Category Archives: Epidemics/Pandemics

Faith Fuels the Resistance

Epidemics/Pandemics, Evangelical Christianity, Health, Mennonites, The Sleep of Reason, Vaccines

 

I noticed that during the Truckers’ Convoy which haunted Ottawa for a few weeks in the winter of 2022, during the end of the pandemic many of the protesters were fueled by faith. Trucker George Dyck, interviewed on CBC radio, and likely a good Mennonite, was not concerned when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threatened to invoke the Emergencies Act even though it could be used to freeze his bank account.

This is what he told Jorge Barrera of CBC News at the time:

“I take it one step at a time,” said Dyck. “In all honesty, God is my shield, and that is what I stand by.”

 Barrera said this in response: “Faith led him to Ottawa, and faith is what keeps him there.” In other words, echoing the words of Bob Dylan in another context, “You don’t count the dead with God on your side.”

In February of 2022 George Dyck, who lives about 600 kilometres southwest of Ottawa in Aylmer, Ontario, the centre of the largest outbreak of measles in North America, Ont., prayed with his wife before going to turn his 18 wheel rig toward Ottawa in order to join a national protest against mask mandates even though they were not imposed by the federal government.  As he told CBC News, “I had the feeling I had to be here,” said the 44-year-old trucker.

 

This strikes as being a religious response. Many of us don’t see how this could be a religious issue, but I think it is for people like George Dyck, and some other Mennonites, and other people too in and around the area of Aylmer. It also strikes me that this is the same as it is for the measles vaccine, which the same people in the same places seem to resist.

 

If it is a religious belief then of course it will be very difficult to dislodge. As John Loftus once said about religious beliefs, “it is impossible to reason someone out of a religious belief, because they did not get the belief by reason.” I am paraphrasing his comments here.

 

Barrera described this incident in Ottawa in 2022:

“Dyck has been parked there for over three weeks and, this past Saturday, his cargo trailer was a refuge from the windchill-edged temperatures of downtown Ottawa, with a handful of chairs toward the back and a propane heater emanating warmth.

 

The words “Freedom Is Essential” are emblazoned in large blue and yellow letters across the side of his charcoal-coloured trailer.

 

At one point, a man shook Dyck’s hand as he left the trailer, a folded $50 bill in his palm. This happens a lot — bills slipped in with a handshake, a smile and a thank you. Dyck often responds with, “God bless you.”

 

The truckers in Ottawa were part of a movement that felt a lot like a religion. As Barrera said,

 

“God keeps telling me to, ‘Stay where you are. Don’t go anywhere. You are doing the right thing,'” Dyck said.

 

Devoted to the cause.

 

Christian faith — with an overtly evangelical feel — flows likes an undercurrent through the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa. 

It’s unclear how many of the roughly 4,000 people who gathered in the Parliament precinct this past weekend call themselves Christians, but the biblical references were everywhere — in the hand-made placards lining the stone and iron fence at the border of Parliament Hill reading, “We are praying for Justin [Trudeau],” quoting parts of Psalm 23 or paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 1:27 in the New Testament:

“God chose the foolish to shame the wisdom of the wise.”

 

 

One thing is clear, the connection between the anti-vaccine movement  has now morphed into the anti-measles vaccine movement and is filled with evangelical exuberance which runs deep.

 

I am a bit uncomfortable living so near to the Church of God Steinbach

Epidemics/Pandemics, Health, Mennonites, reason, The Sleep of Reason, Trust and Distrust

 

The Church of God Restoration, just outside of Steinbach,  received international attention during the Covid-19 pandemic for its refusal to obey government mandates to stop in person religious services contrary to provincial mandates.

 

Now its affiliated church the Church of God Steinbach, which is a block away from our house,  is in the centre of a measles outbreak.  That is disconcertingly close. As with Mennonite communities around North America including Texas, Ontario, Alberta, and now Manitoba, Mennonites are gaining notoriety as a result of their opposition to vaccines.

 

As of a couple of days ago,  Malak Abas of the Winnipeg Free Press reported, “MORE than 100 people have contracted measles in Manitoba this year. There have been 14 confirmed and four probable cases in June, as per data accurate as of Wednesday.”

Malak Abas also reported this:

“Four new locations in southern Manitoba were pinpointed as possible exposure sites to measles Tuesday: Triangle Oasis Restaurant in Winkler, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on June 11, VB’s Entertainment Center in Winkler, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on June 9, The Manitou Motor Inn’s bar, from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on June 9 and Steinbach Church of God in Steinbach from 9:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 1.”

 

Please note these are all in the Mennonite Bible belt of Manitoba.

I am getting uncomfortable here. Among Mennonites. My people. This seems to be a place where reason has gone to sleep. And as Goya said, “the sleep of reasons brings forth monsters.” I know I keep repeating this, but its important.

 

Unfortunately, all the Mennonites in Manitoba’s Bible Belt are not as wise as John Neufeld

Epidemics/Pandemics, Mennonites, The Sleep of Reason, Vaccines

 

As expected, the measles diseases is rolling through the Mennonite Communities of Manitoba, just like they did in Texas, Ontarioi. Alberta, and now southern Manitoba. And guess what, I wish everyone there was as wise as John Neufeld. Not me, but Jonny Neufeld the co-owner of the Triangle Oasis Restaurant, a family restaurant in Winkler Manitoba home to some of the most extreme Mennonites in the province. This is the same town that was at the centre of covid denial during the pandemic.

 

Jonny Neufeld was paying special attention because many of this staff were related to each other so that if one got measles it might quickly spread through his staff. So Jonny Neufeld paid care and attention to take care of his staff, but even then, his restaurant was an exposure site. Sadly, his fellow Winklerites did not take such cares.

 

He’s watched as the number of exposure sites in Winkler rose. While he is immune through childhood immunization, he’s concerned for others in the community. He said thisto ther Winnipeg Free Press: “I feel like there’s a vaccine for it, and people that aren’t taking it are crazy,” he said. Makes sense doesn’t it? Unsurprisingly, someone with the name of John Neufeld is sound and rational. If only the other Mennonites in Winkler were that wise. Then there would likely be no outbreaks there. But they are not so rational.

 

Jonny Neufeld also said this: “People (have) been taking that vaccine for years, and more and more people here aren’t taking it for their kids, and it’s just like, what are they thinking? (Measles) kills.” Neufeld believes that because of the negative views of vaccines that appeared in Winkler during the Covid-19 pandemic, such views are still prevalent in there. In other words, they still don’t trust the government. As he said, “Because of the COVID vaccine, I guess, people don’t want to take any kind of vaccine.”  

 

There is one more factor that ought to make people more rational about measles than they were about Covid-19. This is the fact that the Covid-19 vaccines were new. In fact, many of the covid-deniers thought the government  raced them through the scientific testing without adequate precautions and tests. That speed made them suspicious about the government who, they believed, rushed the vaccine through the approval process.

 

But measles vaccines have been around for decades and have been tried and tested by millions of people who took the vaccine. The problems were very few and far between.

 

Unfortunately, not everyone in the Winkler area is as wise as John Neufeld!

Alberta in trouble too

Epidemics/Pandemics, Trust and Distrust, Vaccines

 

Dr. Lenora Saxinger an infectious disease specialist was interviewed by the CBC producers of a CBC podcast and she confirmed that in Alberta they found the measles was concentrated in the southern part of the province which had a large member of Mennonites too. By now that should surprise no one. The disease does not spread as fast in other areas because there are higher vaccination rates there. Clearly, the higher the rates of vaccination the better the people are being defended by vaccines.  It would be nice if all Mennonites, and others too,  understood that simple fact. She did not point the finger specifically at Mennonites. She pointed the finger at areas with close-knit groups of people who shared views about things like the untrustworthiness of vaccinations.

 

This has happened in more than 1 religious and cultural group. Other groups that had such problems thought the same way as Mennonites. She suggested it was important to get a “local religious influencer on board.” It is difficult though because there are a lot of “self-reinforcing beliefs” in some groups.

 

Matt Galloway of CBC reminded us that this was a serious disease and it affected children in 75% of the Alberta cases. Dr. Saxinger confirmed that even though a lot of people survived measles  in the 50s and 60s (including me) it can have serious long-term effects. It is a disease we should treat seriously. Even though about 1 in a thousand died from it, a much higher percentage of about 10 to 20% had ear infections, pneumonia which are not necessarily trivial diseases. She added that even for adults there is a “not insignificant rate of hospitalization from it. It isa serious whole body viral ailment that can affect every organ system and “its miserable at the best and deadly at the worst.”

 

Dr. Saxinger also warned us when todays doctor’s starting practicing there were as few as 10 case of measles per year. That has changed to 1,500 per year, or even more. And this years’ rate of measles is 10 times higher than last year! Unfortunately, she said, “covid accelerated anti-vaccine sentiment and elevated conspiracy thinking. It reduced trust.”

Of course this distrust has been amplified by issues surrounding Measles vaccines. It is not just Mennonites that distrust government and health officials. Distrust by now is widespread. And we are all paying a price for that distrust. I wish it weren’t so.

Sense and Nonsense in Aylmer Ontario

Epidemics/Pandemics, Mennonites, The Sleep of Reason, Trust and Distrust

 

A current hotspot for measles is in Aylmer Ontario. That is an area where many drive horse and buggies.

 

As Matt Galloway said on CBC radio The Current said, “the measles cases in Ontario are concentrated in the southwest part of Ontario.”  Why your ask? Mennonites of course. As Galloway said:

“It is ground zero for the measles outbreak in the south west part of that province (Ontario) in the Mennonite community where vaccination rates are low.” James Shirani took a trip though that area and said this Mennonite country was ground zero in the measles outbreak.”

 

He drove to a restaurant called Mennomex and talked to Nancy Thiessen who seems to have contracted measles from her contact with her unvaccinated granddaughter. All of her grandchildren are not vaccinated. But she said, “I’m not really worried about it.” Why worry? Life is simple. Or is it?

 

Shirani confirmed that from his talks to Mennonite theologians there was nothing in the Mennonite religion to suggest vaccines were contrary to their religion, but there was a high level of distrust among some Mennonites of the medical system and the government.

 

Shirani interviewed a woman who said “there was nothing good in those vaccines. Nothing in there is going to do you any good at all.”  She was standing beside a garden and Shirani asked her what she did to protect herself.  Her answer was “we pick those yellow things. And those purple things. They do more for us than anything ever could…Dandelions darling. I know dandelions! And strawberries. You can use the leaves as well.”

  So instead of trusting modern medicines she trusted dandelions, violets and strawberries!”

 

Shirani asked her what she thought of vaccines. “Vaccines are not a requirement for us. There’s dirt in there than of any well-being. Grandma grew up without them and so can we.”

 

He also spoke to David Ayoki who is the Chief nursing officer at Waterloo where there is according to Shirani, the greatest diversity of Mennonites in the all of Canada.  Some of them speak low German he said. He said Covid had created a divide between the local Mennonites and public health. The tried to build trust over time, but things like isolation and being kept away from their churches did not help to build the trust they needed.

 

The local health authorities say that measles is disproportionately affecting Mennonites.

Holly Silverhorn a local business woman was interviewed and said the people who were being infected by this preventable disease had not been vaccinated and did not seem to understand vaccines at all. Stigma and finger pointing will just make things worse. That might cause them to pull away even further from public health.

Religious Vaccine Exemptions

Epidemics/Pandemics, Mennonites, Trust and Distrust

 

I recall that during the Covid-19 pandemic religion became intertwined in the vaccine issue.  To me that seemed weird. What do vaccines have to do with religion?

 

Well religion is involved in many issues: sex, gender, politics, war, and many others. So why not vaccines too?

 

For a while, some people were requesting religious exemptions for vaccine mandates. I was puzzled by this.

 

Mennonite Church Canada (often called The General Conference of Mennonites) got involved and published this in its October 1, 2021 edition of Canadian Mennonite:

 

“Mennonite Church Canada’s executive ministers released a statement earlier this week responding to inquiries from constituents regarding exemption from COVID-19 vaccines.

 

The message, signed by Doug Klassen (Mennonite Church Canada), Garry Janzen (MC B.C.), Tim Wiebe-Neufeld (MC Alberta), Ryan Siemens (MC Saskatchewan), Michael Pahl (MC Manitoba) and Leah Reesor-Keller (MC Eastern Canada), states the following:

 

For a religious exemption to be granted, rationale for exemption must be clearly indicated within our sacred texts or confessional statements.

We wish to clarify that there is nothing in the Bible, in our historic confessions of faith, in our theology or in our ecclesiology that justifies granting a religious exemption from vaccinations against COVID-19.

“I have heard concerns from some members of our constituency regarding the vaccines. However, we do not believe these concerns justify an exemption from COVID-19 vaccinations on religious grounds from within a Mennonite faith tradition.”

 

 

Other religious groups felt differently. In Winnipeg the Springs Church, which is attended by many Mennonites but I don’t believe is affiliated with any Mennonite organizations, made the decision to provide religious exemptions to their members.

 

The Canadian Mennonite justified their position this way:

“For a religious exemption to be granted, rationale for exemption must be clearly indicated within our sacred texts or confessional statements.

We wish to clarify that there is nothing in the Bible, in our historic confessions of faith, in our theology or in our ecclesiology that justifies granting a religious exemption from vaccinations against COVID-19.

We have heard concerns from some members of our constituency regarding the vaccines. However, we do not believe these concerns justify an exemption from COVID-19 vaccinations on religious grounds from within a Mennonite faith tradition.”

 

Presumably similar issues would apply in the case of measles vaccines though they have been around for decades.

 

Mennonites are a very diverse group. But the facts clearly indicate that many communities with large numbers of Mennonites also have large numbers of people who decline to take vaccines. This is particularly true in those communities where there is a significant distrust of government and authority. That is why some governments have chosen to provide messaging to the people in Low German. I believe that in the areas particularly hard hit by measles in Ontario, there are significant numbers of such Mennonites.

 

The Wrong Approach

Epidemics/Pandemics, Mennonites, Vaccines

 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the Secretary of Health and Services appointed by Trump has noticed the significance of Mennonite to the measles outbreak in the US. He like many Mennonites has given a lot of attention to unconventional possible cures while neglecting to make it clear to people that there is a solution to this problem of measles—vaccines.  As Teddy Rosenbluth of the New York Times, said this:

“Critics have said Mr. Kennedy has focused too much on untested treatments — such as cod liver oil supplements — and offered only muted support for the measles vaccine, which studies show is 97 percent effective in preventing infection. The decision to put more resources into potential treatments, rather than urging vaccination, could have consequences at the center of the outbreak.””

 

And that puts Mennonites at the centre of the outbreak.

As Jennifer Nuzzo an epidemiologist at Brown University pointed out, such actions send the wrong signal. There is a solution—vaccines. Looking for other “cures” is not helpful. At least not to the exclusion of using those vaccines.

 

Michael Osterholm an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, has also said scientists have already thoroughly studied various vitamins and medication.. We should always be alert to the possibility of better approaches, but we should not ignore  that 97% of measles cases can be avoided by taking vaccines and nothing should be done to turn people away from them.

 

Of course, some Mennonites have been rather creative in their approaches to health.  In the US Kennedy has gone out of his way to support Mennonites. As Rosenbluth the New York Times reporter said,

 

But, he said, “Our commitment is to support all families, regardless of their vaccination status, in reducing the risk of hospitalization, serious complications and death from measles.”

 

As an example of such a community, Mr. Kennedy pointed to the Mennonites in West Texas, who have experienced the brunt of the cases and hospitalizations in the current outbreak.

 

Perhaps by accommodating Mennonites stranfe views Kennedy has been making things worse. Mennonites seem attracted to Kennedy and others with views that are either hostile to vaccines, or at least indifferent to them. As Rosenbluth reported,

 

“Dr. Osterholm said Mr. Kennedy’s plan also assumed that people’s beliefs about vaccines were fixed, when in reality, clear information about their purpose and safety had encouraged thousands of vaccinations in past outbreaks.

Despite Mr. Kennedy’s claims that Mennonites have “religious objections” to shots because they contain “fetus debris,” historians who study the community say it has no religious doctrine that bans vaccination, and vaccine experts say there is no fetal tissue in the M.M.R. shot.

Local doctors have instead pointed to misinformation about the safety of the shot — which Mr. Kennedy has helped perpetuate — as the primary reason their Mennonite patients opt their children out of vaccination.

 

So why are Mennonites so attracted to scientifically heretical ideas? Where does all this misinformation come from? I will look for answers at Ontario in my next post.

 

A Sad Tale of Measles in Canada

Epidemics/Pandemics, Health, Trust and Distrust, Vaccines

 

In 1988 Canada declared measles was totally eliminated from the country.  That was a happy day. But that was then; this is now. Sadly, things have changed and not for the better.  And Mennonites are central to this sad tale.

First, let’s look at Ontario, then let’s look at Alberta, and then Manitoba.

In May of this year, just over a month ago, CBC’s podcast  Front Burner tackled the subject of what it called “a measles epidemic in Canada.”  That is pretty strong language. Is it justified?

On that show Jayme Poisson pointed out that “Measles case numbers in Ontario are higher than the total registered cases of the entire United States. As of today, it is 1,646 cases since January.” Shockingly, she pointed out that measles was spreading on a per capita basis even faster in Alberta!

 Public health experts have said that unless Canada turns this around measles will again be endemic to our country. Why?  Because ignorance is on the rise. She did not say that. I said that.

CBC senior health reporter Jennifer Yoon explained how things had got out of control in Canada.

Hm. Just sticking with Ontario here, what do we know about how this outbreak started and spread? Yoon then jumped right in to a Mennonite connection:

 

“We know that it really started in October. So there was a wedding, a Mennonite wedding, in New Brunswick. Somebody went to the wedding and then came back to Ontario, and they started spreading measles. Public health officials said they never really got it under control, and the cases that we’re seeing right now are by and large connected with that outbreak. Not all, but most of them are.”

 

Think about that “most” measles cases in Canada are connected to that outbreak.  Poisson stepped in to make it clear that the CBC did not want to be heard blaming Mennonites. It wouldn’t do for the CBC to do that. This is what she said,

 

“I wanna be careful here about not blaming or unfairly singling out Mennonite communities, because, of course, we know that there are cases not in Mennonite communities. But we do know also that many of the outbreaks in the U.S. as well have been in Mennonite and other Anabaptist communities. And what do we know about why that is?”

I of course have no such limitations. Actually I do. I live here and would prefer not to be run out of town. Yoon did not want to stigmatize Mennonites:

 

“So what you said there about stigma is absolutely what public health officials are thinking about. We know for sure that these are communities that, um, have historic objections for vaccinations for generations. Public health officials have said that they have religious objections, they have historically low vaccination rates. But some of them have not said that these are Mennonite communities. Ontario’s top doctor, Kieran Moore, did come out at the beginning and said that these are Mennonite communities. But it doesn’t really matter if you’re Mennonite or not. If you’re unvaccinated, you’re not protected. So that’s the kind of messaging that public health has been trying to give.”

 

Let me say that I was brought up in a Mennonite community and attended regularly, a Mennonite church until I was 18.  And I have never heard anything about the ill effects of vaccines in church.  But a lot has changed since I was 18. Some Mennonites—not all—have developed some strange ideas about vaccines.

This issue came up in 2021 when there were discussions about religious freedom and Covid-19 vaccines. This astonished me. Like I said, I had never heard in our church or anywhere else that this was a religious issue.

What does religion have to do with vaccines? That’s for my next post.