Whether or not one gets the COVID-19 vaccine is a matter of some controversy. Supposedly, conservatives and evangelicals are reluctant to get vaccinated and are labeled “anti-vaxxers.”
The Whitehouse recognizes these concerns and is making an “appeal to vaccine-hesitant conservatives and evangelicals” whose resistance to getting vaccinated is believed to possible prolong the pandemic. Pete Buttigieg has opined, “Maybe a vaccine is part of God’s plan,” and Mick Jagger has said something to the effect that “rational thought doesn’t work” with anti-vaxxers.
When it comes to Evangelicals, people think their faith, the things they believe, are what makes them resistant to being vaccinated. Ergo, many think Evangelicals are irrational.
So let me clear the air on the matter of faith. Every single person on the planet, from Agnostics to Zoroastrians, live by a set of beliefs that, in the words of Tim Keller, cannot be “empirically proven.” I will give an example; an atheist believes there is no God, so he lives as if there is no God, but he cannot prove empirically there is no God.
Therefore, Evangelicals are no different than anyone else, we all live by our faith.
You may think what I believe is irrational, but celebrities and politicians are not my advisors when it comes to my health and what I believe.
The way the word is bandied about in our culture I am not quite sure what people think the word Evangelical means, but because I profess faith in Jesus Christ and believe the Bible to be the Word of God, I am sure our culture would consider me an Evangelical. I also readily avow my faith informs what I believe, think and do.
That being said, I do not consider my faith to be anymore irrational than the faith practiced by an atheist. In fact, because my faith informs me on how I should live I am enjoined by the Scriptures “Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance,” Titus 2:2. My faith informs me to be “sensible” when it comes to the practical matters of life.
When it comes to being vaccinated, I am ambivalent; I am not afraid of being vaccinated or not being vaccinated. I am not opposed to medication. I am diabetic and I had a brain stem stroke in 2016 and take medication daily. Medical science has been instrumental in alleviating pain and suffering which are godly goals.
I have a semi-annual physical with my doctor in August and I will talk with him about the COCID-19 vaccine and consider what he advises.
What I will not do is take the medical advice of a Rock Star on being vaccinated, especially one who thought it was rational to use illegal drugs, nor will I take the spiritual advice of a politician about what God’s will is, especially when that politician lives his life in contradiction to the will of God revealed in the Scriptures.
You may think what I believe is irrational, but celebrities and politicians are not my advisors when it comes to my health and what I believe. I do not think that is sensible.
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