Letters About Various Things But With Vaccinery Predominating

A Sickly Yellow Custard That is a Little Green Around the Edges

Doug,

Just another anecdotal story for you. I am a paramedic in a major city in Washington. Throughout this thing I have [seen] gun shot deaths and CPR deaths labeled as “covid.” As of January I have seen more otherwise healthy people who now are disabled because of the vaccine. The VAERS reporting system is little known to most people, and to report an injury it takes the patient being convinced of injury and then convincing a doctor that the injury is a direct result of the vaccine and not just a bit of bad luck. To make matters worse, deaths from the shot can easily be labeled as a covid death. We had a guest over for a Sabbath dinner a month ago and she used crutches, mind you she was overweight but she informed us that since she got the shot, she can longer walk without them and my own father-in-law seemed fine a few months ago before he got the shot and now watching him get out of a seat, walk and splash relish all over his plate is painful. Just some more anecdotal stories for you from someone who sees covid nonsense all the time. If you happen to need a Paramedic out in Moscow, I’m sure I’ll be looking for work soon. I’ll keep an eye on RedBalloon

Josh

I am not sure if this is the right place for this or not, but in case you haven’t heard, Owen Strachan just released an excellent book called “Christianity and Wokeness.” It’s an absolutely fantastic book, one that I can honestly say I’ll be returning to again and again.

I think he’d be a great guest for the next season of Man Rampant.

In Christ,

Zac

My wife and I number ourselves among those who desire to resist at all costs. At this point we don’t know what that may look like but we intend to resist, so thanks for your post because we find it encouraging,

Earlier this week as we were reading through Nehemiah. His prayer in chapter nine confessing the sins of the nation was humbling, heart breaking and encouraging at the same time. In 9:33 he writes concerning God’s judgement, “Yet you (God) have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.”

Certainly this truth applies to us today , however, after continuing to confess the lawless behavior of their leaders he writes , vs 36-37; “Behold we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold we are slaves. And it’s rich yield goes to kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.”

The phrase, “ They rule over our bodies…” resonated with us for this seems to be what is happening today—rule over our bodies, coercing us to obey their vaccine mandates. Thanks for your voice on this government intrusion. I look forward to your continued efforts for us.

Be blessed and

Long live the republic,

Tony

Doug, you had a gold line here when you said, “We want the privileges of freedom and the security of slavery.”

Would you view the root issue behind this dichotomy as one of personal responsibility? The risk of the “privileges of freedom” is that now, I am responsible for what I do, whereas with the “security of slavery”, I can at least attempt to evade responsibility by saying, “I’m just doing what I was told.”

And that’s the lie of slavery, isn’t it? That somehow slavery shifts the burden of responsibility off you and onto someone else?

Guymon

Re: Budgeting for Stupidity Thank you for sharing this framework with us. Maybe Cipolla did this in the book, but the categories of intelligent, malevolent, helpless, and stupid all map very easily onto the Bible as the wise, the wicked, the simple, and the fool. Was this intentional?

Eric

With masks coming back, after their short reprieve due to the public receiving vaccinations, has your advice changed concerning this being only a matter of conscience? Can an obedient Christian wear a mask? And should a wife obey cheerfully (as you put it in your original post though I can’t remember which one it was) with whatever decision her husband makes (masks or no masks)? Or is now a time to stand firm against masks even in the family government?

Inmate California

I would like to propose a visible symbol; a red/white/blue striped ribbon akin to the pink breast cancer ribbon style. Worn on the right shoulder it would quietly state, “I refuse government dictatorship in the form of a vaccine.” Even a conservative who has already had the vaccine could wear it. If enough of them were out there at the grocery store, in the workplace and at football games, and especially at protest marches. Or we could all wear WWJD bracelets and remain confused?

Melody

When I was 10 I was sexually abused by a male cousin (I also am a man). I am 22 now and I’m not sure if I’ve ever “come to terms” with that. What do you make of Christian counseling and the like?

I find myself tripping into angry seasons that I don’t even realize come on, and sometimes it affects loved ones around, most of whom have no idea about this thing ever occurring.

In short, can you please counter the claim, if you think it should be countered, that daily prayer, Bible-reading and weekly fellowship are not enough to heal from this?

I’m wondering if there’s a way I can quit taking my frustrations out on other people without telling them about what I’m so ashamed of. I have a feeling this may be part of why I haven’t been able to hold a steady relationship with a woman, but I don’t know if that’s more Freud talking than it is Scripture. In any case –

Thank you kindly,

J

I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask about this, but I live in an area where there is zero church influence in the culture, even though we have over a hundred churches in our area. I have recently joined a group where we have a shared desire to engage our culture and community in the name of Christ with the postmill perspective. We also admire what you’ve done in Moscow, and I was hoping that you could share how you started doing that. And even more so hoping you could do an article/episode on it too. Or at least a book reference that’s helped you.

And if not, I still want to thank you for all you’ve done already.

God Bless you,

Judah

I was scouring the site and couldn’t find many resources related to [Luke] 10 and hating father and mother, or the Mary/Martha listening to Jesus vs doing.

What might it look like in a modern context to hate father, wife, sister, etc? That is, in the conservative Presbyterian circle.

Also in that same circle, what would a Mary/Martha application be? Where are the conservative Presbyterians serving and not listening?

Thanks!

Tyler

I have a question related to my current job search. For background: I attended a private Christian school from mid-elementary to graduation. This school was associated with (but not an entity of) the big popular SBC in our town, and was very broadly evangelical in theology. I grew up in a very culturally Christian home, where we called ourselves Christian but didn’t go to church, so honestly school is where I learned about the Lord and likely the main tool used to save me, however vague my understanding of the whole deal was at that point. But, I was introduced to Reformed theology in college, am now happily a stuffy, reformed, patriarchal (but sadly single and thus have to work) presby.

A position I could qualify for has opened up at the school, but my question is, is it wrong to work for a school that I know is not all ‘there’ in it’s theology? I have not been back or interacted with the school since graduation 7 years ago, and there has been almost an entire leadership turnover since then, so I am not 100% sure of the current culture, but the Statement of Faith makes a point to be sound on homosexuality & and trans issues, and is broadly sound theologically, but I expect looseness or a non-stance on gender roles, soteriology, etc. Knowing that while it is broadly Christian, the school is very likely not a school that i would send my children to due to lax theology, is it unwise, or even sinful, to work there? Given the state of the world, it seems a better and safer option for a Christian than most other employers at the moment, but if I know it’s not up to par, should I just pass it by?

A

Your writing is a breath of fresh air. I enjoy listening to your recordings on my runs. I have a question however that has compelled me to write.

To use this example, I agree that the government has no right to require us to wear blue ball caps on Tuesday. I struggle however with what the cut-off is. If Matthew 5:41 didn’t exist, I would argue that the government also has no right to require that captured citizens aid in military transport. But there it is: “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” How do you safely draw the line in a way that’s biblically faithful and consistent? Is this where this nuance comes in, quoted from your aforelinked piece?

“We have to recognize the difference between people who have been slaves for generations, and who are on the brink of being liberated, like the Israelites in Egypt, and a people who have been free for generations, and who are on the brink of being enslaved, like Americans in 2021. The strategies employed by these two different kinds of people are going to be different, of necessity, and the first thing to do is not to confound the two scenarios.”

If so, then if and when the final vestiges of the US Republic die an unmistakable death, can a conceivable scenario emerge in which the government’s requirement of wearing blue ball caps becomes our Christ-bound duty? And if so, then is this ball cap turf war a situational guidance and not a principle that is timeless and absolute? Stated another way, are there times when a government’s demands are over-reaching but we are still required to obey them? What’s the calculus that determines when we’re in this scenario versus in a scenario that warrants, nay requires, resistance? I want a clean tidy formula that I can bottle and summon at demand. Is it messier than that and requires being led by the Spirit through His Word and prayer and fastings?

Alas, these questions are becoming less theoretical by the hour. Things are still foggy over here and I wish to know your mind on this.

Thanks!

In Christ Alone,

Martyn

As I sit here in “anticipation” of going to the office this upcoming Monday (I am fortunate enough to telework 3 out of 5 days a week as I am today) knowing that a mask mandate is about to be slammed back down upon us civil servants. I was hired as a Data Analyst to help a branch of the military to make data-driven decisions based on critical thinking. Now, I am being asked to throw out the skills I was hired to use in order to repeat emergency measures that didn’t work the first time (to put it nicely, they actually were the exact opposite measures from what would have work) and data prior to 2020 showed inconclusive results on their effectiveness. I am tired of this morbid game of Simon Says that we are playing with the CDC. Sitting here, I am to retain what sanity I am holding onto with white knuckles as friends, family, neighbors, bosses, etc. think I am being unreasonable. It is my reason and conscience that compel me to fight this stupid tyranny.

I say all this to say thank you for your article “Assuming the Center,” it has reminded me of where my hope lies and that no matter what happens, the father of lies will not win. I need to download that episode and put it on repeat.

Thank you,

Andy

Excellent piece about resisting this tyranny. I wondered if you knew that the mRNA vaccines are all either developed or manufactured using fetal cell lines. cogforlife.org/ has the best info on this.

Also, by federal law everyone is entitled to a religious exemption and they don’t have to explain why. Probably will have to be litigated. Peggy Hall at The Healthy American has great videos. Many other groups too. But we need mass resistance. I live in Medford, OR and we are under dictatorship, as you know. The jury’s out as to whether enough people will reject this madness in the next election or even whether our elections are honest. (Who knows? Cheating is easy when voting is mail-in). We do have a group of about 4000 women called MASKLESS WOMEN OF SOUTHERN OREGON who aren’t having any of the restrictions. I think we got about 3 weeks of freedom from Her Majesty?

The biggest mistake we made as citizens was allowing vaccine mandates for children to go to school. The population has been brainwashed that unvaccinated people are a danger to others and they learned it with their school children or their own school experience. There has been a plan in the works to mandate vaccines for adults too and COVID was the perfect excuse to execute the plan. Every legislative session since 2015 we have had a big fight to stop bills removing any exemption rights for kids to go to school. CA and NY have lost theirs, and I think CT too.

A few pastors in our area believe it is their Romans 13 duty to obey . . . your piece will be helpful.

Thank you for all you do. I appreciate you because you are a full on biblical patriarch who somehow never makes me disrespected. Also I like theology that bites back especially when it makes me laugh my head off at the same time.

Trusting in our sovereign God,

Lynn

Please more of this soon. Current federal employee and we’ve been seeing the pressure mount drastically. There are discriminatory practices which have been in place for months which no one has challenged. I personally know many people who did not want to get the vaccine but whose individual will and desires were simply overwhelmed by the societal and workplace pressure.

Those of us who are holding out, some on the basis of religious objections, some due to stubbornness, some due to medical reasons and common sense are daily closer to the Lion’s Den. Scripture and history is full of instances where matters of conscience (Mordecai refusing to bow before Haman, Daniel refusing unclean food and drink—refusing to bow before the statue, the Apostles refusing to be silenced, and Christians refusing to ceremonially acknowledge Caesar as divine resulted in great hardship, but also the glory of God).

For many believers in North America these questions are no longer theoretical, but are day to day hardships impacting the quality of our lives and our families’ lives. Please continue to put out these talks and make them a priority. It is very difficult to find good resources online of modern pastors speaking about matters of conscience and helping equip those of us willing to exert our rights (and suffer and lose if necessary). For many of us this potentially means significant changes mid career, social stigma, etc. Your talks referencing Slaying Leviathan have been helpful.

Please help equip us. The louder and more voices there are giving sound, theological reasons to oppose this type of overreach, the more successful we will be.

Grateful,

A brother

Thanks for your written and audio content that you keep coming our way. It is a huge blessing, and has been formative for me throughout the years. As resident Biden has now mandated the COVID vaccine for the federal government workforce, can you provide any insight on if/how we should make any distinctions between the government mandating vaccines for its employees (also citizens) and the government mandating vaccines for all citizens? I think this is really about whether or not employers have the authority to actually mandate anything like this. Based on your previous writings, I know that you would recommend a hard “no” in the event the vaccine was mandated for all citizens or if vaccine passports became a real thing, and I agree with you, but I’m curious to know if you think the employee to employer relationship changes anything?

John

Referencing A Sickly Yellow Custard That is a Little Green Around the Edges;

There is an issue on which I am trying to collect an abundance of opinions from people I respect, in order that I might make an informed decision when the time comes. That is, for those of us in the military, can the same arguments be used to justify defiance of the vaccine requirements that are invariably coming? It is a bit more difficult to proclaim that I am not their slave when I have bared my shoulder for every vaccine they required of me to join up in the first place. If I did not protest the flu vaccine they demand we take every year, how do I protest the COVID shot? Were circumstances different, it would be easy enough to simply resign my commission should they make this a requirement, but I signed a contract promising them a certain number of years of service, and so it would not come without consequences. I ask because my feeling is that it would be right for me to refuse the vaccine regardless of the consequences, but I want my choice to be reasoned, not based purely on a feeling.

If you should happen to read this, thanks, I would appreciate your perspective.

Thanks, Very Respectfully,

Sage

What English language dictionary is on your bookshelf? I need to acquire one.

Sincerely,

Joe

First I want to explain I am not a pacifist. I do not take Romans 13 as a universal prohibition of civil resistance. My attitude towards bureaucrats is usually something approximating the final lines of the Rage Against The Machine Song called “Killing in the Name of.” I say this to explain my default attitude doesn’t naturally align with what Romans 13 seems to teach so your attempts to explain Romans 13 in a way that gives me an outlet for my natural inclination is welcome. However when I hear arguments that give us a route for civil disobedience I have a question that comes to mind. Is there ever a time where you disagree with the civil authority but you comply because God tells us to submit to them? How does the “scene of the second crime” not become a principle that allows you to ignore everything the civil magistrate tell you that you disagree with?

John

Just think if you had been on the Titanic: “First they told us it was unsinkable; now they’re telling us it’s sinking. Why should we believe them?”

“I don’t see any iceberg. Nobody I know saw any iceberg. FAKE NEWS!”

“Oh, now they’re telling us the hole is below the water line. How convenient. HOAX!”

“This is just a conspiracy by the lifeboat industry. You can’t make me get in the lifeboat; I have rights.”

Mike

On “Intro to Vaccine Passport Defiance” Dr. Peter McCullough recently cited a 2008 study, which found elderly people, who had contracted Spanish flu back in the early 1900s, were still immune to Spanish flu. Therefore, McCullough said, folks who have had a SARS2 infection now have BETTER immunity than someone who has only been vaccinated.

Last November I tested every two weeks so I could visit my parents in the assisted living facility. I tested positive, but had no symptoms. I immediately started taking Hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and D3. I took another test, thinking the first was a false positive. Second test was also positive! Never developed symptoms.

Both tests were Polymerase Chain Reaction tests. First one stopped at 23 cycles. The bottom line is I think the tests were accurate.

So now . . . I identify as vaccinated. Who can argue against it? In fact, even without a positive test, an actual vaccination, or ANY supporting evidence, who can argue if anyone chooses to identify as vaccinated?

Just sayin’…

Jerry

Being a father to two inquisitive young souls has pointed out such a holes of ignorance about theology and reality that I am newly astounded daily and their number and depth. This is aided by our conviction to homeschooling. I find myself often attempting to just stay ahead of what they are learning. I am, however, grateful for these trials. They have pushed me to be more diligent in my studies. I have come to appreciate and trust what you’ve been led to share on numerous occasions, as well as admire your vast literary experience. I’ve started a book that I’m hoping I would be able to learn your take on, “All That Is In God”, by James E Dolezal.

Daylon

Thank you for your introduction to vaccine passport defiance. I suspect that as an employee of a health insurance company I may have to claim a religious exemption in the near future as part of a return-to-the-office plan so I look forward to your future posts. However, there are some interesting bedfellows in this debate, at least from my viewpoint. One is that vaccine hesitancy has been well documented among minority groups who don’t trust the government or other authorities to dictate their healthcare for reasons both historical (Tuskegee Study) and current (studies indicating racial bias in healthcare). My company has become much more attuned to this and other diversity issues (LGBTQ) in the past year, culminating with the hire of a executive level post to address inequities (perceived or real) in our organization and among our members. Although I have reservations about the direction of certain diversity initiatives in our organization, it will be interesting to see how the diversity exemption correlates with the religious exemption when it comes to a vaccine requirement. On the other hand are fellow Christians, including some in my extended family who do not share our reluctance to get an experimental vaccine that is approved under an emergency authorization and that has some faint connections to fetal cell lines from an aborted baby. I believe everyone should make their own choice based on their risk factors and conscience, but they are incredulous and even indignant that we are not persuaded to submit to the authorities and to love our neighbor by getting the vaccine. These are people who might otherwise stand against the authorities in religious freedom and right to life issues, but for some reason on this issue show no tolerance for dissent.

So although I may be granted a religious exemption to return to the office by my secular employer, I may not be granted a similar exemption to return to normal interactions with certain members of my own biological and spiritual family. Our response thus far has been to graciously bow out so as not to cause offense, avoid arguing over disputable matters, and as far as it depends on us to live at peace with everyone (Rom. 14) but this is becoming more and more difficult to do. So I hope you will address navigating these flak-filled skies not only with regard to the authorities, but also with regard to other Christians who are ostensibly allies and other groups who fit into the “whoever is not against us is for us” category.

JD

Re: A Sickly Yellow Custard That is a Little Green Around the Edges Hello and greetings from a small country on a large continent to your east. My family and I are here serving as, well, let’s just say it rhymes with “Fishin’ Larrys”. Our host country is one of those that threw off bonds of colonialism in order to embrace the “freedom” of communism, and then threw off the bonds of communism to be be bound in turn by the kind of corrupt socialism-masquerading-as-a-democracy that the US currently is doing everything in its power to enthrone.

As in all the world, these last few years have been interesting. In many ways we are happy to have been here instead of back in the States. Although we were practically imprisoned here for several months as airports were shut down because of Pandemic Panic (TM) and land borders closed on account of a highly contested presidential election last fall. (We are still waiting for the land borders to open up!) We watched in amazement from afar as we saw the US devolving in to the same kind of third-world (sorry “developing country”—wait, didn’t the last US president have a special nickname for countries like that?) chaos that we see over here on a regular basis.

There are advantages to living in a place like this during this time. One, as mentioned above, is that all the chaos is pretty much par for the course. Another is that people here are used to death—not that this is a good thing in and of itself, but it does help stop a certain amount of panic taking hold when they look around and find out that the number of people here dying of this new plague is a blip compared to the people dying around them from malaria, typhoid, malnutrition, or any number of other NTD (Neglected Tropical Diseases) that the western world can’t really be bothered about. You could also argue that perhaps there are not as many people here in the “at risk” category – most old people or those with co-morbidities have already died from the diseases mentioned above. Or maybe not enough people are wealthy enough to have rich people problems like obesity, etc. It is also easy for them to compare this pandemic with the ebola epidemic that broke out here a few years back – you know, the one where if you got the virus you had about a 90% chance of dying, not the other way around. As we talked with friends in the early days of the pandemic, and we explained the numbers you could see the puzzlement on their faces as we explained that if you caught this you had a 99+% chance of recovery!

People here also have more to worry about than keeping up with all the mandated measures for preventing a disease that doesn’t seem to be killing vast amounts of people around them. Things like waking up in the morning and hoping that they will find some way to make the $3 they will need to have at least one decent meal for their family that day. Which means that, even though the government tries to periodically convince people that they are all dying and need to follow measure X, Y, or Z, the population largely ignores them. While there was some enforcement at the beginning, and surges from time to time when the government really puts pressure on police to fine people for not wearing masks and such. But even in those cases, the enforcement is carried out by people who mainly care about the extra cash they could pocket and not whether they are keeping people from spreading a deadly disease. (We know this to be true from the times that we were stopped because one of our kids had a scarf wrapped around her head instead of a mask and we got fined for it, while a steady stream of people just like us but with more melanin and less money to pay fines passed the checkpoint completely unmasked.)

Our official philosophy as passed down from our leaders is to abide by the laws in our host country (good witness, etc., etc.). In reality, we personally do the minimum, following the lead of our neighbors and general population. In essence this means that we will just keep masks with us and only put them on when we see police ahead.

We have also had to get tested to move around our little country here, and present our negative test results when leaving the capital city to the interior of the country. However, we know that about 99% of those taking that trip do not get tested at all. If we were to test positive, we would be required to go to a government treatment facility which is exactly as sketchy as you would expect.

The dilemma we have now is that there is increasing talk of mandatory vaccination to get visas, travel throughout this country, travel through Europe on our way back to the US eventually, etc. Sadly, people here really don’t have any legal rights to refuse a government mandate. And we, as non-citizens, have even less.

My question is, how much and how long should we resist getting vaccinated in a situation like this? Our objections to the vaccines are that they are still experimental, largely unnecessary for the vast portion of the population (especially given that almost everyone here must have had the virus by now), and most likely either expired or not kept properly cold by the time they get here. (There was a large quantity of the AZ vax “donated” to this country a few months back, and when it arrived the health officials noticed that the expiration date was a week later. They contacted the manufacturer, who were very helpfully able to issue a new expiration date for them!) Of course we also object on the grounds that you mentioned in your article as well, but again since we are not citizens, and are here on the understanding that we will abide by the laws of the land, do we have any right to resist the upcoming mandate? Miss- er, I mean “Fishin’ Larrys” generally operate on the idea that they are giving up things in order to gain the possibility of “fishing”, so in many ways I see this (the choice to forego vaccination or resist a mandatory vaccination) as one of those things we may have to give up.

On the other hand, those in our type of ministry have also been at times the ones to speak out the loudest against “legal” evils in the countries they went to—slave trade, suttee, etc. In some countries, proselytization itself is illegal, and we wouldn’t last long if we obeyed that law! Is this at that level in your thinking? Do you have any advice for people in our situation? I know we are not alone in this, and I know that in almost every case the official line that will come down from the organizations we belong to will be to get the vaccine and not cause trouble.

Sorry that this got so long! Please pray for us as we seek to navigate this in a way that is right and God-honoring, and allows for continued ministry. Thank you for your steadfast determination to stand firm on God’s Word in the midst of chaos, and for your dedication to helping others do the same.

Your co-laborer in His service.

M