Science was never intended to become a religion, and scientists were never intended to become its High Priests.

There are two lies that America continues to tell itself about COVID-19. The first is that the virus was never real. The second is that our institutions emerged from the pandemic with their credibility intact. Both are demonstrably false.

The virus was real. Millions died worldwide. Hospitals overflowed. Families buried loved ones in isolation. Physicians and nurses exhausted themselves caring for the sick while medical science raced to understand a disease that was revealing its secrets one devastating chapter at a time. To deny the suffering is to deny history itself.

But there is another truth that deserves equal honesty. The damage inflicted upon medical science was also real. Not because science failed us, but because many institutions forgot what science actually is.

Science is not a priesthood. It was never intended to produce infallible men clothed with unquestionable authority. Science is a process—a perpetual argument conducted in good faith. It advances not through certainty but through skepticism, transparency, and humility. Its greatest strength is not that it is always right, but that it is willing to admit when it is wrong.

Somewhere during the pandemic, too many public institutions confused science with decree. “Trust the science” became a slogan when science itself demands questioning, testing, debate, and........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)