Roll on 2021. Vaccine. Vaccine. Vaccine.
One thing my dear Dad taught me was accountability. Take responsibility for your mistakes. Finding out no vaccine company would be liable for deaths or adverse reactions furthered my concerns.
Dad taught me if you make a product, you stand by it. You take responsibility if something goes wrong. The same principle ought to apply even with vaccines. If it is that great, stand by it. But no. In every country, all vaccine companies are indemnified from prosecution. Something was rotten in the state of the world.
Even though the vaccines have trial status, and even though all companies are indemnified, one government after another was making taking these vaccines mandatory. How odd. The death rate was still similar to the annual flu rate. Again, how odd. When I saw Israel on the News bribing its citizens with donuts I knew something was up. If we are so sick with Covid, and the vaccine is both so needed and so desirous and so safe, we don’t need donuts to take the jab. Something is rotten in the state of the world.
When the narrative switched from the “vaccines would save us from catching Covid”, to the vaccines would lessen the effects of Covid, to more recently, the unvaccinated are the carriers, I struggled to follow this logic. Wasn’t a vaccination always supposed to immunise you against the disease it was designed for? Watching Israel go from the usual double dose, a few weeks apart, to a booster five months later, and now onto their next booster, made me wonder. Are we now doomed to be forever taking vaccines? No wonder video footage of protests in Israel is seeping out. Four vaccines in ten months is a lot - and a load for any immune system to manage. Something seems rotten in the state of the world.
There has always been friendly rivalry between Aussie and New Zealand. But underneath the big brother little brother relationship we fight out on the rugby paddock is the ANZAC spirit, that was forged on the battlefields of Turkey and Europe in World War I. To watch across the ditch via the telly seeing police in Melbourne tear-gassing peaceful citizens protesting against their ongoing draconian lockdown bothered me. Yes, I respect some friends and family who feel we all need to comply with lockdown rules, and not spread Covid, but underneath that is my bedrock principle of freedom. Freedom of expression. Freedom of choice. Freedom of association. That is from the Bible; right from the Garden of Eden and the choice before Adam and Eve. That is what our Western democracies are founded on. I was trying to think of another time when peaceful protestors got treated like this: Vietnam? Strikes? Seeing a pregnant mother dragged out of her home in front of her family seemed like it was out of some B grade movie, but no - it was filmed by her concerned husband. Have we honestly come to this? Something is rotten in the state of the world.
This reminds me of the quiet little adjustments to our laws in New Zealand whilst we were in lockdown last year. Police were given the right to enter our homes without warrants. Just in case. People could be removed from their homes to quarantine facilities if they tested positive - often for something they didn’t even know they had. It didn’t matter that the PCR test was widely known for its abundance of false positives. It didn’t matter that we needed to be tested to be told we were sick when we felt well. Dad would be shaking his head in amazement. Imagine wasting your time putting people in a hotel that the country has no money to pay for, for a sickness that the people don’t even know they have got?? Again, if this wasn’t for real, you wouldn’t believe it. If one of my English students came up with that as a plot in their creative writing, it wouldn’t even get a pass grade. Who thinks these things up? Something is rotten in the state of the world.
Now we are copying our big brother from across the ditch. Recently New South Wales and Victoria have started making the vaccines mandatory for various workforces, with thousands making tough decisions to lose their jobs, their livelihoods, their homes, and so on… Now we are following suit. Back in April, our border staff were told it was mandatory. That didn't affect many people, and many of them protested. Some were redeployed into other positions. Others left. Many had their positions terminated. However, this week our government has announced as of Monday next week all teachers in New Zealand will face mandatory vaccinations. Teachers have the two largest unions in New Zealand. The unions haven’t been working for their members for some time, but the point is if the government manages to coerce this industry, the rest of New Zealand will fall like dominoes. You might be sitting in a larger nation, like the United States, thinking that is awful but it doesn’t affect you. Just remember that New Zealand isn’t nicknamed the test-tube country for nothing. We are a small but orderly country, with very easygoing and compliant people, so perfect for trialling any of the latest ideas of the global elite. Who sorted out the EFT-POS system for the world? Thank us for that.
So the announcement came two days ago that the government would make this mandate for all teachers in New Zealand to be vaccinated by the new school term, which is one week away. So major panic for the 102,000 teachers in New Zealand. We knew by next year this was a plan of the government, but suddenly it is one week away. With no exemptions available: no religious exemptions. No medical exemptions. No time to plan. No time to organise a new job. No time to sell our houses and get any mortgages or debt sorted. Just no time to prepare at all. So perfect for panic.
I am one of those 102,000 teachers. I have taught for 34 years. I trained for both primary (elementary) and secondary (high school) teaching. I have worked in both sectors. I have taught in state schools and church schools. I have taught in rural and city schools. Initially I was going into law, but then felt a strong sense of call from God towards teaching, and have never doubted that vocation. I love teaching. I have so many magic moments. My garage is full of boxes of mementoes from my years of teaching: old Christmas cards, little handwritten letters, gifts, class photos, and so forth. I have willingly given up lunches and time after school, as well as holidays, to offer tutorials, coach teams, help with scholarship forms, and so on. Teaching has been a huge part of my life. Being back in the Adventist school system has been the icing on the cake. It has been a missionary job for me. Over here, our Adventist school system has a motto that says we are “Educating for eternity” and I truly believe we are.
One family member said why not cave in and just take the jab. It is tempting, believe me. But as my dear old Dad would have said, it just doesn’t make sense. Laying aside any health concerns or any spiritual beliefs about this vaccine, I have had two adverse reactions from previous vaccines. Autoimmune disease came from the last adverse reaction.
Back then, I had my doctor advise me to not take any more vaccines. So I have diligently spent the last three years making huge changes to what I eat and other aspects of my lifestyle to enhance my health, and praise God, it has been stable. Taking this vaccine would pose a huge risk for me. When Pfizer originally gained its approval as a trial vaccine in New Zealand, there were seven medical conditions that exempted people from taking the vaccine. Those conditions were removed a few months ago. Now every New Zealander must take it. It doesn’t matter if you have had adverse reactions in the past. It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel convinced about its safety. It doesn’t matter if you have objections to the use of foetal matter in its production. It doesn’t matter if you have religious beliefs that mean you choose not to take vaccines. None of that matters. Yes, we can abort full-term babies in New Zealand: “my body, my choice”, but we cannot choose not to receive a trial vaccine for a disease that has killed less people than the vaccine has. The latest stats for New Zealand are 13,000 abortions for 2019. As of today, we have had 27 people die from (or with) Covid in New Zealand, and on our government website, we have had 60 deaths from the vaccine. Something is rotten in the state of New Zealand.
As Christians in Western democracies, we have often read books like Foxe's Book of Martyrs, if you are into history, or from more recent times, Richard Wurmbrand’s chilling autobiography Tortured for Christ. We have often prayed for our brothers and sisters behind the Iron Curtain. Now that curtain has been torn, and we seem to all in the one world. We as Seventh-day Adventist Christians have often discussed what end-time events will look like: this time is now upon us. The tough reality of choosing things like jobs and material comfort over vaccines, choosing to be accepted and one of the crowd instead of receiving misunderstanding and vitriol. Don’t get me wrong: I am not anti-vaxx but pro-choice. If someone wants the vaccine, go for gold. If someone doesn’t want it, that is all okay by me too. Whatever is their reason is their business. But the main narrative is any hesitancy about this vaccine is equated with something akin to treason or madness.
For me, I have a variety of reasons for choosing not to take it. I spent some time during one of our lockdowns writing out my reasons, so that I had it clear in my mind, whilst the pressure was not on me. This has helped me this week. Another time I will explain my spiritual thoughts about this, but I am finding that even non-religious people, who have open minds, and common sense, like my dear old Dad, can sense that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. If a person like myself has suffered from registered past adverse reactions to vaccines, why should I be made to take another vaccine? Especially one from a company that lists my medical conditions as those recommended not to take it? That alone makes no sense. That alone is not innately fair. Something is rotten in the state of New Zealand.
Where to from here? Because of our church’s 2015 statement about vaccination, there is no church support for any of us who lose our jobs. We may get support from our local church. I don’t know yet. I can imagine we will from our fellow church members, as we are a family. The announcement that this policy will come in was only two days ago, and if the government goes ahead, it will happen in three sleeps’ time, on Monday. I don’t know how this policy will unfold. They have said all unvaccinated teachers will be put onto leave, probably unpaid, whilst they do a health and safety assessment, and then probable termination. I am not sure how many teachers in New Zealand do not want the vaccination, or cannot have the vaccination for health reasons. Only 53% of New Zealand is fully vaccinated, but 81% has now had one dose. Apparently this is not enough. We have a “90% Project” - to get 90% of New Zealand vaccinated by Chistmas, is the latest catch-phrase. It seems that what you cannot achieve through persuasion, you do by coercion.
As my friend Ryan said:
“Look up!
Remember all those who have gone before us.
Remember the Israelites at the Red Sea: angry armies behind them and mountains around them, with no way out.
Remember Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace, and the 4th Person in the fire with them.
Remember Daniel in the lion's den.
Remember Elisha surrounded by the Assyrian armies.
Remember Joseph as a slave and a prisoner in Egypt.
Remember John the Baptist in prison, and many many more.
If God is for us, who can be against us?
Fear not those who are able to kill the body, but rather fear and serve Him who is able to destroy both body and soul (and therefore also able to keep our lives in His hands). Choose to trust, and say with Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Jesus is coming to fetch us soon.
Hold fast till He comes.
Endure till the end.
He will be with us through it all.”
Sharyn Dunn is a mother to three adult children and teaches at one of our church schools in New Zealand. Coming into our message in a rather miraculous way in 2003, she loves our Seventh-day Adventist message and movement.