Bearing witness
Julie Ponesse, a professor of ethics who was placed on leave because of her refusal to conform to her campus’s vaccine mandate, writes a powerful piece about the need for accountability for COVID sins: [1]
"‘most people still believe in the narrative, still cling to the idea that lockdowns and masking were necessary and effective, that their questioning friends are unstable “anti-vaxxers,” that government is noble and mainstream media unimpeachable.’
‘In the aftermath of the Holocaust, at a time when the world was so morally injured, so eager for a new start, Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel saw it as his responsibility to speak for those who had been silenced. At a time when most could not bear to remember, Wiesel could not bear to forget.’
‘We were taught to believe that institutions would act as our surrogate moral conscience, taking account and making apology for us. I don’t deny the importance of collective responsibility. But sometimes moral injury is personal, done by individuals to one another, and the accountability needs to happen in kind.’
[1] J. Ponesse, What If the Truth Never Comes Out?, https://brownstone.org/articles/what-if-the-truth-never-comes-out/.