On September 9, President Biden addressed the nation to unfold his six-step plan to combat COVID-19. He will instruct the Department of Labor to ensure that all companies with 100 or more employees mandate the COVID vaccines or have a negative test once a week. Many Americans have been left with the feeling that their freedoms are being infringed upon.
These executive orders will leave Americans who decline the vaccine jobless in the following categories: healthcare, the executive branch of government, government contractors, and teachers in federally funded programs like Head Start. It’s a breathtakingly broad exercise of power and one that has dubious claims of rightful authority.
These vaccine mandates defy the progress in human freedom and dignity made over a thousand years in our nation’s legal tradition. Especially regarding one’s ability to consent to a medical procedure, treaties and declarations of rights have expressly noted the need for certain boundaries.
Indeed, Article 6 of the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights expressly says that the consent of the patient is a necessary condition for carrying out medical treatments. What happened to the principle in this declaration? The ability to determine what medical treatments one takes is disappearing at an alarming rate.
If you’re like me, my husband is facing joblessness because the vaccine mandates will affect him. We refuse to be anxious or worry, we have been taking steps to prepare for such a time as this. You may be asking yourself what can I do next? How does our family need to prepare?
Our plan started as a bit of a family joke. My husband earns a good living at his job. Because of that, I have been able to homeschool our children and give my time and talents to ministry work. My husband often would say that once he retired that he would sell hotdogs for a living. We have a name picked out and a whole business plan to follow.
Once the threat of forced vaccines became a real possibility we began to explore our options. We decided that, as a family, it was time to put up a boundary. We needed to have an action plan for when that boundary is crossed. Many others in our network find themselves in a similar circumstance and will have difficult choices to make soon.
The Alleged Christian Arguments In Favor
Before I dive into what steps we are taking, let’s address some of the most common “jabs” from the Christian community.
- “Taking the vaccine is “loving your neighbor.” You’re not vaccinated? You’re unloving!”
- “How convenient, you’re pro choice on vaccines but not on abortion. You’re a hypocrite.
- “You cannot go against the government, it’s not Biblical.”
- “Jesus would have taken the shot! Get your shot!”
There are many legitimate reasons why one would decline to take these drugs, though. They do not make a person any less of a Christian or one who is “living in sin.” While it is true that medical advances have helped to prolong our lives and to provide remedies for many ailments, there are sometimes complications with these treatments.
Already there are complications arising from the COVID vaccines. One of the most concerning side effects is anomalies in women’s menstrual cycles. This could indicate potential fertility problems. Another is a fairly substantial risk of hospitalization in teenage boys (six times higher than the risk of hospitalization from COVID).
Are Christians supposed to cast aside these documented facts and make blanket statements that everyone needs to unquestioningly take it? I think not.
Others would like to see the clinical trials finish before making a decision. Of the three companies whose products have emergency use authorization, only Pfizer’s so far has received anything beyond the EUA. And the document that grants “approval” lists out criteria that still need to be monitored over the next several years.
According to our anonymous expert who worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over 15 years and their own viral patents, this means the FDA did not give a full approval to Pfizer. The approval is conditional at best. Yet the way it is presented would cause one to believe it has full approval.
It is understandable to be concerned about that. The Nuremberg Code emphasizes that the voluntary consent of the subject of experimental treatments is absolutely necessary. Especially with the unknown long-term effects of these injections, how can Christians argue that declining is somehow unloving? What of the potential long-term risks that we don’t yet know of?
Another legitimate reason for declining the vaccines is the use of aborted fetal cells in development. For many Christians, this is an act of tacit assent in the abortion industry’s evil, irreconcilable with their conscience. The drugs themselves don’t contain aborted fetal cells. But manufacturers use lines of these cells in the development of the drugs, and that constitutes enough concern.
Unfortunately, we have found out that many Christians are having their religious exemptions denied if they’ve ever received other vaccinations with aborted fetal cells before they came to know Christ or had a clear understanding of Scripture’s teachings on the value of all human life.
Some never thought to ask the question, “What’s in this vaccine?” At least, they never asked until now, with the vaccine mandates coming down hard.
Another issue we see is that the vaccines do not even prevent transmission of the disease. (Which makes it even more nonsensical for President Biden to say that he is going to “protect the vaccinated from the unvaccinated”). If one is in a demographic that contains virtually no risk of serious harm or death from the sickness, and the vaccines for it do not prevent spreading it to others, it really makes no sense to force it onto people and claim that taking it is “unloving.”
Some believers also say “Jesus would have taken the vaccine.” To be frank on this, it stretches the bounds of Christian doctrines (at best) and imputes to Christ something that Scripture simply does not support. Especially given the fact that the shots do not even prevent transmission of the disease, it’s a dubious claim at best to justify one’s fear-based reaction.
Remember that Jesus is God and that he dared to defy the social order by touching people with leprosy to heal them. The notion that taking this drug is a way to imitate Christ makes no point rooted in Scripture as far as I see it.
Can We Really Resist These Vaccine Mandates?
Engaging in an active rebellion is likely a foolhardy endeavor that will bring more problems than it will solve. But that is not to say we are without remedies. For one, we still have recourse in the courts. As flawed as our justice system can be (as any human justice system will be), there are still jurists faithfully executing their oath of office.
Such a power grab is unprecedented in our nation’s history. Not even the state vaccination law at issue in the 1905 case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts involved something so far-reaching as federal vaccine mandates.
I don’t see it being too likely that this type of executive fiat could withstand constitutional or statutory scrutiny. There are doctrines that allow for the legislature to delegate some rulemaking power to the executive branch. But this is entirely something else.
But if that fails us, we still have other elected officials to take a stand for what is right, to refuse these federal vaccine mandates. Already, many governors and attorneys general have stated that they will fight against these overreaching edicts.
Such action is rooted in the tradition of the American founding, in documents such as the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. Those resolutions, passed by the state legislatures in 1798 after Congress enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts, affirmed the states’ authority over and ability to protect the Constitution.
This is why the American Founders created our government in such a way. They divided power among several levels to prevent dangerous concentrations. Concentrated power, in all forms, is a danger to human freedom and dignity. In our case, a significant number of states have said that on vaccine mandates, this is a line in the sand.
The image below shows which states have taken a stance on the issue, courtesy of “Battle Beagle” on Twitter.
This is not irreconcilable with Christian doctrine. Scripture admonishes us to submit to the governing authorities in passages like Romans 13. But there is also an incumbent duty on those authorities to reward what is good and punish what is evil.
When they exceed their authority and abuse the people of their rights and dignity, lower levels of government have the right and duty to bring the higher levels back into line.
This is the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates. One of the most known proponents of the theory is John Calvin. Regardless of one’s beliefs about free will and predestination, I believe Calvin’s point on this issue is spot-on:
“For when popular magistrates have been appointed to curb the tyranny of kings … so far am I from forbidding these officially to check the undue license of kings, that if they connive at kings when they tyrannise and insult over the humbler of the people, I affirm that their dissimulation is not free from nefarious perfidy, because they fraudulently betray the liberty of the people, while knowing that, by the ordinance of God, they are its appointed guardians.” – Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 20.
Write to your state legislators and executives and demand that they fulfill their duty to push back. They have the authority to keep in check those who seek to enrich themselves and expand power at our expense. Any such vaccine mandate coming from the federal government is beyond what they are tasked with.
What About Businesses Now Being Affected by the Vaccine Mandates?
As a small business owner, we do not fall into the 100 employee category. It has however been increasingly difficult to get goods to our store. The larger retailers are given preference over the small business owners. That’s because they have a greater demand for those products.
Follow the money. The government is using coercion/force by threatening to pull funding from any organization that goes against them. This is why we need more private enterprises! And I dare say, more private Christian enterprise.
Just imagine, if people spent their money with conviction then we might actually get somewhere! Choose the small business owner over Walmart, Target, etc. If Christians use their entrepreneurial gifts to serve others and to say no to discriminating on the basis of taking a drug, we will provide what the market needs and provide employment to others.
But it has to start now. If you’ve had a business idea for a long time, here is your opportunity to seize the day. Break into it with boldness. Do what is right, take a stand, and provide for others an excellent product/service, while respecting your employees’ personal boundaries. Refuse to kowtow to an illegal power grab that is these vaccine mandates.
It is incumbent on us to make this happen.
Steps to Prepare Your Family
In the meantime, there is a very real threat to millions of families’ livelihoods. Here are the steps we advise you to start taking now to prepare.
- Create a financial PLAN. Go through your finances with a fine tooth comb. Get a planner to help you check all the boxes. Watch your spending closely, and resist the urge to engage in impulsive spending. Now is not the time for frivolity. We must take up our responsibility and act with wisdom and intentionality with our money, starting today.
- Begin to SAVE as much as you can for an emergency fund. A rule of thumb is to save $1,000.00 as quickly as possible for a starter emergency fund. You can find ways to fund an emergency fund pretty quickly to see what you can sell. If you have a fully-funded emergency fund, you may want to consider adding even more to it. An emergency fund should not be funded with borrowed money, ever. Keep it in liquid cash in a secure location, such as a savings account or fireproof safe.
- Become as SELF-SUFFICIENT as you can. Trade services when you can. This will look different for each family. I can give a few examples: does your family own land? Could your family grow food or raise livestock to help cut down on the grocery bills? Can you cut/do your own hair and your family’s hair? Could you trade services with other families to obtain the goods you need without using cash? There is scriptural support for the early church regarding trade and bartering.
- What are your SKILL SETS? What can you do that will earn you the money needed to pay your bills and feed your family? For skilled labor, find ways to use your skills in nontraditional venues. If you like to do something that has value to someone else, figure out how you can fine tune that skill to make it into a means of earning a living.
- If you are a business owner, now is the time to acquire new TALENT. One of the things that makes a business successful is having a team of dedicated and skilled people. With many who will inevitably look for something else, look to expand your operations and bring in these people. They can earn a living, and you can make use of their skills to make your business more profitable and sustainable.
- Call on your friends/family/church/community for support. Families in these situations are dealing with unimaginable stress right now. The thought of losing your job after 18 months of national and global unsurety is incredibly terrifying. Now is the time for those who are in a position to do so to step up. Actions speak louder than words. Ask for church leaders to pray for your family as you endure the consequences that will come from choosing not to take the vaccine.
Friends, we are at a critical point in our nation’s history. Freedom and human dignity are at stake right now with these vaccine mandates. We at The Financial Apologist believe in the autonomy of the individual and in taking responsibility for one’s self. These mandates are an assault on our way of life and will lead us down a dark path.
The remedy to it must start now, in your own heart, mind, and soul.
This article was co-authored by The Financial Apologist’s Founder Amanda Burke, and Seth Connell, General Editor.
Thank you for this wonderful information. Keep it coming. God Bless you all. ??