On Christmas Eve, Meg and I watched the 1951 production of A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim as Scrooge. It’s her favorite film rendition of the story, and is rapidly becoming mine.

But this year, it was different for us both. As Mrs. Cratchit and the girls sat in the shadows mourning Tiny Tim, the camera cut to the empty stool by the fire where he had warmed himself so often. We thought of all the homes with an empty place at the table or an empty chair by the fire because of covid-19. It’s sickening to think of how many died unnecessarily because politicians failed to take the disease seriously, encouraged anti-scientific thinking, and enabled bullies with thoughtless confusion between individual freedom and common sense. It’s appalling that religious figures encourage people to go without masks and openly spread disease. It’s disgusting to think of all the people who will die in the coming months because they believed anti-vaccination lies.

It is time to recognize that there is no such thing as a harmless crackpot.