Letter to the editor Follow the golden rule | Opinion | wvnews.com – WV News

A Jewish carpenter lived some 2,000 years ago and suggested how we should live our daily lives: In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you. Many people call it the Golden Rule, and it puts forward a goal for how we should treat each other i.e., like we want them to treat us.

How would this work in day-to-day life? Say for example you are at the movies. Everyone is wearing a mask and social distancing. Then someone has a heart attack. Most people would call 911 for an ambulance, because that is what they would want others to do if they were the one having the heart attack. Treat people like you want them to treat you. Simple.

Now lets say there is a major recession and millions of people lose their jobs. As a result, they lose their health insurance when they lost their jobs. As time goes on, people start having difficulty putting food on the table for their family because they have no income. How do we respond when we see our neighbors suffering during the recession for no fault of their own?

In Garrett County, we saw Mountain Laurel Medical Center and Community Action organize food drives to help our neighbors who are facing food insecurity. Treat others like you want them to treat you. Simple.

During the pandemic, however, some changed the rules for food stamps, taking food stamps from nearly a million people as they face increasing food insecurity. Does that make sense in a pandemic? Also, some are in court trying to take health care away from 20 million people during this pandemic. Is that how you would like to be treated?

Eight weeks ago, there were 75 cases of the coronavirus and no deaths in Garrett County. Today we have 1,130 cases and 14 deaths. Why? Our governor, commissioners and health department did the right thing and took aggressive, early steps to contain the virus. Those efforts worked in Garrett County until about two months ago because people in the county generally followed the rules. For their own safety and the safety of their neighbors, they treated others as they wanted to be treated.

The health department says there is some coronavirus fatigue after 10 months, but they also recognized that a couple of unique religious events in the county around Autumn Glory also contributed to the spike in cases and deaths. They were super spreader events.

The Constitution says that Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof That means people can start their own churches and believe what they want to believe. That does not mean that someone can hold a super spreader event that spreads the virus throughout the county and contributes to the death of 14 people.

Treat others like you want to be treated. Respect your neighbors. Wear a mask. Social distance. Follow the rules. Protect your community.

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Letter to the editor Follow the golden rule | Opinion | wvnews.com - WV News

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