Is the “Herman Cain Award” schadenfreude or un-Christian?

Cain at Tulsa rally: He died about a month later

… What would Jesus say? I have mixed feelings

How would Jesus treat the people who demonstrate utter disdain for their fellow human beings by refusing to take a vaccine or wear a mask that could protect themselves and other members of society?

Of course, the only way we have of knowing that is by reading his words in the New Testament and comparing them to actions in the 21st Century. 

What has occurred is that many people who are justifiably blaming the unvaccinated and unmasked for the current spread of the virus are now dying off in droves are also cheering as they die. 

For instance, many right-wing radio people and pastors have died in recent months after refusing to take the vaccine and worse — spewing off about how that somehow violates their constitutional right. However, those who are vaccinated are cheering them, saying that if God could really protect us, why are they dying?

The moral question is whether or not this would be something that Jesus would approve of today. 

Feel no sympathy for Herman Cain

Herman Cain was a far-right Republican who had a short-lived run for president and became a right-wing idol. However, he blatantly denied the existence of the disease and refused to wear a mask even though he was immunocompromised. 

Cain attended a Donald Trump rally in Oklahoma, massless, and posted a photo of it on Twitter. Wishing a month, he had died from Covid — and so many people cheered.

Should we do this?

That has continued this year in a subreddit group that is celebrating the deaths of so many people who have denied the disease, ranted against wearing masks, failed to take the vaccine, and then have died. 

And these people on subreddit continue to cheer. 

The r/HermanCainAward

The people on this thread are pointing out the actions of people who are admittedly despicable, but whom Jesus may actually try to save. He often did that to despicable sinners. 

A psychotherapist wrote about how all of this is a terrible reflection of where America is at the present time,

The increasingly popular r/HermanCainAward subreddit on Reddit.com is a distressingly predictable sign of America’s conflict-filled times. The subreddit, which now has upwards of 340,000 followers, “celebrates” those “who have made public declaration of their anti-mask, anti-vax, or Covid-hoax views,” only to die from Covid-19 or Covid-related complications. (It is named for Herman Cain, the former GOP presidential candidate and businessman who died from Covid-19 complications in 2020 after attending a Trump campaign rally in Oklahoma.)

Attention has not surprisingly focused on the minority of Americans who have, for various reasons, refused to be vaccinated.

With many regions in the United States still struggling to control this plague, attention has not surprisingly focused on the minority of Americans who have, for various reasons, refused to get vaccinated. A dark and sardonic corner of the internet, the r/HermanCainAward subreddit captures the rage and outrage of presumably vaccinated, mask-wearing individuals, many of whom have either been infected with Covid-19 in the past or have watched friends and family become ill — and even die.

This push to revel in schadenfreude, and to assign collective blame, is understandable and more than a little expected, especially on the internet. But this so-called award also captures the collective loss of empathy that colors so many of our political and personal conversations right now. Like soldiers who have been trained to see their enemies as less than human, we have forgotten that those who disagree with us are, despite everything, still people.

F. Diane Barth, “Herman Cain Covid ‘award’ is a depressing sign 

of our times,” NBC News, October 2, 2021

I have difficulty feeling sorry for Cain and all of those who have spewed the filth that they have about vaccines and masks. I used to be able to feel sympathy for people who just did not know any better. 

However, these people do. That makes things more challenging to accept, and make Jesus’ admonition to “love thy neighbor as thyself” even more challenging. 

People who are vaccinated are suffering

The psychotherapist can empathize with the rage, but she is concerned about the effects of it,

I personally understand the rage. I have watched good friends, colleagues and family — vaccinated, careful and regular mask wearers — become seriously ill with breakthrough Covid infections. It’s infuriating to think that all the steps you take to stay safe could be rendered meaningless because some thoughtless, misinformed or intentionally hurtful person has refused to take their own precautions.

Psychology has a name for the phenomenon that occurs when we see any single person or group of people as all good or all bad. It’s called splitting, and it is often an attempt to make ourselves feel less vulnerable. “If I’m good, and you’re bad,” the thinking goes, “then I’m the one who’s in the right, and I’ll be fine.” But splitting doesn’t take into account the reality that we all have both good and bad qualities; that we all hurt and are hurt by one another. Couples, for instance, often use splitting to protect themselves during conflict. “He did this” and “she always does that” is code for “I’m good and he/she’s bad.” One of the first things couples’ therapists often try to do is to help each partner verbalize their own pain, while simultaneously recognizing their counterpart's pain as well.

So if the goal of these commenters is to express fury or get revenge, they seem to be succeeding — at least if the subreddit's popularity is any indication. But if the goal is to change behavior, we need to do some more thinking. Some of the anti-vaxxers are, of course, simply misinformed, frightened or both. Much worse, however, are the ones who are old-fashioned bullies.

F. Diane Barth, NBC News, October 2, 2021

Honestly, feeling sympathy like this is challenging

Feeling sorry for bullies is tough, and that is the challenge that Jesus gives us. He says that we should turn the other cheek, but what if that disease sends vaccinated people like me to the ICU?

I should feel sympathy for these people in Jesus’ approach to life, but I continue to wrestle with it. Part of that is just being human — but Jesus wants us to do better.