Critical Thinking – COVID19 Vaccination Hesitancy among some Christians
I’m going to take a dip into the baptismal of COVID19 vaccination hesitancy within some sectors of the Christian faith. There are several arguments being made, most falling under the umbrella of “conspiracy theories,” some being outright fantastical, and in the end there is only one having any credibility what-so-ever. There is much too much background that would have to be unpacked to fully explore the roots of this issue, but I’ll give a much abbreviated history. This problem may actually begin with the beginning, with Genesis 1, and its interpretation by some to imply the universe is 6,000 to 10,000 years old, while science has observed it to be 13.8 billion years old. Additionally, the vast majority of scientists hold to the theory that all life, including humans, evolved from a single primordial organism through an evolutionary process, while the Bible favors supernatural creation events by God. These two conflicts, and perhaps a myriad of others, have given some in the church the reflex to distrust scientists and perhaps science in general. There may be another distrust reflex by some of these same folks to government interventions related to things like prayer in school, gun ownership, and abortion. Finally, some will simply hold to the belief that “God will protect me” or some similar version. As you can see this is far too thorny an issue to go into each and every argument against vaccination, so I won’t even try. Rather, I’ll just tell you why I, a committed Christian, got vaccinated. You be the judge.
While reflexes can save you from burning your hand on a stove, reflex thinking all too often leads to poor decisions which can be dangerous or even deadly. By reflex thinking I mean making decisions based first and foremost upon one’s world view without first absorbing and analyzing the facts. Important decisions require critical thinking, which requires one to set aside his or her world view (as best as possible) for just a moment, analyze the data, come to a conclusion, take an action, and then, if necessary, see if that conclusion amends one’s world view. We always have to be ready to admit we are wrong. For example my fellow Christian, could you imagine any circumstance under which you would abandon your faith in God? If your answer to this is reflexively “absolutely no”, then don’t read on. You may not be a critical thinker. If your answer is “I don’t know” or “I hope not” or “I’m not sure what you mean” then there is hope for you. Let me give you an example. If it could be proven beyond a doubt that the universe did not have a beginning, or that Christ did not die on the cross, or that the resurrection did not happen then I would have to abandon the Bible, for it is quite specific on these issues. I have written on these things elsewhere at some length and have little fear for the validity of my faith, but to be a critical thinker I must consider the data as best as I can outside my world view.
With this as background, and the additional knowledge that I lost not one but two close family members due to COVID19, I fail to understand any (except possibly one) of the faith-based arguments against the COVID19 vaccine and all of the conspiracy-based arguments. The conspiracy arguments I reject utterly and have addressed several in my other blogs. There are legitimate science arguments against the vaccine for a very narrow window of people but they are extremely limited in scope. I argue that it is a Christian act to take the vaccine, to protect your family and friends from the potential pain and grief of your illness or death, and to protect your family from getting the disease from you. As an example, one of my relatives chose not to get the vaccine even though she was eligible. She fell ill. She refused to get tested. Seemingly, her position was that God would protect her. I guess that is ultimately true, as today she is with God while leaving pain and grief in her wake for what should not have been if she had just taken the shot when it was her turn. And while she was sick, prior to going to the hospital to die, how many “friends” did she expose to the virus due to her blind faith and unwillingness to engage in critical thinking? Rather, I argue that to not get the vaccine is a wholly un-Christian act, a statement that you care little for the impact of your illness or death upon your family, and less for the safety and health of those around you. To roll up my sleeve was not only my civic duty but my Christian duty. It is as simple as that.
Yes, I did say there was one possibly legitimate faith argument against the COVID19 vaccine which I discussed in my blog on m-RNA Vaccines. For more on that check out that blog. However, this issue, which is the use of embryonic stem cells during vaccine production, doesn’t apply at all to the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. If this issue resonates with you then refuse the J&J vaccine, but get vaccinated. It is, again, the Christian thing to do.
One final point I have not discussed elsewhere, the argument that we came up with these vaccines too quickly. Not true. m-RNA vaccine tech has been in the works for 30 years. They have developed them for Zika and Ebola prior to this pandemic. To create a tiny lipid vesicle (fatty container) for a single strand of m-RNA, put that stand of m-RNA inside this vesicle, and then deliver that strand to your cells is some amazing tech and took decades to develop. Consider this my Christian friends. What if this pandemic had happened just 5 years ago instead of today. We would not be having arguments about whether or not to get vaccinated less than a year after the outbreak. We would not have a vaccine this soon. More suffering. More death. More grief. Was it the providence of God that he didn’t allow this pandemic until we were ready? Above my pay grade.
One final prediction. This will not be our last pandemic. They will occur with greater frequency as human population continues to increase toward what should be the peak of 10 to 12 billion by the turn of the century. What are you going to do next time? It’s time to take a stand now and help stop this one.
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