Covid and Health at Church

I’ve recently heard of churches requiring vaccine proof to attend church in person.

 

This position is light years from my own local church context.  We have met in person for 15 months now, unmasked, in fairly close quarters – no covid cases have arisen from it that I am aware of.

 

Churches requiring vaccines prompt me to write:

 

1       Getting the vaccine is a very personal and private decision, and should NOT be required by employers, the gov’t, or churches.  Just because it also impacts public health does not justify social pressure or civil mandates.

2.      If you are vaccinated and go to any gathering, including church, where you know there are probably unvaccinated people, do not feel responsible for their health regarding that factor.  They have chosen to take the risk of what the data say so far – that the vaccine is quite effective in preventing and mitigating the severe effects of getting covid.  They may have several good reasons to take that risk, even if there are also bad reasons out there.

3.      If you are not vaccinated and go to any gathering, including church, do not feel responsible for the health of others such that you would not attend.  Others can get vaccinated or wear masks if they think it will protect them from your unvaccinated presence.

4.      There IS a responsibility we generally owe to others regarding health.  We routinely stay away from church and social functions when family members have fevers or flu or bad colds.  This is a way to love our neighbor.

5.      But there are equally important competing priorities.  The importance and benefit of gathering for worship justifies us taking some risk of passing on mild colds to others.  It took us a good while, but we have begun shaking hands in greeting again – another good sign.

6.      We need to avoid a spirit of fear even as we seek to love our neighbor, regarding health matters.  To stay home from church due to a mild cold or sniffle in the past was not common.  The needle has shifted because of covid, I think: whole families are more likely to stay home from church if anyone shows any sign of sickness.  I do not believe this to be a good direction to move.  We are more likely to isolate and avoid fellowship for many other reasons – it is generally spiritually unhealthy to add another one.  To stay away from church due to being unvaccinated, or because you sneeze an hour before the service, is yet another degree of separation that strains the cost-benefit calculation well beyond rationality.  Trust people to not freak out if you sneeze or cough in their presence.  Personally, I think the best place to draw the line on whether to attend is asking the question, is this cold mild enough that I can go, just not shake hands and maintain a bit more distance, and not feel guilty for exposing others to what I have? 

7.      Keep health matters in perspective.  Just as we need to avoid a spirit of fear, we should not let health matters dominate our thinking or conversations.  If all you can think of during communion is how germs are being passed unnecessarily, then you have a problem.  I think most of us were there at some point in the last 18 months, and we need to recover some equilibrium, if we haven’t already.  This will also involve being charitable to others, who hold a different view of vaccines, masks, and where the line is on attending church or not.  Don’t assume those who are more cautious than you are always giving in to a spirit of fear.  Or that those less cautious than you are always reckless.  We need to give others charity to draw the line a bit differently than we do.

 

Executive Orders book review

Executive Orders by Tom Clancy
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

How should America relate to the world, and to bad actors like the Taliban?

Tom Clancy has a definite opinion on that (hint: it’s not Joe Biden’s position).

Executive Orders gives us a rosy picture of what America’s “tough-on-crime” actions should look like. Along the way he gives us a preview of 9/11 and COVID from 1996, an imperial presidency, and way more military information than I could absorb.

Foreign Policy
In stark contrast to Biden’s current policy of airbrushing bad actors and withdrawing, Clancy highlights their villainy and has America attack them. He draws a straight line from military training and readiness, which often seems excessive to the average citizen, to the overwhelming victory in the detailed battle at the end. We need a strong military, not just for defense, but to respond strongly when enemies attack us. Clancy articulates well the moral difference (not equivalence) between bad actors who use their people, and democratic leaders who are responsible to their people.

Prophetic of 9/11 and COVID
The first major event is a plane crashed into the Capitol Building, killing the president and most of Congress. The later major event is a lethal and infectious disease unleashed on the populous, prompting the president to give “executive orders” to stay home and banning interstate travel. This really got me thinking. Clancy has President Jack Ryan consult with the CDC and follow their advice: lock it all down before it spreads. It works, and the disease dies out. Interestingly, the executive orders are not lifted yet, at the end of the book. Clancy’s Pollyanna take on the effectiveness of mitigation to stop disease from spreading, people being willing to follow such orders, the science establishment’s purity from political motives, and a president or governor not taking politics into account in issuing such orders, all boggle the mind. But Jack Ryan’s gotta look good, so, you know.

Imperial view of presidency
Making Ryan the president was a nice touch. He does a decent job treating the psychology of the job. But Clancy assumes an imperial presidency – a bad move. With half the Congress wiped out at the beginning of the book, the new president actually makes a speech calling for the country in their special elections to “send me” a certain kind of officeholder. There is no sign of a check on executive power from Congress or the judiciary, while taking world-disruptive actions. But it’s Jack Ryan. We don’t need that!

Too much military detail
I know this is part of the appeal of Clancy – those with inside information about the AWACS, T-80 tanks, etc. get to see it all in print. “He gets my world. He KNOWS.” But this is why this will probably be my last Tom Clancy book. He goes on for pages and pages. One thing I’ve drawn from Bible interpretation: quantity of ink spilled shows the author’s emphasis on and love for the subject. As Victor Hugo loved Paris, and Melville loved whales, so Tom Clancy loves the military. So do most of his readers. I respect and honor our military for their important role in the world. I just don’t want to have to wade ignorantly through all their jargon. For 1350 pages. 

Taking well over a year to read, off and on, I enjoyed the geopolitics and presidential decision making. But I’m done with a sigh of relief.

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Which Revolution are we in, anyway?

I like Os Guiness.  Here are his thoughts on our cultural moment.

Click the book or this link for more!

For anyone who’s thinking deeply, we’re in an extraordinary civilizational moment. The West, which has dominated the world for 500 years, is in evident decline. The United States, which is the world’s lead society, is suffering the greatest crisis in its history since the Civil War. The Christian church, which has been the single strongest influence in the West, is plagued with scandals and divisions and confusion and lack of confidence. There’s no question that America is as deeply divided at any moment since the Civil War, but why? 

 

Some blame the social media. Some the former president. To some, it’s the coastals against the heartlanders; some, the nationalists and populists over against the globalists. But what I’m arguing, and I think the deepest way of looking at it, is there’s a difference between those who understand the republican freedom from the perspective of the American Revolution, and those who understand it from the perspective of the French Revolution and its heirs. 

 

Things like postmodernism, political correctness, tribal politics, identity politics, the sexual revolution, cancel culture, neo-Marxism, all of these have come down from the heirs of the French Revolution, and they are an entirely different revolution and a type of revolution that has never succeeded and that has always ended in oppression.

On Arguing Well

Interesting article on arguments - I just read it.

I think the author confuses arguing with belligerence.

The classic definition of an argument is listing rational reasons for your position, which I think we badly need to recover.

It's true arguing one view can harden you against the other side, but it doesn't have to.  Opinionated and closed-minded aren't the same thing, though most people today think they are.

RC Sproul used to assign paedobaptists to write a paper arguing for credobaptism and vice versa.  That's a good exercise.  It fosters better argument without the rancor and hostility.

Good examples of this today are rare.  The Crossfire and McLaughlin Group template is the worst.  And people prefer the demagogic monologue of Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Rachel Maddow, Bill Maher, etc.  They just want to hear what they already agree with.

Jordan Peterson argues far better than most, because he really listens to the other person, and gives them time to make their case.  Bill Buckley's Firing Line was another good example.

Argument is closely related to logic, and detecting fallacies in your or others' arguments is very important.  But today pointing out fallacies is usually seen as a moral fault: you are judging or condemning the person making the fallacious argument.  This is really messed up.  We should be pleased if others can point to a better course of action, or show us a flaw in our thinking.  It makes us better people.

12 Rules for Life

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jordan Peterson has become almost a household name, as a public intellectual and self-helper of young men seeking to grow up.



His first book, "12 Rules for Life," has been enormously popular, though not nearly so as his Youtube channel. His urgent exhortations to "Stand up straight," "Clean Your Room," etc., have drawn throngs to his lectures on Genesis, and his interviews with various counter-cultural (anti-woke) thinkers.



I’ve been listening to his podcast for a while, now. Peterson is forthright and sincere in seeking the truth, and to understand people. This is refreshing in an age of media and news that is frankly propagandistic. This is one reason he is popular.



As far as his book goes:

1. It is fairly academic and psychological, for a popular book. This is notable. Most people think to be popular you have to dumb things down, but he doesn’t.



2. He follows Carl Jung more than Jesus Christ. So be careful what you take away from Peterson. Jung’s insight into myth is fascinating and helpful, but not redemptive, or not God-directed. Peterson quotes Jesus extensively, but only as an insightful teacher and example. His sacrifice and redemption are wholly absorbed by Jungian mythology, and kept at a distance from personal faith.



3. Peterson’s critique of Marxism and totalitarianism in the 11th rule is worth the price of the book. This is why he is lambasted today – the timing of this book's publication converging with the rise of Critical Race Theory couldn’t have been better.



4. His practical advice is good, but has no solid foundation. Yes, you should try to make the world a little bit better, but not in the face of Nietzschean despair. Peterson faces personal suffering and trouble in life head-on better than anyone else today, but he doesn’t have the complete solution. Jung’s myths give you a glimpse of the truth, something like the Old Testament gives you a glimpse of Christ. Peterson is groping in the dark for that truth, as the ancient pagan philosophers did.



5. Peterson’s continued stand for academic free thought is very important in our cancel culture times. He is deliberately using his popularity to give the microphone to those abused by totalitarian or woke thugs.



Check out Steven Wedgeworth’s review, here, and at least read his last few paragraphs.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/re...

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Suppressing Information // Shapiro's good arguments

 On the suppression of COVID information online.  Good, short article.

Ben Shapiro is really good lately.

If you filter out his occasionally angry tone, and the insults of leftists, he makes helpful points.

Here is the summary from recent shows:

1. The covid situation no longer requires extraordinary gov't intervention.

The left and the media desperately want this NOT to be true. So they skew the data for you. "CASES ARE UP 100%!!!" Yeah, from 100 to 200. And they don't report the deaths, which are in the TENS or less per day, per state. They crave control, like the Chinese Communist party.

2. The non-vaccinated are not all right wing nuts, believing misinformation.

The left and the media want THIS to be true, because they want to suppress right-leaning media sources. 40% of New York City is unvaccinated, and only 20% of the city voted for Trump. "Your 'free speech' is KILLING people!!!"

3. Politics should not mix empathy with policy.

Empathy is not a substitute for good policy. Good intentions, the road to hell, and all that. This applies to Critical Race Theory, Covid policy, the infrastructure and budget bills, and much more. "Spending $3 trillion shows we care, three times more than spending $1 trillion!" Nope. Don't assume or assert that your political opponents lack empathy when they disagree with your policy. Refusing to give a bum on the street $10 does not mean you have less empathy for him than the one who gives him $10. (In marriage, a husband needs to know if his wife is telling him something to feel heard and affirmed, or if she wants a solution to a problem. Confusing the two leads to division and strife! That's what is happening nationally to us.)

4. Critical Race Theory has partially infiltrated the Southern Baptists.

Shapiro had a fascinating segment Monday Jul 26 (at 31:00 on the podcast) on the SBC missions board, critiquing David Platt for stating that systemic racism exists, etc. Many SBC pastors mimic his talking points.