On R.R. Reno’s Faulty History

In a widely criticized essay on current state imposed social distancing, First Things editor R.R. Reno said the following about social reaction to the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic:

More than one hundred years ago, Americans were struck by a terrible flu pandemic that affected the entire world. Their reaction was vastly different from ours. They continued to worship, go to musical performances, clash on football fields, and gather with friends.

After insisting that Americans of 1918 understood methods of quarantine, Reno suggests they just didn’t care.

Unlike us, however, that generation did not want to live under Satan’s rule, not even for a season. They insisted that man was made for life, not death. They bowed their head before the storm of disease and endured its punishing blows, but they otherwise stood firm and continued to work, worship, and play, insisting that fear of death would not govern their societies or their lives.

Although surely some churches worshiped, some games were played and some gatherings were held, these paragraphs and the contrast between now and then is grossly inaccurate. It is so irresponsibly misleading that Reno and First Things should retract the piece or at the least issue a public correction.

The Spanish Flu Pandemic

The Spanish Flu pandemic claimed 50+million lives world-wide in 1918. It was highly contagious and was particularly hard on young people. It is well documented that Philadelphia was particularly hard hit because city leaders did not quarantine their citizens whereas other towns around the country (e.g., St; Louis, Columbus) did so and experienced a much lower death rate.

However, is Reno correct that outside of those famous cases, life went on as normal? Did citizens bow their heads “before the storm of disease?” The definitive book on the pandemic is John Barry’s The Great Influenza, but it is relatively easy to find evidence that Reno is wrong on all counts. Below is some of that evidence.

Worship

Today some churches are meeting. Would Reno say that we are bowing our heads against the storm of disease? Obviously not, his problem is that are cancellations at all.

In 1918, church services were canceled in cities large and small due to the virus. For instance, Evanston, IL closed just about everything in October, 1918 in response to a growing number of flu cases.

Little Urich, MO closed everything including churches during the second wave of the epidemic.

In Columbus, OH, a minister’s council advised churches to close in response to the orders from the State Board of Health.

On Oct. 11, 1918, the State Board of Health ordered all theaters, schools and churches closed and banned public funerals.

The Columbus Citizen reported that “Columbus Ministerial Council has requested of all churches that they close doors and not debate whether or not the order applies.”

From Nashville, to Dallas, to Worcester churches closed even though some pastors didn’t like it.

Football

Reno is also wrong about football. There was no professional football league yet. In fact, one can make a case that the flu pandemic delayed the development of a professional league until 1920. There was interest in forming a league and people played professionally, but games were postponed due to the flu. For instance, this article in the October 15, 1918 edition of the Akron Evening Times shows that pro football had to be put aside for awhile.

High school and college football also suffered due to bans on crowds and playing in games. Far fewer college games were played (704 in 1917 v. 394 in 1918) on account of WWI and the Spanish flu pandemic). While it is true that the season was not completely canceled, it is not true that the people of the time plugged on as if death and illness was inevitable. A sports columnist from the Baltimore Sun lamented the impact of the flu on the gridiron.

High school games were also canceled due to the quarantine as in Wichita, KS.

Social Distancing

I hope it is apparent that the people of 1918 are a lot like the people of 202o. Some now don’t see the need to socially distance and some then didn’t either. However, that doesn’t mean the people of 1918 didn’t do so. Just a few more examples should demonstrate how Reno’s history is so far off.

All over the nation, social gatherings, churches, sporting events, etc. were canceled. Health officials took their responsibilities seriously and issued warnings and orders, just like now, and hoped their fellow citizens would have the good sense to do what was right. Just like now.

Reno and First Things have abused their platform in a very significant way. Of course, Reno is entitled to his view of life and death. However, using faulty history is beneath First Things and it should be corrected.

Additional information:

Many other cities closed schools, churches, and various social gatherings during the pandemic. For reference, I am going to list links to additional resources describing contradictions to Reno’s claims.

Minneapolis-St. Paul closed schools, churches, and businesses off and on throughout the pandemic.

Also in MN, Bemidji’s mayor ordered all public gatherings, including churches, to close during October of 1918.

Los Angeles shut down schools, churches, and other public gatherings for seven weeks.

Winston-Salem, NC shut down schools, churches, and theaters in October, 1918.

Tacoma and Pullyup, WA closed public gatherings from early October through November.

Nebraska’s state government ordered the closure of “schools, churches, places of entertainment, and public gatherings” in early October.

Other cities that closed down various public meetings spaces include: Houston, Chicago, Aspen COBaltimore.

The House and Senate closed their public galleries during October 1918.

 

 

 

 

33 thoughts on “On R.R. Reno’s Faulty History”

    1. I have a huge problem with what Roys did. She deliberately published confidential medical information about someone. Information they specifically requested to be kept confidential.

        1. That wasn’t the case here. The staff at the church were already informed about the risk of exposure, BEFORE Roys made their names public.

          IF the information about potential exposure needed to go beyond that staff it could have been done without naming the people who were infected.

        1. I did read it. SHE published the the names of the people who were infected. She could have easily redacted those names.

      1. What you are suggesting is stupid beyond stupid. Who cares about laws when love demands that leaders walk in the light? You are arguing for darkness. Your viewpoint is pure evil when looking at it from Orthopraxy. Jesus orders us to walk in the light and not cover up things in darkness. Everyone exposed recently to the sick pastor and his family should know. The congregation should also know that their head pastor is a megalomaniac narcissist who only cares about being in the limelight. That white-washed septic tank is no pastor. He is a victimizer headed straight to hell. Those around him are actively participating in high crimes in heaven. All glory should be going to God, and not to a schmuck who has been hired to grandstand in a pulpit.

        1. “What you are suggesting is stupid beyond stupid.”

          No it is actually part of existing CDC/medical guidelines for how to inform employee’s of potential exposure (emphasis added):

          If an employee is confirmed to have COVID-19 infection, employers should inform fellow employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The fellow employees should then self-monitor for symptoms (i.e., fever, cough, or shortness of breath).

          Further, Roys was NOT attempting to inform people of potential exposure, instead she was violating medical confidentiality by posting the names for the world to see.

          1. Again, you care nothing at all about what is right from God’s perspective. You talk like a lawyer trying to see how much you can get away with from a legal perspective. I do not care what the human perspective is with all its excuses. What is the righteous thing to do from God’s? You come across like some jerk lawyer…

          2. “Again, you care nothing at all about what is right from God’s perspective.”

            that is correct. Nor do I care about your particular religious beliefs either.

          3. So your just another troll coming to waste time on a Christian blog? I have better things to do with my time. I am called to speak to my own people. Thank God for the ability this platform gives you to block trolls. I have already done that for some others here who have wasted way too much of my time in the past. Goodbye, I will not see anything else you post here. Thank God!

          4. This isn’t a “christian blog”. Never has been (although I suppose its time on Patheos might give that impression).

      2. I’d be inclined to agree, except that in reading the story it appears that the church had already publicized these names before the blog was posted, for example by posting on the church Facebook page asking for prayer for this pastor’s healing (one would hope the church cleared that with the sick pastor).
        I notice that Julie R. did not name the non-pastor videographer who was also infected.

        1. yes, the facebook page is also inappropriate and possibly prompted by Roys’ emails. However, just because someone else also inappropriately posted the name doesn’t mean she should do the same thing.

          As for the videographer, are you aware if Roys actually knows the name?

  1. There is always some religious reactionary who is complaining about sanity in social life- or science. Local pastors complained in Boston about lightning rods- especially on churches. There were some religious figures who objected to the use of anesthesia during surgery since pain was a consequence of fallen men and women.

  2. There is always some religious reactionary who is complaining about sanity in social life- or science. Local pastors complained in Boston about lightning rods- especially on churches. There were some religious figures who objected to the use of anesthesia during surgery since pain was a consequence of fallen men and women.

  3. I continue to read the O.T. prophets and I choose to meditate on how what they said, so long ago, is relevant to us today. In Zeph. 3, I find points to meditate on. The first four verses talk about the people of God in the symbol of the city where the temple is:

    “Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!
    She obeys no one, she accepts no correction.
    She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God.
    Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves,
    who leave nothing for the morning.
    Her prophets are unprincipled; they are treacherous people.
    Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law.”

    These verses speak very much of where we are at today with evil politicians and the fact that very few have any interest in responding to a call to actually repent themselves. Repentance is something the others guys need to do. It does not apply to the guy looking back at me in the mirror. Our religious prophets are false profits and are truly treacherous people. Many of our pastors are doing violence to God’s Word to twist it into saying something that it does not say.

    Then it switches and talks about God Himself:

    “I have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished.
    I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through.
    Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty.
    Of Jerusalem I thought, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction!’
    Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my punishments come upon her.
    But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did.
    Therefore wait for me,’ declares the Lord, ‘for the day I will stand up to testify.
    I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms
    and to pour out my wrath on them—all my fierce anger.
    The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.”

    The “deserted streets” remind me of pictures of our big cities that have almost no one walking or driving through them. So is God again thinking that we will certainly wake up with this now and “Surely you will fear me and accept correction!” Will we be like Judah that refused to stop acting corruptly? People claiming to be Christians keep telling me that God does not have fierce anger and that He judges no one. So I have a few questions: Why does God promise that the “whole world will be consumed” then? Is He deceptive? Is He too confused to actually say what He means? Does the N.T. cancel out the Old? That is not what Jesus said. He came to fulfill it. What about the N.T. prophecies? Does “the Lamb of God” actually give decrees, like the breaking of seals, that release judgments on the earth much more severe than what is happening now?

    Next it talks about the restoration of Israel with promises that have not happened at this point. God’s wrath is over then only

    “because I will remove from you your arrogant boasters.
    Never again will you be haughty on my holy hill.
    But I will leave within you the meek and humble.
    The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the Lord.
    They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies.
    A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths.”

    These things certainly have not happened at this point. Then God speaks of his blessings and that God “will rejoice over you with singing.” And then comes the most fascinating part to me at this moment, “I will remove from you all who mourn over the loss of your appointed festivals, which is a burden and reproach for you.” Is God saying that all our appointed festivals, from Easter to Christmas and the whole “church calendar” are things that are both a burden and and evil that we are doing? There are many mourning the loss of those right now as many an Easter service is pretty much sure not to happen next month. Why does God say that if the Jewish, and our, appointed festivals are really the great things that our religious leaders say they are? Again, is God confused? Does He not know that these words are troubling to us who like such things? Is He lying? Is He really talking about something totally different, like some kind of idiot who does not realize people will misunderstand Him? Or are all these things really got no future at all in some point in time in the future?

    The chapter ends with more promises to those righteous who are left and have not been taken in judgment.

    1. That is noted in the post above. I also found that Columbus, OH made the same moves as St. Louis at about the same time and had the same better results.

    2. That is noted in the post above. I also found that Columbus, OH made the same moves as St. Louis at about the same time and had the same better results.

      1. It’s very aggravating. Modern medicine looks at 1918 and draws fact-based lessons to be applied to save lives now. Reno looks at a mythical 1918 and invents a story of rugged endurance.

        When it comes to life or death, I’ll listen to the pros, thanks.

  4. I love this! Thank you Mr. Throckmorton for doing the research and posting the primary source documents! It is so helpful to have concrete examples to show other people. Even if the scoffers do not pay attention it is terrific to know that my views are based on solid, verifiable evidence.

  5. My grandmother was about 12 when the flu epidemic hit. Her brother survived WW 1, but he died in the epidemic. He was about 21. She told me a few stories about being indoors, masks, etc. and the hopelessness everyone felt. As I manage my 250 from my home office as we all shelter in place in the San Jose area, where our cases continue to grow, I trust that Mr. Reno might get a better sense of the fact that the historical reality he believes in sounds like a Hallmark Movie.

    1. I heard those stories from my grandparents as well.!! Such a delight to have living history resources.

      1. I’ve looked at my university yearbook for the year covering the epidemic and the end of the war. It has a list of all the students and faculty/staff who died. Many were killed in battle but a huge number are listed as dying of illness (with a scattering of accidents).

        I was going to write about my grandparents but while looking for some info stumbled upon an Imperial War Museum page

        Spanish Flu: The Unseen Enemy
        https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/spanish-flu-the-unseen-enemy

        which has some oral history excerpts from people who experienced it

        By the way in Ruhleben prison camp (a civilian POW camp in Germany) the internees did their own quarantining and apparently only two died of the flu there.
        https://etseq.law.harvard.edu/2018/11/in-ruhleben-camp-armistice-day-at-ruhleben/
        one of my grandfathers was interned there

  6. I learned long ago that much, if not most of what we believe about the past is wrong. I learned to be careful after being wrong in my own assumptions so often that realized I ought to shut up if I didn’t know the history on the subject at hand. In turn, I was led to study the actual history of subjects that interested me, or that was relevant to a current controversy.

    As you well know, Professor, Americans are often taught myth as fact. It’s understandable: I grew up in the days TV Westerns, which taught us that many men routinely walked around with six-guns on their hips (they didn’t), that everyone had a holster (most didn’t, even if they carried a gun), and that gunfights were common (they weren’t). Most of what the westerns portrayed was pure moonshine, but this fake history created a past that never existed yet was accepted as true by most.

    Always check the facts before making historical assertions! You are one of the people who taught me that.

    1. What strikes me as odd too is that, even if what Reno said was true, don’t we know so much more about science and medicine today? Even if what he said was true, why, with our advanced knowledge, do we have to do it the same way? Tradition is not a good argument when dealing with matters of science. It’s like saying of Cholera, “They insisted that man was made for life, not death. They bowed their head before the storm of disease and endured its punishing blows”. Yeah, because antibiotics hadn’t been invented yet! We don’t have to suffer and die, guys.

      I feel like this goes back a bit to the “Golden Age” myths, where things were always better in the past. That people were tougher, worked harder, and didn’t complain, unlike these kids today. You know the sentiment. But, this line of thinking is much more common among conservatives, who look at the past, from their privileged perch, through rose colored glasses. Instead of looking at the past objectively to see what worked and what didn’t, what we can learn. They declare of the 50 million dead, “If that’s the price my venerable ancestors paid to keep going to church and football games, that must be the right way.”

    2. The best thing about westerns on TV was how the Longbranch in Dodge (Gunsmoke) would require their patrons to turn in their guns at the swinging door. And other western series and movies showed how local sheriffs would conficate weapons at the town borders if there was trouble on the horizon.
      Many NRA members would find new hatred for old westerns if they noticed this.

      1. It was very different than we were led to believe. In fact, in Dodge City, you had to surrender your firearms at the city limit. And the shootout at the OK Corral happened because the Clanton crew was armed in defiance of local law.

        You had a much better chance of getting shot in New York City at the time than in the West. Gun control was very popular on the frontier. Hollywood kind of ignored that fact.

    3. The best thing about westerns on TV was how the Longbranch in Dodge (Gunsmoke) would require their patrons to turn in their guns at the swinging door. And other western series and movies showed how local sheriffs would conficate weapons at the town borders if there was trouble on the horizon.
      Many NRA members would find new hatred for old westerns if they noticed this.

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