Is the NHS Our New National Religion?
Scrolling through my Twitter feed during the current COVID-19 pandemic is not a great idea. Nonetheless, I recently stumbled across an interesting tweet from the Religion Media Centre (RMC). They describe themselves as ‘Independent and impartial – providing the media with information, context and expert comment’. The tweet regards a virtual panel discussion examining the following question: ‘ Is the NHS [National Health Service] our new national religion?’ The sentiment of wanting to appreciate an underfunded NHS, struggling with a lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplies and adequate staffing during traumatic times, is reasonable, if not vital. But this blogpost is not a critique of Conservative party policies and public complacency about the NHS. While my caveat is that I do not know exactly what was discussed by the RMC virtual panel, I argue that this a deeply flawed question that we should not be asking. It is worth stating that I am not challenging person