In praise of a fundamentalist Christian

[cali]

When word first came out about Dr. Kent Brantly being transported to the U.S. for treatment for the ebola he had contracted while working with ebola patients in Liberia, there was a whole lot of ugly from some DUers. They said things like:

"They knew the risk when they decided to evangelize their religion."

"Too bad, so sad. They went there over their evangelical idiocy, caught a deadly disease, and now don't want to pay the price for their own idiocy.

Fuck 'em. "

I don't give a flying fig if he's religious, Dr. Brantley went to Liberia and worked to save lives. He recovered here and he's given blood to two other ebola patients and he tried to give blood to Thomas Duncan.


Dr. Kent Brantly Pleads for Ebola Focus to Shift to West Africa

Dr. Kent Brantly, the American doctor who survived Ebola, pleaded Friday for media focus to shift away from the handful of U.S. Ebola cases to the deadly West Africa outbreak. In remarks at Abilene Christian University in Texas, also Brantly expressed condolences to the family of the first victim diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, Thomas Eric Duncan who died Wednesday in Dallas.

"My heart is broken for his family," he said. "Ebola is serious, it is real. It is a terrible, terrible disease for those who have it and for those who are close to them." Noting that there has been some "panic" in the U.S. about the spread of Ebola, Brantly urged Americans to redirect their attention toward Africa. "We don’t need to be worried that a plane flying over is going to somehow contaminate us with Ebola... We need to be putting that aside and try to love our neighbors," he said. "Our neighbors are the people in West Africa who are suffering far beyond what we can understand or fathom." The Ebola death toll in West Africa has climbed to over 4,000. The World Health Organization called the outbreak “unparalleled in modern times” and warned up to 20,000 people could be infected in the coming months.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/dr-kent-brantly-pleads-ebola-focus-shift-west-africa-n223131

The family of Ashoka Mukpo, the NBC News freelancer who contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia, is praising the doctor who survived the deadly disease and gave his blood to help the camera operator recover.

“I said my son can't thank you enough,” Dr. Mitchell Levy, Mukpo’s father, recalled after speaking with the donor, Dr. Kent Brantly, Thursday evening.

“Whether it makes the difference or not, you never know," Levy said. "But it makes a difference just to know there are people like that in this world."

Brantly didn’t hesitate when he was asked to donate blood to help Mukpo, taking a detour from a family road trip to make the donation in Kansas City Tuesday. Brantly, who was the first American flown back to the U.S. from Africa after contracting Ebola, also gave blood that helped in the recovery of another stricken American, Dr. Rick Sacra.

Levy and Mukpo’s mother, Diana Mukpo, were struck by Brantly’s humble response to their thanks.

<snip>

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/ashoka-mukpos-parents-praise-brantlys-blood-gift-n222636

[MH1]

1. A person can be thoroughly misinformed about important things,

and still be a good person.

The evidence I've seen is that Dr. Kent Brantly is a good person.

As to whether health care workers in general should get priority in treatment - that is such a no-brainer that I can't even respond when I see someone questioning it, lest I be censored for the excessive profanity I might unleash. You MUST care for the care-givers. If you don't, before too long there will be no care-givers to care for anyone else.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. I sometimes think that human decency & religion are unrelated.

There are wonderful atheists & atheist assholes. There are evangelical jerks & great humanitarians who are evangelicals.

It's really only certain subspecies of evangelicals (or atheists, for that matter) who seem driven by their beliefs to devalue and denigrate everyone who fails to share their belief system. Dawkins & Pat Robertson are cut from the same cloth but dyed differently.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. This is truth.

[cali]

5. great post. n/t

[TexasProgresive]

6. I learned a new word last night-assaholics.

There are people of whatever stripe who are addicted to being assholes.

[Xolodno]

3. There are people....

...who rely on faith to give them strength and hope when they help humanity.

...and there are those who rely on faith as a justification to judge and hate others.

[Fred Sanders]

7. One death, of a Liberian, in America, 4000 in W. Africa..the true land of the truly brave is where?

[brer cat]

8. Nice post, cali.

I certainly admire and appreciate Dr. Brantly for the medical care he provided. It doesn't have anything to do with his religious beliefs.

K&R