Let’s face it, when it comes to the Covid-19 vaccine there are those who are for it and those who are against it. No one can “kind of” get vaccinated.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, however, the Covid-19 ”to vax or not to vax” question is not a right vs. left issue. An NBC News poll from August 2021 found that while a large majority of Democrats has been vaccinated (88 percent) majorities of Republicans (55 percent) and Independents (60 percent) have been vaccinated as well.
The pro-vaccine camp says vaccinations are needed to stop the spread of the virus. But others, such as Dr. Harvey Risch, professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, and Yale Cancer Center, disagrees. He says the vaccines are not curbing the spread of the virus:
“Rapidly waning vaccine efficacy and COVID-19 surges in countries and regions with high vaccination rates – including Israel, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and now Europe, as well as high-vaccination U.S. states like Vermont – are evidence that vaccinated individuals can spread COVID-19 at rates comparable to the unvaccinated. Multiple studies have shown that viral load in vaccinated individuals with COVID-19 is the same as in the unvaccinated.”
What’s more, there is a great deal of contradictory information floating around regarding the vaccines. As such, it is difficult to know what is true in regard to the vaccines. Of course, both sides in the ‘to vax or not to vax’ debate claim to know the truth in regard to the vaccines.
Loving Thy Neighbor
In some instances, however, vaxxing is entirely a religious/moral issue. There is no question that the vaccine is abortion-tainted, even if the taint is remote.
But for many who refuse to get vaxxed it may simply be an “I’m healthy and I’m not afraid of a virus that has an extremely high survivability rate. Why should I take a vaccine that was rushed into production, that has unknown long-term effects, and which could be deleterious to my health and well-being” issue.
Another thing is certain, too. Many of those who are pro-Covid-19-vaccine think all those who are against it are not taking the Common Good into consideration. Many feel quite strongly that the good of society demands everyone get vaccinated. They say it is needed to help curtail the spread of the virus, despite what Dr. Risch says.
Even the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, head bishop in the Church of England, said recently “that turning down the jab violates the principle of “loving thy neighbour.”
And those who are pro-vaccine almost always bring up Pope Francis. He opined that getting vaccinated is a good thing. They usually neglect to mention that he was stating a personal opinion and not Catholic Doctrine. He also did not criticize those who choose not to get vaccinated.
Emotion over Reason
Most often, the pro-vaccine individual will also say “I don’t want to get Covid and I don’t want anyone in my family to get Covid because YOU didn’t get vaccinated.” Such a statement, however, is an overly emotional statement since even those who are vaccinated can catch it and spread it.
Such a statement has no grounding in reason or logic. It’s a bit like saying “All politicians are crooks.”
Militant pro-vaxxers even take it a giant step further.
“I wish what they’d do is pass a law to make you immune from liability if you punch some unvaccinated person right in the face, which I’d really like to do,” said Democratic Party strategist James Carville.
Carville, who is a professed Catholic, went on to say, “If you ask me what’s my first reaction to you if you’re not vaccinated and you don’t have any medical reason not to be, you’re a piece of s**t, OK?” he went on. “I just want to punch you in the God**** face.”
The Common Good
So what is the Common Good? Does it demand that everyone get vaccinated whether they want to or not? Should vaccine mandates be the law of the land?
A universal, agreed-to definition of “the Common Good” would make exploring these questions would be a lot easier. As it stands however, there are many thoughts on what constitutes the Common Good.
A four-minute video entitled “What exactly is the Common Good?” put out by Duquesne University, explores the concept here. It says the definition of Common Good is pretty much a moving target.
Andrew Latham took a look at the common good from the perspectives of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, Catholicism, and St. Augustine of Hippo, recently in an article at Crises.
After taking a look at the three perspectives, Latham asks and answers the key question:
“What public health and other measures related to the current pandemic are required or justified by the common good?” And the answer is…. Well, it’s not clear to me exactly what the answer is.”
Love Your Neighbor
So in Latham’s opinion, it is unclear if the common good requires everyone to get vaxxed. Without an agreed-to, universal definition of the common good, it’s illogical and unreasonable to say the common good requires that everyone get vaccinated.
Is then, the Archbishop of Canterbury correct in his opinion? Does turning down the jab violate the principle of “loving thy neighbour”? In a word, no.
Jesus tells us the second greatest commandment is “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” [MT 22:39].
Key to loving one’s neighbor is to recognize the inherent dignity of one another. As the CCC tells us,
“1738 Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person.”
As Phil Lawler wrote at Catholic Culture recently, “Justice and charity require Christians to take each other seriously – to respect each other’s motives, to listen to each other’s views.”
So loving you neighbor includes respecting your neighbor’s views, even if you disagree with those views. This is why we, as Catholics, must respect those who proudly proclaim their homosexual lifestyle, even while knowing that homosexual acts are “acts of grave depravity” and are “intrinsically disordered.”
In keeping this commandment then, I cannot ask my neighbor to violate the dictates of his or her well-formed conscience just because I am afraid of a virus. The same holds if the situation is reversed. I would also expect my neighbor not to ask me to violate the dictates of my well-formed conscience.
Respect for One Another
There is zero justice, charity, or respect in remarks like “I don’t want to catch Covid, so you need to get vaccinated,” or, “I don’t want my 80-year-old mother to die from Covid because you didn’t get vaccinated.” Such statements exhibit zero love of neighbor or respect for others’ views. They do however, exhibit a lot of selfishness.
So if someone accuses you of not loving your neighbor because you have not been vaccinated, don’t get mad. Gently respond, “Respect for one another is the foundation of loving your neighbor. I respect your views on the vaccine and your right to get vaccinated. But you in turn, have to respect my views and my right to decline the vaccine.”
15 thoughts on “Does ‘The Common Good’ Demand Everyone Get Vaccinated?”
The vaccine mandates go against the Church teaching:
– the Pope issued a note through the CDF that says that vaccination has to be voluntary;
– USCCB Directive 28 in the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services states, “Each person or the person’s surrogate should have access to medical and moral information and counseling so as to be able to form his or her conscience. The free and informed health care decision of the person or the person’s surrogate is to be followed so long as it does not contradict Catholic principles.”
– the safety of the vaccines have not been established well
– a person in good conscience may fear harm from Covid or from the vaccine itself
– a Catholic should form his or her conscience well and follow it.
The data now shows that the vaccines were not that effective in preventing disease transmission and are causing harm. The CDF disclaimed any judgment about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. It’s the proponents of the vaccine mandates who pushed falsehoods to gain compliance.
Thank you, Gene, for pushing back against CaptCrisis. There are plenty of reasons one may choose to not get the vaccine that are not political.
I simply cannot, for the life of me, figure out how in the world the human race existed and the population of the world increased to over 7 billion people (starting from only two people in the garden) WITHOUT the help of vaccines for the common good of everyone! How did Old Testament folks survive to 900+ years without their HepA or annual flu shot?? Did Jesus spend those 2,000 years wringing his sweaty palms, riddled with anxiety and depression (without Prozac or Effexor even!) because proper vaccines hadn’t been developed yet?? Those were scary times, and it sure makes you wonder!
I’m going to be blunt here: the Roman church has long insisted on putting its narrow standards against the common good. A good example is the almost blanket refusal of the church to cooperate with Prohibition (which, after all, was based not only on legislation, but also on constitutional amendment, together which made careful provision for the church’s sacramental needs). Prohibition was obviously, seriously flawed (to put it mildly!); but it was a sincere attempt to cure a crying public health abuse. It deserved much more serious consideration than the church was prepared to give it. The same contempt for the broader public is, I fear, manifested in vaccine refusal.
What are these “narrow standards” you are referring to? The phrase “social justice” was coined by a Catholic Jesuit priest and scholar named Fr. Luigi Taparelli d’Azeglio. He wrote a massive 5-volume treatise on social justice and the common good. Both phrases have since been politicized and “socialized.”
If Catholic teaching on the common good was universally accepted and followed the world would be a much better place.
You might want to familiarize with Catholic Social teaching before you criticize it. Try the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.”
Also many would disagree with your statement that Prohibition was a sincere attempt to cure a crying public health abuse. They would say it was blatant and misguided attempt at social engineering instigated by a very vocal minority. But as the old saying goes, you can’t legislate against stupidity and that is what the Volstead Act tried to do.
Recall that Jesus Himself turned water into wine. There is nothing wrong with alcohol in moderation.
Pingback: MONDAY EDITION – Big Pulpit
“Of course, both sides in the ‘to vax or not to vax’ debate claim to know the truth in regard to the vaccines.” The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is NOT what we know about the vaccines.
Gene, Thank you again for your insights. Your next article: “Why Has so Much Information About Effects of, and Injuries and Deaths Due To the Vaccines Been Obfuscated and/or Intentionally Kept from the Public.?” Many, if not most, of the people on both sides of the debate know very little – they simply trust some people who have told them some things about the vaccines. And every day now we are learning more and more facts that show that the rushed so-called approval of the vaccines was not for health, but for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
I remember that for decades we were told we could not via legislation or even by judicial fiat cram our morality down peoples’ throats re: abortion. Any appeal to an alleged “common good” re: vaccines is an effort to do just that.
Guy, Texas
Refusing to take the vaccine is a form of hating your neighbor.
I don’t buy the “tainted by abortion” excuse. MMR and Hepatitis A vaccines were also developed from fetal stem cells. They’ve been routinely administered for years. Why no protest about that?
This is strictly due to politics, and in particular the fact that conservatives and Republicans have developed a Trump-like, “you can’t make me eat my vegetables!” mentality. Trump, under whom the vaccine was developed, could have vastly helped the situation by going around the country encouraging people to take it. Why not? Because if a lot of people die with Biden as President, it makes Biden look bad. (If you can think of another motivation for Trump’s inaction, I’d like to hear it.) Either consciously or not, Gene and other anti-vaxxers are buying into this pro-death mentality. They will put themselves and their loved ones into danger, even mortal danger, just to “own the libs”.
To reinforce your points.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/584468-people-in-pro-trump-areas-have-ben-nearly-three-times-more-likely-to-die
Careful CaptCrises. Statements like “Gene and other anti-vaxxers are buying into this pro-death mentality” could get you banned. You are attacking me and leveling a false accusation. I’m not an anti-vaxxer. And just what is this “pro-death mentality” you accuse me of buying into? Care to explain it?
You also appear to trying to make this about politics when the data says otherwise. (Not sure where you get your “news” from but Trump did and has encouraged vaccination and was even vaccinated himself.)
And BTW, I had Covid, as did quite a few members of my family, and we all got through it. I refused to buy into the fear and panic that the MSM and many in “the swamp” were peddling. If you are afraid of catching Covid, by all means get vaccinated. But respect for one another is the foundation of loving your neighbor. I respect your views on the vaccine and your right to get vaccinated. But you in turn, have to respect my views and my right to decline the vaccine.
Yes, sorry, Gene, I was getting close to the edge there, and I didn’t mean to say that you were consciously pro death. But lives (and may I point out, mostly Trump-voter lives) are being lost here and I get quite agitated about unnecessary deaths. And I don’t know how to explain, other than by unconscious means, this strange and unprecedented opposition to mandatory vaccination. What about MMR? Hepatitis A? This is new in my lifetime (well, except for John Birch Society opposition to fluoridation, in the early 60s)).
As for Trump, yes, he has come out in favor of vaccination, but only in interviews when he’s specifically asked. Whenever he mentions it in rallies he gets booed and quickly backs down. He, more than anyone, can save thousands of lives. Only he, at a rally, can actually confront the people booing and lay it on the line. He is not enough of an adult to do that. Or do at least a PSA.
I don’t think death discriminates between Trump voters and non-Trump voters or progressives and conservatives. And as you say, when Trump mentions it he gets booed. Maybe he has decided that it’s best to let people make their own decisions about their health.
A HepA vaccine is not required for children going to public schools here in Michigan. The MMR vaccine was only partially developed using embryonic cells. The Measles/Mump vaccines were developed using chicken embryos. Most likely people thought the vaccines in the 70s were still being developed using traditional vaccine development methods. Had we known cells from aborted babies were being used in development of the Rubella vaccine back then there may well have been a hue and cry at that time. It could have been (and should have been) developed using traditional methods. And this is part of the argument against the Covid vaccines. Big Pharma now seems to be reliant on and is using aborted baby cells in whatever way they want. This is wrong.
In any case, you’ve stated your opinion twice and I’ve replied twice. This discussion is closed.
Gene was right that the information about unethical vaccines was hidden from the public during the years when we all received our vaccinations. There are now ethical alternatives. The foremost authorities on vaccines from a Catholic perspective are Debbi Vinnedge from Children of God for Life (https://cogforlife.org/) and Dr. Teresa Deisher from the Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute. (https://soundchoice.org/)
Good article – very well balanced – thank you!
The vaccine should not be mandated, people should have the option to use masks and do periodic testing if they work in an environment that poses a higher risk of contracting the virus instead of being forced to take the vaccine. The governments of Canada and Australia are being far too draconian with their vaccination policies. My state of California is also too draconian. We need to start listening to both sides and find our way back to empathy. We need to turn away from polarization, anger, and the outright hate that is permeating our society. All this angst is the work of the enemy of God and mankind.
Steven,
I agree with some of what you say, but the unvaccinated usually are also the ones who refuse to wear masks and get tested.
Unfortunately this has become a political issue. Look at the difference in death rates after the vaccine`s arrival between counties that went overwhelming for Trump vs for Biden.
Be ready for outbursts of measles,mumps, and polio if optional vaccination becomes the norm.