Ship of Fools

I’ve been interested in the two Holland American cruise ships that reported cases of COVID-19. When 11 South American countries would not let them dock, they set sail for Florida hoping to get the passengers off the ships. At first, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis cited lack of medical accommodations and refused the request to dock because he thought the passengers were all foreign nationals. However, when he learned some of the passengers were Floridians, he agreed to let them disembark, but insisted the foreigners be sent to their home country. Many of the passengers cried foul and insisted this was a humanitarian situation. At first blush I might agree with them. However, the passengers knew two weeks previously that COVID-19 had caused cruise ships off the coast of California to be quarantined and yet these people boarded ships for their own 14-day cruise around South America. According to Proverbs, “Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his folly” (Proverbs 13:16 NIV).