AWAKE, ARISE, AND TRIUMPH
Sunday – October 11, 2020, Tishrei 23, 5781
THE VACCINATION QUESTION
A POSITION PAPER
Greetings dear partners and friends of Eastern Gate Ministries International Inc and The Three Minute Word blog. Over the last several months I have been made aware of controversies, questions, concerning vaccinations. Then came COVID-19 and the cry “I’m not taking the vaccine when it is available!” Where do foolish ideas and statements like that come from? Since my entry into medicine in 1976 to this day the idea of whether to vaccinate or not was mute, the overwhelming evidence for vaccinations is irrefutable. In America today where is small pox, chicken pox, measles, rubella, mumps, and polio. Pretty much gone! Why? Vaccinations! That vaccinations are controversial is a puzzle.
These questions and concerns generally but not totally revolve around childhood vaccinations. We hear the cry that the government is interfering even taking away parental rights. Really? You want the right to endanger your own child and others? That said, millions of adults don’t receive the recommended vaccinations like the tetanus-diphtheria shot, Zostavax (prevent shingles), pneumovax 23, Prevnar 13, or the annual flu shot. Compliance with vaccination recommendations and various laws is a recurring concern and arises with each outbreak of childhood disease. The vaccination question may arise by itself along with a list of mythical consequences. It may be conflated with abortion, and a dose of parental rights thrown in. Immunizations across the board are safe with very rare serious side-effects. The risk of driving your car to Church presents a greater risk.
The fear of vaccinations was something I battled in medical practice especially during the time for flu shots, or keeping seniors up to date with pneumonia shots and shingles immunizations. The hysteria about immunizations many times emanates from the religious community and therefore so do the unnecessary outbreaks of dangerous childhood diseases. These diseases are not just a threat to the children but to the aging generation with waning immune memory and systems. Generally, I shake my head and move on. I find this whole controversy about immunizations to be a level of ignorance that will be hard to beat. This flagrant display of ignorance brings dishonor to the Christian community. The Lord has quickened me to present a reasoned and Biblical response to this fear.
There was a bill before the 129th Maine Legislature, Legislative Document No. 798, that looked to remove the immunization exemption for childhood immunizations because of religious or philosophical beliefs. It was passed but soundly overturned in referendum by the Maine people. I fully favored the removal of these exemptions. There are those who oppose this on the basis of parental rights and First Amendment rights. Another’s rights end where they infringe on another’s rights and/or safety. What do we think is in all those law books? Others add an abortion argument to support not getting immunized and I will get to that in a moment. Many believe that mandatory vaccinations unduly infringe on the rights of the individual which ignores the rights of the herd (society at large). This Position Paper basically has three main sources of information, first is the Bible, second is The Christian Medical Dental Association (links to follow), and third is my own medical knowledge as a Board-Certified Internist with forty plus years of experience.
No right is unlimited but instead limited by the exercise of responsibilities associated with that right. For example, we have freedom of speech but we are constrained from falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater. We have the right to bear arms but we are prohibited from running up and down the street shooting everywhere (not being immunized is much like this). We have freedom to practice our religion but we are constrained from trampling over the rights of others in the process. Even so in the practice of Christianity our freedoms given of God are not a license to sin freely or walk outside of love concerning God and our neighbor. Being immunized is an act of love concerning the stewardship of our own bodies and love for our neighbor. Failing to be immunized can be a threat (opposite of love) to our neighbor and even a burden on society, our community. Let me make a brief theological point here with regard to love (agape). For us Christians love (Gods love – agape) is obedience to the Scripture, it is selflessness, and it is awareness of and the practice of Blood Covenant with God and our fellow Christians and others.
The Holy Bible from start to finish enumerates the responsibilities and the rights of the individual and of the herd (His people). Those commandments obeyed provide for the protection of the individual with the free flow of the benefits as well as the protection of the herd with benefits as well. Admittedly at times it is difficult to determine where the rights of the individual and the herd conflict. The following is a quote from an article titled, “Am I My Brothers Keeper?” found on the Christian Medical and Dental Association website. “One of the mercies of immunity produced by vaccination is that a small number of people can forgo vaccination without putting themselves or others at greatly increased risk. But the exact number of people this might be—the threshold at which herd immunity is lost and the risk of disease rises dramatically for both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated—varies depending on the disease and the vaccine and the population in question. We know the threshold, in many cases, only after we’ve exceeded it” (On Immunity, p. 122). https://cmda.org/article/am-i-my-brothers-keeper/
What about the abortion question? Some common vaccinations were developed using aborted embryonic tissue some forty plus years ago. Many argue that on this basis alone vaccinations should be condemned. This to me seems like the throwing the baby out with the bathwater argument. Please do not misunderstand, I am 100% opposed to abortion. I am opposed to abortion at any stage of the child’s development independent of the conditions of conception (rape and incest). The value of human life in the image and likeness of God does not fluctuate based on the circumstances under which that life came to be. The taking of innocent life, the shedding of innocent blood is an abomination before God (Proverbs 6:16-17 and many other references). Blood is detectable in the human fetus as early as day seven. Since the original harvesting of aborted tissue there has been no ongoing harvesting of aborted fetal tissue for the purpose of developing immunizations’ (in fact prohibited by Federal Law) and there is zero fetal tissue in any vaccination.
Let’s consider the abortion issue a little further. Consider the following quote found on the Christian Medical Dental Association website. “I look at the situation with another example. Suppose a child needs an organ transplant. A matching organ is found, and it is the only available and timely option for the child. It is then learned that the organ donor was a murder victim. Is accepting the organ the same as approving of the murder? No. As of yet, we similarly have no alternative to these certain vaccines produced in part with tissue derived from two pre‐born children aborted nearly half a century ago. However, we can prayerfully petition the manufacturers and marketers to find ethical and life-honoring alternatives as swiftly as possible.” https://cmda.org/article/vaccination-information-and-recommendations/
As I bring this Position Paper to an end, consider the following quote also from the Christian Medical Dental Association (CMDA).
“My conclusion that it is morally permissible to accept these vaccinations despite their historical link to abortion does not diminish my concern about the use of cell cultures linked to abortion. Such concerns should motivate the pharmaceutical industry to find morally acceptable alternatives.” https://cmda.org/article/is-vaccination-complicit-with-abortion/
My conclusions mirror the conclusions of the Christian Medical Dental Association and the broad teaching of Holy Scripture foremost.
- I support the use of vaccinations for all peoples except under very narrow medical criterion like but not limited to a history of anaphylaxis with a vaccination in the past or a history of Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
- I am 100% opposed to abortion except under the most stringent of medical paraments which threaten the mother’s life with certainty.
- I strongly encourage the Pharmaceutical Industry to look at alternative culture methods like the use of Adult Stem Cells or Embryonic Stem Cells derived from cord blood at birth.
It is my prayer that this brief delineation of issues has been useful for the serious person evaluating this issue of immunizations. Whether to receive a vaccination or not should rest upon sound medical criterion. Conflating the vaccination question with abortion is without merit.
Lord willing, next Sunday we will resume our study of “The Greater Things”.
2 Chronicles 20:20b (KJV)
20 … Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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