelts and condoms, and so in the end, so what? You should still wear them. In the case of masks, the mask is for the protection of others, and so the risk you take is how close you get to others and whether others are wearing masks. This added twist is very difficult for many people to understand. I am not sure the Proprietor understands this. And there is one more twist, and that is, the grip of religious thinking. There is a token, sacramental angle to mask wearing (or hand washing) for the mind that leans toward religion. You wore the mask and so you've done your good deed for God's protection and now lets move on. That compounds the possibility of failure, when it's understood that the mask doesn't actually help you. The next time the Proprietor thinks about ducking into that crowded restaurant to grab takeout, or sit in that theater to watch witnesses, or take a load of at the residence of that friend -- would he feel just as comfortable being there if he wasn't wearing a mask? If the answer is "no" then he shouldn't be there.

It is surprising just how many people can't think that through. It is mask-wearing and social distancing to protect others in the hope that they will reciprocate, but in our era of extreme individualism too many people are fastening on the idea that a possible infringement of their personal liberty is the most important thing. Out of an abundance of caution and to set a good example for others, the best policy to observe is staying in as close to a lockdown as possible and adding to that strict social distancing and mask wearing when one must go out.