This post is a rant. Its a rant about white evangelicals who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19. I had to get this out of my system. Beware of bold thoughts, swear words and ranting about people who are dying who don’t have to die because of evangelical’s selfish behavior. If evangelicals are not going to get vaccinated I never want to hear them say they are Pro-Life again. Not when we have the worst medical crisis in over a century tearing apart communities. This is a post I needed to get off my chest.
“A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor’s.“
Richard Whately
When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:9-10 ESV
At the base of the new World Trade Center in New York City looking up.
Before starting this blogger wants to let you know that this post will be a rant. A full blown rant that I need to get out of my system.
A Near COVID-19 Death and Finally Getting Vaccinated
I am going to start by telling you a story. A lot of information is going to be edited out. I am not going to say where this happened, or give you much background. I want to drive home a point about evangelicals and disinformation. In the course of writing this blog I crossed paths with someone who told me their family story. His Mom is deeply into conspiracies and also a Southern Baptist. She won’t touch a newspaper and gets all her information from Facebook, Fox News and One America Network. She rejected vaccination for months and keeps asking about conspiracy theories. From the start of the pandemic she denied COVID-19 existed. Refused to wear a face mask, and then she contracted COVID. It became so severe that she entered the hospital. By denying the situation she exposed family and friends to the coronavirus. Her Southern Baptist church is in denial and they have had multiple outbreaks. They refuse to social distance, wear masks or follow CDC guidance during a pandemic. In the hospital she refused to call it COVID. It made medical treatment difficult. And as she was being hooked up to oxygen to help her breath she still had to watch Tucker Carlson. She had to hear that COVID is just the flu. Her health declined in the medical crisis as she dealt with the coronavirus.
She almost died in the hospital and its a miracle she survived.
I heard all this and then my jaw dropped over what I heard next. After recovering she refused to call it COVID. Still wouldn’t practice social distancing or wear face masks. She is still taking in disinformation. What is the latest story? She believes that the Chinese are massing troops on the Canadian border getting ready to invade the United States. She also believes that Joe Biden is coordinating this invasion. Where did this come from? Facebook and her Southern Baptist friends. When the COVID-19 vaccine was invented her sons pleaded with her to get vaccinated. She refused. She also refused her doctor’s advice. She took the advice of social media and all the disinformation. And then not long ago after a lot of pushing, pressing and pleading she finally decided to get vaccinated in a CVS Pharmacy. She buckled. Her son was relieved beyond words that she got the first shot. Now they need to convince her to take the second shot of Pfizer.
What is even more amazing about this story? Its this aspect. This family years ago fled the Communists of an Eastern European country and immigrated to the United States. I am not going to say which country. It was one of the nations that fell in 1989 when the Iron Curtain broke open. They fled the Communist disinformation, craved free speech, and wanted to think freely. Now its four decades later. And she is swallowing all the disinformation on Fox News, and her Southern Baptist friends on Facebook. She is caught in a whirlpool of disinformation and some try to get her out of it. But its hard. I almost wanted to cry, especially as part of my heritage is Polish. But when I consider what they fled from in Eastern Europe and what they are consuming today, its depressing. From the Communist disinformation system and propaganda to Fox News and Tucker Carlson today. How sad is that?
Evangelicals I Don’t Want to Hear You Say You are Pro-Life if You Refuse Vaccination
We are in the midst of the worst medical crisis since the Spanish Flu of 1918 to 1920. Early on in the pandemic we didn’t have the vaccine and people were dying. I could grieve that and think what a tragedy. Today we have the vaccine. All the people who are dying today are unvaccinated and dying in places like Missouri, Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Idaho, etc… Now all these deaths could be prevented. These are all states with high evangelical populations. If I threw a rock chances are I’d hit someone who is an unvaccinated evangelical. There are stories of people dying and families asking, “Well can’t you vaccinate them?” And then there are people dying who ask the doctors if they can get vaccinated as they made a mistake. I’ve read a number of stories these past few days and my knuckles were red with rage. People are dying when they don’t have to be dying. Meanwhile the evangelicals are screaming “Pro Life, Pro-Life, Pro-Life” They want to halt abortion but then they refuse to get vaccinated and don’t give a rat’s ass about their neighbor. They spread the virus and exacerbate the situation. They still have their head in the sand about vaccination and science. And evangelicals in my view today are the merchants of death in how their behavior is resulting in people dying.
To the evangelicals who read this who are unvaccinated. I have to say this.
Stop the bullshit.
Grow a pair of balls and a heart and do the right thing.
Don’t talk about being a man and refuse to get vaccinated. Don’t tell me you are Pro-Life when you are just a transmitter for the Delta Variant. Don’t tell me you care about God, faith and the Bible and refuse to get vaccinated. Don’t be like Wade Burleson or the other evangelical pastors who won’t wear a mask and won’t get vaccinated. I will stop you and say you are full of shit. And call you out on BS. I could sympathize with you and grieve in July of 2020. I can not in July of 2021 not with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines available.
And the thing that blows my mind as well. Is that some of you evangelicals won’t even ask your doctor about getting vaccinated! You do that because you know your primary care physician will want you to be vaccinated. Who the hell are you kidding? Why are you selling out your family and neighbors down the street. You don’t love them. Cut the bullshit.
Here’s what I predict. More articles in the future about evangelical culture wars. More disinformation. And more articles about deaths that could have been prevented. People not following social distancing guidelines or CDC guidance and breakouts of COVID in evangelical congregations.
Evangelicals you are far too predictable.
Prove me wrong. Email the proof that you got vaccinated. Show me that I am just full of shit. That’s my challenge to you. But if you continue your path don’t send me emails expressing concern about my soul. How I need Jesus or some bullshit claim. Its going to fall on deaf ears.
I just had to vent and get this off my system. And now it almost 1:00 a.m. I have said what I need to say. I can go to bed,
Wondering Eagle 
David, are you vaccinated? Assuming you are; you will not die due to an Evangelical’s refusal to vaccinate correct?
I have a married couple that are close friends; both did not get vaccinated and both are in the middle of recovering; they were quite sick. They are in their 50’s. The wife’s 88 year old father got Covid from them; for reasons I don’t know he never got vaccinated. Last I heard he was on a ventilator so he is quite sick and may die. But he is 88; he’s been in bonus years for some time now.
I do think this current outbreak will convince more people to go ahead and get vaccinated.
+
BUT, how is it “skin off your nose” if people refuse to get vaccinated and then get very sick from Covid?
Does this just provide another opportunity for you to “rant” at Evangelicals? While you’re at it; rant at the black people who also have distrusted getting vaccinated, rant at the white upper crust of society also who have been leary about getting vaccinated.
ONCE AGAIN, if you’re not aged nor obese, the likelihood that you’ll die from catching Covid is extremely slight.
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You know what that sounds like?
“YOU CAN ALL GO TO HELL! I’M SAVED!”
And there’s even a Bible Verse to justify it!
“A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.” – Ps 91.7
“It’s just the sniffles.”
— either Trump or Duterte or Bolsonaro (all REAL MEN, not you pussies)
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Hope you got vaccinated Ken – truly
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Duterte took the vaccine & the Chinese one at that.
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What a load of garbage from a man who took the mark himself.
Where does race even enter the equation? Eagle was talking about evangelical culture in general, not white, black or any shade in between.
That statement alone says more about you than anything else.
“88” – bonus years? Heck, just because a person is old or has a medical condition doesn’t mean they should choke to death on a ventilator.
These churches have been incubators for everything from QAnon, to anti vax to the Chinese invading from Canada! (Which is so early nineties btw heard that years ago – and I’m in Canada, haven’t seen any Chinese troops)
Except for that multi level marketing cult in BC.
You. Took. The. Mark.
Anything you say is garbage.
Sit down and have a nice cup of shut the hell up.
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Sounds like someone’s trying to update Red Dawn now that Oceania has Always Been at Peace with Eurasia.
Speaking of the original Red Dawn (an artifact of the late Cold War which loses a lot if you try to update it), the first time I saw it I watched it for the hardware (and was not disappointed – even the issue of different models of AK was accurate for the Russian Army of the period, and the KVKV camo coveralls had only been introduced the year before.
The second time I watched it I realized what it was — RED DAWN IS A RUSSIAN WW2 MOVIE, “HEROIC PARTISANS” SUB-TYPE! Ordinary people have their Rodina suddenly invaded by a Fascist Conqueror, and after the Fascist atrocities coalesce into Partisan Bands against the Invader. Most of them die, but in the end the Invader is finally expelled in The Great Patriotic War, down to the end scene with the future war memorial. IT USES EVERY TROPE OF A RUSSIAN WW2 MOVIE, JUST RESET FROM UKRAINE TO COLORADO AND SWITCHING THE INVADER.
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I saw this in another post:
“What happened to letting people make a determination of their own risk? What happened to individual rights?
If this were in fact the “killer” that the Imperial Institute believed, it would be maybe justifiable to violate rights on a temporary basis. (Even then, I would not support it. Because giving bureaucrats that kind of power causes mass death.) This is not in fact that type of disease, and despite the hype, the Delta variant is — as anyone who understands virology knows is normal — more infectious but less lethal.
Note I’m not saying that it’s not lethal or that people don’t or can’t die of it. It is. All respiratory infections can be lethal. Yes, I could catch it tomorrow and die from it. But I could catch anything tomorrow and die from it. I almost died at 33 from pneumonia, which I caught mostly because I was exhausted after the kids passed stomach flu between them for two solid months. (Toddler and infant, so intensive for me.)
Life is not without risk and every one of us is eventually going to die. Could be from Covid-19. Could be from any other Corona or Rhino virus. Could be of cancer. Or a car accident. Or a meteor falling on one’s head. People do every year, (okay maybe not of the meteor) and of all ages, and sometimes surprisingly.
The vaccine — any vaccine — is not going to make anyone safe. And it certainly isn’t going to make everyone safe. Ever.
Sure, there is benefit in herd immunity, and I — and the kids, btw — had all the tried-and-true vaccines, despite very occasional bad side effects, because no one needs polio or TB running rampant.
However, this is not polio or TB. Coronas mutate very fast, hence why we still have the common cold. And the vaccine is too new. Oh, and the lethality of the thing doesn’t really even warrant a vaccine unless you’re old or infirm.
And yet, the vaccine is being forced on people, due to the combined power of bureaucracy and hype generated by government institutions and a media apparatus that have outright lied and contradicted themselves several times over the last year and a half.
Tolerating this is proving Heinlein’s dictum that “Stupidity is the only capital crime. The punishment is always death. There is no reprieve.”
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You. Took. The. Mark.
Your anti Corona virus vaccine rant is as authentic as a three dollar bill.
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Because in Christianese, Pro-Life(TM) means Stop Abortion and Stop Abortion Alone.
And note the way Christians try to Stop Abortion. Not tackle the problem upstream, with support policies proven to lessen the demand for abortion. NO, the Christians are tunnel-vision OCD on Outlawing it By Force of Law. Use All the Power of The State to PUNISH! PUNISH! PUNISH! Because then The Righteous have someone Unrighteous to PUNISH! PUNISH! PUNISH! PUNISH! PUNISH!
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Addendum:
The most Pro-Life CHRISTIANS are also the biggest fanboys of the Death Penalty.
PUNISH! PUNISH! PUNISH! PUNISH! PUNISH!
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Atlantic article dealing with this subject; all tied in with who Christians REALLY worship these days:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/vaccinated-america-breaking-point-anti-vaxxers/619539/?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4
Note Atlantic has a paywall where you’re allowed only three free reads a month.
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A University of Rhode Island history professor said that the Republican Party is to blame for all COVID-19 deaths that have yet to happen.
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You. Took. The. Mark.
Jack says that you are to blame for being a hypocrite.
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FYI, I thought this was a thoughtful though discouraging couple of paragraphs about Covid and its future.
_____
“Here’s a slice from the latest by Wall Street Journal columnist Holman Jenkins:
If you haven’t had Covid yet, you will. If you’ve had it once, you’ll have it again. If you’re vaccinated or were infected previously—which will one day be most people except the very young—your symptoms will likely be mild or nonexistent, but it’s not guaranteed. Words the CDC says about the flu it will say about Covid: “Vaccination is especially important for people 65 years and older because they are at high risk of developing serious complications from flu. Flu vaccines are updated each season as needed to keep up with changing viruses.”
Nobody is surprised when they get the flu for the second, the third, the eighth time in their lives. This is what epidemiologists meant when, for the last 15 months, they said the new coronavirus was likely to evolve and become endemic.”
_______
Unvaccinated Evangelicals will ultimate get Covid, if you’re middle aged or younger and not obese, you’ll quite likely survive.
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You. Took. The. Mark
Oh yes, you will quite likely survive!
This virus overwhelmed the healthcare systems in multiple countries and jurisdictions.
It’s not even about money. The fact is there are only so many ICU trained staff.
And while those ICU beds are filled with Corona virus patients, where is the capacity for heart attack & cancer patients. And your God won’t help you if you an accident requiring ICU care.
You have no idea what you’re talking about, Jimmy.
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Actually, I don’t know what you’re talking about Jack. Would you please expand your last comment Jack?
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You. Took. The. Mark.
What needs expanding, too informal?
Do you prefer James?
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Several ICU docs interviewed on drive-time radio all say the same thing:
THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE WHO’S VACCINATED END UP IN ICU OR ON A VENTILATOR FROM COVID. ONLY THE UNVAXXED.
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Valerie Jarrett: I’m All for Vaccine Mandates — ‘Time for Us to Take Firm Measures’
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You. Took. The. Mark.
Now you are a Knight In Satan’s Service, you don’t need to fear Valerie’s “firm measures”.
Unless you’re into that sort of thing.
I don’t judge.
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Does that mean he gets a tongue like Gene Simmons?
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You. Took. The. Mark.
Not sure what happened to my other comment but now you’re in the service of Heck, you don’t need to fear Valerie’s “firm measures”.
Unless you like it.
I don’t judge.
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Well, that’s embarassing! Chose whichever comeback that fits best.
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In my little corner of the world, Covid cases have jumped up to 73,000 in the last 5 weeks out of an overall populations of about 1.5 million.
Not much to be done beyond some people deciding they will now vaccinate. But, should you bother to vaccinate once you’ve had Covid? It doesn’t appear there is a clear answer to that question. Some research suggest natural antibodies from having Covid are longer lasting than antibodies from being vaccinated but I’m not sure there is yet a definitive answer to that. What does appear to be true, if you were vaccinated and yet you come down with Covid it will be less severe.
While they have closed down vaccination centers in my neck of the woods, ANY drug store can vaccinate you.
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Yes, you should get vaccinated even if you had covid.
Vaccines increase protection against the variants that natural post covid immunity won’t provide.
Some context. My province has about 1.3 million people. We currently have 506 active cases with 106 hospitalizations. We’re averaging 60 cases a day with a test positivity rate around 3%.
71% of the eligible population has 1 dose, 54% both.
Until the vaccination program went full tilt we over capacity in the ICU’s. The healthcare system was hooped.
Thank God for the vaccines and the science behind them.
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Think of it as a booster shot for extra protection.
(Does this mean you’ll only need one jab instead of two?)
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You still need both doses if taking a two dose vaccine. Here in Canada you can have any vaccine for the first dose and mRNA vaccine for the second. Pfizer is only approved for 12 to 18 year olds.
I’m no immunologist but the second shot is important to guard against the delta variant.
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I got my two (Moderna) in early April & May, at one of the county’s major vaxx sites. Which means at two weeks past the second, I was fully vaxxed by late May. My roommate (a diabetic) was able to get his two (also Moderna) about a month later, at a major pharmacy chain.
Last week I was at the same pharmacy chain for a pneumococcus vaxx jab (bacterial pneumonia) and during the 15-20 minutes I was there, three others came in for a COVID jab and a fourth walk-in couldn’t fit in (it was near the end of the day) so they scheduled an appointment.
One thing I noticed was the COVID walkins and appointments were overwhelmingly Hispanic (which in my area means blue-collar Mexican or Central American). All COVID shots were free (as a public health measure) and nobody gets asked about immigration status (just get that vaccine into the arm).
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https://www.npr.org/2021/06/23/1009611699/the-pandemic-led-to-the-biggest-drop-in-u-s-life-expectancy-since-ww-ii-study-fi
Seneca,
I’m an almost 64-year old church lady who can check all the boxes for where I am on Sundays and Wednesday nights. I also got a vaccination as soon as I could get one. COVID is much more than just the flu-it’s reduced life expectancy (much more for black/brown people), long-haulers with a variety of symptoms for which no cure can be found, emotional trauma and economic insecurity for children who have lost a parent due to COVID, entire sectors of our economy with job vacancies because so many are afraid to go back to our “service” economy….I’m still teaching, and although we will all be masked up at my school this fall, I am sure we will be in for school closures as our little people start falling ill with COVID.
By the way, years ago I heard a lady talk about the Spanish flu in 1918 in Philadelphia. Every morning, a wagon passed down the street so that people could bring out their dead to be carried away. We don’t need to repeat that.
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Just like Europe during The Black Death.
“BRING OUT YOUR DEAD! BRING OUT YOUR DEAD!”
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Headless Unicorn Guy,
Must….post…YouTube…..cannot…resist…..
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