WHO would have thought a year before the 2020 annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) that the Presidential Address would be delivered via Zoom? Indeed, how many of us even knew what Zoom was back then. Yet, here we are, in a world racked by a pandemic that has taken millions of lives worldwide, over-proportionately from the most vulnerable sectors of society. It would not be right to begin this presidential address without acknowledging our present historical moment and the human suffering—the loss of life, health, livelihoods, and the trauma—that so many people have experienced as a result of the COVID pandemic. This is the context of this address.

中文翻译：

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2020 AAR主席致辞：佛教研究与AAR

世卫组织会在美国宗教学会 (AAR) 2020 年年会前一年想到总统演讲将通过 Zoom 发表吗？事实上，我们中有多少人甚至知道当时的 Zoom 是什么。然而，我们现在身处一个大流行病肆虐的世界，这场大流行病已经夺走了全世界数百万人的生命，其中大部分来自社会最脆弱的群体。如果不承认我们当前的历史时刻和许多人因 COVID 大流行而遭受的生命、健康、生计和创伤的损失，就开始这次总统讲话是不对的。这是该地址的上下文。