Again, if you do not appeal to the unfathomable wisdom of Douglas Wilson almighty, then you cannot persuade these people of anything. Of course, if you appeal the unfathomable wisdom of Douglas Wilson almighty, then you must concede the argument as well. Yes, this is nuts, but I did not make the rules. I only illuminate them for the poor folks of Moscow.

One other thing: When you reference the “vulnerable,” you entice the psychopath. He does not pity the weak, the infirm, or the frail. He does not pity anyone save himself, at times like this, when he is being persecuted.

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Small sacrifice, great gains

I moved to Moscow in the summer of 1998 to open a downtown business. Dan Weaver, chief of police at the time, stopped by shortly thereafter to introduce himself and leave his card. He characterized our local police department as a group of civic-minded community members working in partnership with the people.

Now led by Chief James Fry, our police department has maintained that positive relationship with the community over the years and is widely respected across the political spectrum for exercising skills in deescalation and a fair-minded, reasonable approach to law enforcement.

With that in mind, I cannot imagine the difficulty officers must have faced when a large group of unmasked protesters not engaged in social distancing gathered in public to sing church hymns.

In ordinary times, an unmasked, closely gathered choir is a welcome thing. But these are not ordinary times. The U.S. alone has lost more than 200,000 lives to an airborne virus. On Sept. 26, the Daily News reported that Gritman Medical Center’s positivity rate of COVID-19 testing over the past seven days was 9.7 percent. We need local residents, no matter what their faith, to reduce the threat for those who are medically at risk by wearing a mask in public where 6 feet of distancing is not possible.

If there is one thing we can all agree on, it should be this: A small sacrifice is worth exponential gains in public health. We all look forward to a time when unmasked incantations are an everyday act of celebration and not a threat to our most vulnerable neighbors. Until then, let’s work together on snuffing out this disease in our community.

Jeanne Clothiaux
Moscow

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