Some within the Christian community have encouraged others to take the Vaccine (John Piper, who I otherwise respect - and others - would be high profile examples). Their reasoning? It is the loving thing to do i.e. it is loving our neighbor.
However, the question isn't whether we should love our neighbor or not but how do we best do so. The answer is not as black-and-white as we would like. There are several parts to this.
To be an expert in one area does not make one an expert in all areas. Pastor's and theologians generally are trained and gifted in their field of discipline but few of them are doctors or Medical experts. They should be careful therefore in advising people on medical decisions. That's not to say they should never give advice outside of their training as long as they've done their due diligence in that area.
Generally however, I would not go to a pastor to fix my car or plumbing or ask where to invest my money unless he had expertise in those areas. The medical field is far more involved then cars, plumbing and investments.
Unfortunately it also appears that many pastors are not aware of how the medical community is influenced by big money/pharma. The advice given by some at the top of the medical world is heavily influenced by money instead of hard scientific evidence. The breakdown of morality in culture is far greater then many recognize. Unfortunately many love mammon (money) more than God.
In addition, if the vaccine was effective and there was no better way to address this bug then the vaccine would be the loving course to take.
However as time has gone on it has proven to have minimal benefits and substantial (sometimes deadly) side effects. Certainly enough to cause us to legitimately pause and ask questions. To be pressured to make such a decision is unloving at best. More and more information is coming out that the vaccine is not the best option and could also be extremely harmful.
To mandate it also violates our freedom to address our health according our conscience. Especially if there are other more effective and proven treatments.
If the vaccine resulted in harm to you or me that would impair our ability to love our neighbor not aid it. The greater the harm the less I am able to love and serve others i.e. it would result in the opposte of loving my neighbor.
The good news is there are many other options (strengthening our own immunity, heard immunity, various therapeutic or holistic treatments). But for some reason these options - and those mentioning them - are either being suppressed, hidden, or vilified.
Why is there such a huge effort made to discredit or hide these options. This deliberate effort to suppress discussion or discredit information about other options should give us pause. To expect us to blindly accept advice of those who have proven either to be wrong or outright misleading (not Piper but so called medical experts) is not prudent or loving others well. It behooves us to do our due diligence when making such a significant decision or advising others to do so. As the saying goes haste (created by a supposed emergency which in turn creates fear) makes waste. On the coat tails of fear deception rides. The whole push for a vaccine is rooted in fear. Fear is rarely the soil out of which wise choices grow. In this case what's at stake is far more significant than waste.
