Commentary As many observers have noted, staying safe has become a religion. “Safetyism,” as it is sometimes called, like all religions, places what it values—in this case, being safe—above other values. Safetyism explains the willingness of Americans to give up their most cherished values—including liberty—in the name of safety for the last year and a half. Millions of Americans not only gave up their right to go to work, earn a living, attend church or synagogue, and visit friends and relatives, but they even gave up their right to visit dying relatives and friends. One can assume that nearly every person recorded as having died of COVID-19 died without having a single loved one at their bedside from the moment they entered a hospital until their death. The acceptance of such cruelty—irrational and unscientific cruelty, one might add—can only be explained by the failure of generations of schools and parents …