Take a trip with me through the way-back machine to 14 days AC (after COVID); that halcyon time when we were emerging from the slumber of 2 weeks to flatten the curve. We were just learning about a mystery virus originating from a wet market in Wuhan China – coincidentally, a mere block or two distance from a lab where scientists were participating in GoF (Gain of Function) research. For those who blinked and missed the wall-to-wall coverage explaining what GoF entails, this is where experiments are done to increase the pathogenic virulence of a virus to cross species. For those baffled by why one would participate in such a seemingly perverse process, the rationale offered to the public is that this allows the opportunity to develop a cure for the weaponization of the virus they create. Make sense now?

I need to apologize because we have since learned that mentioning Wuhan as the point of origin has been deemed racist. The details of this man-made pathogen have been scrubbed more thoroughly than the aforementioned lab from which the virus was released. You heard me right. It turns out the wet market cover story didn’t hold water. It might have been a hint that the bat blamed for the outbreak has never been sold at this wet market and it lives hundreds of miles away. Coincidentally, the bats in question do reside is at the Wuhan Virology lab.

The reason I am tugging on this thread is that social and approved “journalistic” media sources denounced anyone linking the virus to the lab leak theory as fabrication. Those sounding the alarm were censored and not permitted to float such conspiratorial bilge. They assured us that it couldn’t be true because – and I’m not kidding – the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) denied it. Eventually, they could no longer keep a lid on the mounting evidence and the facts eventually, well, leaked out.

I know that many of you are gobsmacked by the notion that experts could somehow get the facts wrong. After all, we are living in the days of “trust the experts” and this refrain is so entrenched that our nation is divided along the lines of who does or does not accept this premise. We have, in fact, turned over all the rights and freedoms we once held as sacrosanct and self-evident to the whims of the state. Communities are essentially at war over competing assumptions about the dangers we are facing. Formerly close-knit relationships have been severed and families are torn apart either volitionally or by judicial edicts. One sector of society has been “othered” and is increasingly marginalized as the screws are tightened to force all to submit to the state sanctioned experts.

Early in this process, I expressed my concern to members of my extended family and brothers and sisters in Christ that the response to the CCP virus was not consistent with the evidence. I questioned the necessity and efficacy of wearing surgical masks as a preventative for the spread of this flu-like illness. I offered my opinion that the lockdowns seemed an overreaction and was contraindicated given the manner in which the virus spread. Never did I fear the virus as I welcomed the prospect of unencumbered fellowship with my church family. What troubled me was that the arm of the state was reaching into the church to claim authority over whether the church could meet and under what conditions. The risk of Caesar seeking to usurp what belongs to God alone was a palpable reality.

Bolstering my apprehension was the absence of any circumstances in which the church would be compelled to act by telling the state they had gone too far. I specifically queried how long government might close and restrict corporate worship before their mandates would be seen as a threat to religious liberty. Without understanding the necessity of such draconian measures, there was no reason to believe the church could galvanize through civil disobedience to oppose the state when doing so would carry a cost. Christ followers have a storied history of defiance and martyrdom in the furtherance of the mandates God directs his children to follow. If a government is granted the right to determine if and when churches may gather and under what strictly enforced parameters; is there a case for defying this secular authority should they deign to instruct churches on what issues they may or may not speak on and what passages of scripture may not be spoken?

These are not and never have been irrelevant or risible concerns as churches have both compromised with evil and faced persecution, torture and death for just such realities. I am certain that the congregations that cooperated with the Nazis, communists, and other tyrants have always justified the concessions they have made. I am not saying that this describes where we are currently at, but in each case, the corruption of the church happened one equivocation at a time.

In summary, my position was that the introduction of masks and lockdowns were putting us on a likely path to increasing tyrannical impediments to our basic rights and freedoms. My detractors held to the position that these were temporary measures for our own good and, as Christians, we were obliged to comply as this in no way crossed a line that called for Christians to defy the state. After all, if this was not the underlying assumption, then they are granting the premise that the government has authority over God’s word. Now that we are roughly 20 months out, let’s do a little inventory to determine who more accurately presaged our current environs.

Starting with the realities of our present circumstances that are obvious to everyone:

• Masks and social distancing have remained a fixture throughout this time
• Small businesses and churches have continued under intermittent lockdowns interrupted by periods of openings under highly restrictive conditions
• Children have spent the last year out of school and forced to participate online; since returning to school, it has been with strict mask, social distancing and class size limits
• Post graduate students spent the past year with online learning and could only return this fall if they succumbed to vaccine mandates
• Opportunities to attend events, social, or even family gatherings have been severely restricted or not permitted
• Police are increasingly accosting, arresting, fining and charging individuals for engaging in normal activities without following all the protocols and have even intervened where people have been in public places outdoors and with no one else around
• A few churches, gyms, and other small businesses willing to abide by accommodations applied to liquor stores, box stores, abortion clinics, and marijuana shops have opened only to face massive fines and jail time – including the arrest of pastors in Alberta

Since September 22^nd, the stakes have raised substantially. Conditions have ramped up to well beyond 11 – at least for the compliance hesitant.

• After months of hearing that vaccine passports were a conspiracy theory, they are here and are a requirement for accessing most of society with new restrictions for the “unvaxxed” piling up by the day
• Those without their “papers” are no longer permitted to go to sit down restaurants, sporting events, attend gyms or movie theatres, or travel by plane, train, bus, or cruise ship
• Travellers must undergo a COVID test at both stages of their journey and, regardless of the result, those not inoculated will be forced to isolate at “quarantine hotels” on their own dime
• “Unvaxxed” cannot work at federal public service jobs
• Hospitals, airlines, and the majority of businesses are now requiring that all employees receive the jab or be suspended without pay until they get their minds right
• This just in, Louisiana is starting to impose hundreds of dollars in fines to employees whose spouses have not received the jab

In addition to the above, no religious exemptions are being permitted and the only medical exemption allowed is granted to the “vaccine” injured – requiring that they undergo the very procedure they seek to avoid. Those gathering for public protests against lockdowns and mandates are often facing interference, fines, being accosted and/or arrested by police. Less known realities include the inability to attend funerals, weddings, and Oakville has already refused marriage licenses where one or both parties are “unvaxxed”. More and more businesses and schools are forcing even those working from home to have the injections or be dropped. Parents are also losing visitation rights or children are being apprehended if a parent is not jabbed. Families are increasingly ostracizing the non-compliant from attending family gatherings and grandparents are being denied the chance to visit with their grandchildren. Finally, many doctors are now refusing to see uninoculated patients and, if you don’t want the experimental jab but were hoping for the organ replacement might be disappointed to learn that they have been scrubbed from the organ recipient list – although I’m sure they’d make an exception should you have an organ to give over to those who are more submissive.

Are any of my “this will all blow over” friends feeling at all uncomfortable yet? Atheists may be sanguine about all of this given their Darwinian worldview, but I’d like to offer some context to those who claim to follow Christ. Before I get to the relevant scriptural passages that do not align with this caste system, I’d like to take some time to address the issue that is arguably the most disturbing factor of all.

In trying to discuss with others the reason for my recalcitrant stance, I attempt to do so by sharing my rationale. The responses I have received from friends and family include anything from being berated as selfish, dismissively being told that they don’t want to debate the science, or having the statistics and information I want to share either being ignored, or simply treated as though it has no bearing. Given this, I hope that I have managed to prick a few consciences or at least have gained some credibility based on my prognosis of what we were slouching toward.

I have to assume that any sentient being trusting in the prevailing narrative do so because they believe both of the following:

1. While admittedly draconian, these short-term measures are essential to get us through our current crisis
2. Without such steps, not only our personal health, but the literal survival of our nation – or even the world is at stake

Without both of these justifications, the demands are unnecessary; ergo autocratic and tyrannical. One of the favoured tropes of the atheist left found originated with Carl Sagan who insisted that proving the existence of God was an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary evidence. The same rationale is relevant here. The vast majority of a population may be persuaded that panic and tyranny is an acceptable trade-off to create a “unified” society and that threats, coercion and persecution are baked into the compliance cake, but it would not be unreasonable that there is resistance from those who think otherwise. The problem here is not that the pro-“vaxxers” put such a low premium on their own liberty and bodily autonomy, but don’t value them for their friends and neighbours. You may love the ruling class determining who should be recognised as an unimpeachable source for yourself, but don’t tell the rest of us we need to feel the same. If they are lying and have impure motives, then their exhaustive authoritarianism is not evidence that they take this crisis so seriously, but that they will use everything in their arsenal to strip individuals of their free will and bodily autonomy. Am I awakening any feelings of trepidation yet?

Space does not permit a thorough biblical exegesis on why we ought to not readily fall in line, but I will identify the relevant factors and provide links to the passages that apply.

1. Christians are on the side of truth and have a duty to expose lies. (John 1:9-14, John 18:37b, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a, Galatians 4:16, Ephesians 4:25, Ephesians 6:10-17, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-13, 2 Timothy 2:23-26, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 2 Timothy 4:1-5, James 1:12-18, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 1 John 1:5&6)
2. We are to be vigilant and test the spirits and find out what is true; rejecting what is not (1 Thessalonians 5:1-22, 1 John 4:1-6)
3. Throughout scripture, we are directed to “fear not.” (1 John 4:18) See link.
4. We are told that we are at war with the world. (John 15:18-27, John 16:32&33, John 17:11-19, Romans 12:1&2, 1 Corinthians 1:18-21, 1 Corinthians 3:18-23, 2 Corinthians 4:3-6, Philippians 2:12-18, Colossians 2:8-23, 2 Peter 2, 1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 4, 1 John 5-19-21, 2 John 1:6-11, Jude 1:17-25)
5. Our highest calling is to love God (do what he says) and love our neighbours as ourselves (I addressed this subject thoroughly in the linked article) (Matthew 22:38&39, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8)
6. We are born with a sin nature and our natural inclination is to do evil (this is especially true for those inhabited by the antichrist spirit) (2 Peter 1:4, 1 John 2:18-27). See link.
7. We were commanded to not give up meeting together and, if the closures are not warranted, we are in direct disobedience. (Acts 2:42-47, Hebrews 10:23-27)
8. Christ created us with free will – to accept or reject him or in our conduct, so Caesar’s attempts to supersede this God-given right are setting themselves over God. (Mark 12:13-17). See link.
9. The state’s authority is not absolute and is to restrain evil, not to be the author of evil. (Romans 13)
10. The church is to stand in unity. (James 4)

As to the Sagan quote, the uncomfortable truth is that evidentiary standards cut both ways. Sure, the notion that an unseen, omnipotent creator brought everything including us into existence and that watches over and even intervenes in our lives is a theory that requires compelling support. So does naturalism which rejects a deity. This is what is most absurd to me about those who walk away from Christianity based on emotional appeals. If your decision to join those who believe the universe, all of life, males, females, body systems, sentience, logic, consciousness, and even the moral basis for your objections to be the result of time and unguided chance because you believe the Bible to be homophobic, misogynistic, racist, bigots means you evidence and truth are matters of indifference to you. I am a Christian because I find the evidence for his existence overwhelming, compelling, and intellectually defensible. It is willing to hold itself up to scrutiny. This is the principle that leads me to reject the cult of COVID.

Defenders claim that we need to listen to and follow the directives of selected and self-identified experts. This is exactly what has happened in every one of our corrupted institutions that has been transformed into unintelligibility due to imposing a narrative and conclusion that cannot be questioned and where censoring contradictory evidence is coin of the realm. For context, the same people who say that one’s gender is determined by their emotional state and a boy who feels pretty should be put on puberty blockers and have their bodies permanently mutilated over the protestations of his parents are driving the COVID panic porn.

Much like making the case for God’s existence, I will offer my evidence for why I believe this to be a dangerous manufactured crisis pushed by tyrants who care nothing about the health, safety, rights or freedoms of its people. I will do so based on facts and will pose an array of questions that thinking people – certainly Christ-followers especially – should consider. Why Christians especially? Because we are already having our faith challenged and are being subjected to propaganda campaigns and increasing marginalization and defamation for standing firm. We are the children of the God of love who is that arbiter or all truth. We also know the true nature of man without God and also have the prophetic warnings of what would happen. We value discernment as a treasured spiritual gift that one ignores to their own peril. We are the watchmen on the wall who have a duty to guide and act in love for believers and unbelievers alike. We have no right to sit this out.

This is so important that I have dedicated a post to making the case for why we need to be alert and to make a plea to people I care deeply about to not fall for lies. I could walk away (from most of you) and leave you to what I am convinced is abject folly, but the stakes are too high. I will risk being viewed as an arrogant busybody because the cost of division and the church falling for a deception impacts everything. I am deeply troubled by what I see as the path ahead of us, but not for me as much as for my children and those who are blind to what is happening.

Unlike what is being handed down by fiat from our leaders, you have no mandate to read or take seriously what I am attempted to convey. I will say that I am telling you that you need to drop the façade that you care deeply about your neighbours. If your response without considering the case for these heavy-handed restrictions that have made a segment of society into social lepers is to tell them, “Just take the jab,” then I maintain that there is no compassion in you. I know that’s a strong statement, but either I am conflating a non-issue or

My intent here is not to tell you who to listen to as this would merely supplant one presumed authority for another. What we are being told by “approved experts” cannot be reconciled with the sources that are being censored. As such, this is not a debate over divergent opinions, but an investigation into what is true. I maintain that knowing what is true is more consequential than any circumstance you have faced. This is a bold assertion, but I stand by it and challenge anyone, once you have fully heard me out, to dispute this claim.

My next post will present a full picture of the response in the context to the “crisis.” I will then ask a series of questions that will highlight the incoherence of what is taking place. The implications arising from this exercise will be unsettling as we consider the motivations driving what is taking place. Please offer your questions, challenges and feedback below.