A Flu Epidemic, Common Sense, and Mathew 22:36-40

Compared with epidemics in the 'good old days,' this year's influenza epidemic in America is trivial. So far, only about 20 children have died. That's tragic, of course: but one neighborhood could have suffered that many losses, not so long ago.

As I said yesterday, the Catholic Church's rules are basically simple:

• 'Love God, love your neighbor'
  (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31)
• See everybody as our neighbor
  (Matthew 5:43-44, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-30; Catechism, 1825)

Folks come up with odd ideas, like 'God doesn't want us to use our brains,' so the Church has had to explain how those basic rules apply to specific situations. For example:

• We're expected to
  • Take reasonable care of our health
    (Catechism, 2288)
  • Not get obsessed with good health
    (Catechism, 2289)
• Medical research is a good idea
  (Catechism, 2292)
  • Ethics matter
    (Catechism, 2293-2295)

I've got more to say, but it will wait until tomorrow morning's post.

More about:

• Influenza this year
  • Centers for Disease Prevention and Control
    • Seasonal Influenza (Flu)
      • Seasonal Influenza: Flu Basics
      • Flu Activity & Surveillance
      • International Influenza
    • Weekly US Map: Influenza Summary Update
  • National Institutes of Health
    • Influenza
      • Common Cold
      • Flu (Influenza): 2009 H1N1, Seasonal, Avian (Bird), Pandemic"
      • H1N1 (Swine Flu)
      • "Is It a Cold or the Flu? (.pdf)
        (archived from http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/flu/documents/sick.pdf (January 11, 2013))
      • Understanding Flu
      • Understanding Microbes
        in Sickness and in Health (.pdf, 48 pages)
        (archived from http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/flu/documents/sick.pdf (January 11, 2013))
• The 'good old days'
  • "Cholera Epidemics in the 19th Century"
    Open Collections Program, Harvard
  • "Cholera in the 19th Century"
    The Lamb Collection (Scotland)
  • "Cholera in Nineteenth Century New York"
    Epidemics, Virtual New York City
  • "Diseases and epidemics"
    Science Museum (UK)
  • "Public health and epidemics in the 19th century"
    The National Archives (UK)

Related posts:

• Rules:
  • "News, Good and Otherwise: and Billions of Worlds"
    (January 11, 2013)
    Particularly
    • Simple Rules and 85 Kilometers of Shelving
    • Respect: For Everyone
  • "Gratitude, Authority, and Duty"
    (December 2, 2012)
  • "Sin, Bingo, and Love"
    (November 18, 2012)
  • "Being a Good Citizen"
    (November 4, 2012)
  • "Generic Ethics"
    (September 3, 2012)
• Health
  • "Prescriptions, Panic, and Points to Ponder"
    (September 14, 2011)
  • "Called to Holiness, Not Stupidity"
    (February 6, 2011)
  • "Faith With a Cold"
    (October 18, 2010)
  • "Prayer, Medicine and Trusting God"
    (March 4, 2010)
    Particularly
    • Prayer, Trusting God, and Using My Brain
  • "Swine Flu and 'Flurry of Alarmism' - or a Rational Response"
    (April 30, 2009)