A well-meaning Lutheran pastor wrote a well-meaning article about getting the COVID vaccine and used a few verses from the Good Book to justify why we should get jabbed "when public health is in jeopardy."
He starts with "My religious faith exempts me from putting my wants above the needs of others," and supports it with Philippians 2:3-4, "Nothing is to be done out of jealousy or vanity; instead, out of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others, everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others."
How selfish is it that one person would attack, belittle, and coerce another into taking an action they do not want because it could cause a permanent injury and even death, just so the first person can feel safe?
Note the word "feel" safe. Those who get vaccinated may experience lessor symptoms if they do contract COVID, but they can still get sick, and they can still infect others.
A true Christian who is vulnerable to COVID would quarantine themselves so as not to inconvenience others, i.e., "give preference to others...not pursuing selfish interests but those of others." so those others can go about living their lives.
To run around crowded restaurants, airports, and airplanes screaming at people to put their masks on does not make you a good Christian. It makes you an asshole.
That's the ultimate example of you putting your wants above the needs of others.
"What needs?" you might ask. The need to be free as God and our Founding Fathers designed us and our nation, respectively, to be.
But if you're the type to trade a little bit of freedom for a little bit of security, you wouldn't understand.
Next, he doubles down on his dumbassery with "My faith in Jesus Christ exempts me from claiming my freedom in Christ as liberty to act without responsibility," and he quotes Galatians 5:13-14, "After all, brothers, you were called to be free; do not use your freedom as an opening for self-indulgence, but be servants to one another in love, since the whole of the Law is summarised in the one commandment: You must love your neighbour as yourself."
How self-indulgent is it for a healthy, white-collar 35-year-old to sit home streaming porn after placing their grocery orders on an app and forcing a blue-collar worker to mask+shield+glove up and go out into the scary COVID world to pick up your arugula and chai tea and drop it off at your front door?
You think that's acting responsibly? Forcing a poor person who probably does not have health insurance to walk a walk you're afraid of?
That's not responsible. That's cowardice.
That's not love. That's selfishness personified.
That's not service of others. That's lording your power, money, and position over others to do your bidding, to go into the darkness that frightens you, and to slay the dragons that freeze you into inaction.
You should be ashamed of yourself, but if you can misunderstand the Bible this thoroughly, I doubt you're able to examine your conscience and realize the depravity of your thinking and inaction.
Finally, this dunderhead of a pastor triples-down with "My faith in Jesus Christ exempts me from refusing to protect the most vulnerable in our midst" and he uses Matthew 25:40 for this, "And the King will answer, 'In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.'"
When we started this "two weeks to flatten the curve" just 559 days ago, we protected our parents, who were most vulnerable by having them stay home, and we went shopping for them and their neighbors, who all lived in a 55+ community.
We also let our children play and exercise outside, because their mental health is vulnerable.
And we continued exercising as well because our mental and physical health can deteriorate and make us vulnerable, as seen by these findings from the CDC:
- Approximately 54.1 million people aged 65 years or older reside in the United States; this age group accounts for more than 80% of U.S. COVID-19 related deaths.
- 87.3% of those who died with COVID had at least one comorbidity
Therefore, my "Religious Exemption" requires I NOT receive the COVID vaccination to safeguard life—especially my own, since I have natural immunity, which has been proven by a Harvard and Yale study in Israel to be 27 times more effective than the jab—and it requires I NOT wear a mask to care for my neighbor, because I'm not sick and my neighbor needs to see my smile, my faith, my confidence, and my optimism.
- "She is clothed in strength and dignity, she can laugh at the day to come." Proverbs 31:25
- "then our mouths filled with laughter, and our lips with song. Then the nations kept saying, 'What great deeds Yahweh has done for them!' Yes, Yahweh did great deeds for us, and we were overjoyed." Psalm 126:2-3
- "My brothers, consider it a great joy when trials of many kinds come upon you, for you well know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, and perseverance must complete its work so that you will become fully developed, complete, not deficient in any way." James 1:2-4
- "Not only that; let us exult, too, in our hardships, understanding that hardship develops perseverance, and perseverance develops a tested character, something that gives us hope, and a hope which will not let us down, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us." Romans 5:3-4
- "Have I not told you: 'Be strong and stand firm? Be fearless and undaunted, for go where you may, Yahweh your God is with you.'" Joshua 1:9
Ignorance of the Christian faith combined with cowardice is no justification to force your neighbor to inject a potentially harmful substance into their body just because out of some combination of fear and naïveté, you trust the government, who has been proven to be corrupt, incompetent, and evil time and time again.
By invoking the name of Jesus to force your neighbor to get the clot shot, you are using the Lord's name in vain, and therefore, sinning. (So much for the quip these strip mall pastors love to throw around about "Judge not lest ye be judged!" but I digress. However, we are called to rebuke our brother when we see him sinning, so maybe this guy finally understands his role as a shepherd. One can only hope. But I digress again.)
Now, you may have your own political or personal reasons to get the first, second, third, fourth, and 45th jab, but please, stop claiming your faith in Jesus Christ as justification for attacking those who think otherwise.
Over 2,400 years ago, Thucydides advised us that "A nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its laws made by cowards and its wars fought by fools."
Pastor Keith Marshall is both a coward and a fool, so I pray for him, his flock, and anyone who shares his article and beliefs, because they are harming both the Church and our nation.
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
Endure.
Now go sell something.
