Got religion?

A parable of the faithful

A homeowner opened his front door to a young couple wanting to talk with him. But when he saw the printed material they were holding he politely declined and sent them away. The young man and woman frowned as they left, frustrated and a bit dejected, as this was the 10th homeowner in a row who refused them.

“Don’t they want to be saved? I just can’t believe how blind and stubborn they are,” the woman said to her husband. “I’m beginning to think we should just not take ‘No’ for an answer. This is for their own good.”

“I think you’re right,” he replied. “This is a life and death mission we’re on. It calls for a more forceful approach.”

At the next house a woman opened the door and before she could even ask what the masked couple wanted, the man thrust a pamphlet from the CDC under her nose and said, “Are you vaccinated? If not, you need to let us tell you how you can be saved from COVID.”

“Excuse me? I need no such thing,” the homeowner said. “I have my reasons for not getting the jab, and frankly, they’re none of your business. So, thanks but no thanks.” And with a “Good day” she gently but firmly closed the door on them. And locked it.

The following Sunday the young vaxevangelists were at their weekly mission meeting, where they heard similar stories of recalcitrant anti-vaxxers. Yet the reality of a sizable resistance to faith in the vaccine only strengthened their own faith and fired them up to double-down on their efforts to convert the unbelievers.

But it became increasingly clear that their efforts were being seriously hampered by those who were vocal about their opposition to the faith, and that something needed to be done about it. These heretics must be punished or exiled. They’re responsible for others’ deaths, after all, and are really no better than murderers.

It was with this mindset, and an even more fervent faith, that our vaxevangelists went out on mission again, but this time with a badge, and a warrant.

The parable explained

Those who believe that everyone should be vaccinated against COVID-19 are not at all unlike people of other faiths who think everyone should believe as they do. They hold to a particular doctrine and promulgate it religiously.

Those who oppose forcing everyone to get vaccinated are following their consciences and standing against the tyranny of a state religion that seeks to compel them to believe or suffer the consequences.

It should be obvious that if it’s wrong to force someone to submit to a view of spiritual reality they don’t believe in, it is also wrong to force them to submit to a view of physical reality they don’t believe in.

We are in a battle for religious freedom, and we need to recognize it as such. As I recall, we have a constitutional right to that.