Vaccines and moral judgement

January 2, 2021 (Saturday)

      This is the 201^st “pandemic response” post, wow. I figured when I started back in March 2020 that it might be a few months. Now we are seeing mutations in the virus. The last I heard on the news was it might take us to the end of 2023 to get a lid on this virus.

     I don’t know if you are following the vaccine news, but only two of the vaccines do NOT use an aborted fetus (child) in their shot. These are legacy materials, meaning they come from one of two aborted fetuses. One comes from a fetus aborted in 1972 and the other aborted in 1985. This material has been reproduced and used in research for many things, including all the current covid vaccines. (Pfizer and Moderna used them in testing, not production.)

     So for those who are aware that somewhere in the neighborhood of 45+ million lives have been lost to “legal” abortion in the United States, there may be moral objections to getting a covid vaccine. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Kind of like the days before we knew many of our consumables are made by slaves or destroy the environment.

     In my life time, I have watched the world move from distinct understanding between good and evil… to “situational ethics.” There is a certain charm to situational ethics. One can balance possible negatives against the positives to justify a decision. One can also use situational ethics to justify morally disagreeable actions and attitudes. How often have you seen abortion framed in context to “a woman’s right” instead of the life of another human?

     And we wonder why our world is going crazy? Still, every one of us makes decisions every day blissfully unaware of the moral implications of our choice. If you honestly think about it, you will be angry at a lot of things. You will become like those fear inducing, anger inciting, and control insecurity political commercials. You will become paralyzed with knowledge, which happens without a moral compass.

     Or you can do something about it. Like the boy tossing the starfish back in the ocean, realize you can’t save everyone, correct every error, or even make a significant dent in the cause. You can save one. As a true follower of Jesus, you can make intelligent choices informed by accurate information.

     And you can be at peace. Writing to the Colossian church, Paul deals with conflicting passions and motivations (Vincent) and lands on what we need. “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” [Colossians 3:15 ESV]

     The word translated “rule” is used only here in the New Testament. It literally means “umpire.” The peace of God is like the Umpire, when asked what the call was replied, “It ain’t nothin’ until I call it.” [Bill Klem who umpired in 18 World Series] Whatever your decision, you have to justify it with the umpire: “the peace of Christ.”

     Paul continues, “The word of Christ must live in you richly.” [Colossians 3:16: CEB] The point behind having this internal umpire (the peace of Christ) informed by the word of Christ is, “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” [Colossians 3:17 NLT]

     Once caution, be careful of judging someone who comes to a different conclusion than you do, or choses to live less informed than you do, or has open hostility to your position. Placing yourself in the seat of judgment dethrones God and exposes you to same measurement you use.