The Ethics of Belief

Epidemics/Pandemics, Ethics, Health, Pluralism, Skeptical Philosophy, The Sleep of Reason, Vaccines

 

One thing I have learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and the measles vaccine fiasco, particularly among Mennonites, is that it is important—vital in fact—that important beliefs are grounded in rational thinking, evidence, and facts.  Wishes are not helpful. Neither, in my view is faith. I know this will be controversial. So be it. More on this later.

 

There was an interesting philosopher in the 19th century in England by the name of William Kingdon Clifford. He is no longer very well-known but he had some good ideas. Some were very controversial. Radical even.  Here is one of those ideas: “ It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” He wrote that in his book The Ethics of Belief which was published in in 1877 or in 1879 depending on whom you believe.

 

Here is another f comment from the same book equally as radical:

 “If a man, holding a belief which he was taught in childhood or persuaded of afterwards, keeps down and pushes away any doubts which arise about it in his mind, purposely avoids the reading of books and the company of men that call in question or discuss it, and regards as impious those questions which cannot easily be asked without disturbing it—the life of that man is one long sin against mankind.”

 

Clifford took beliefs seriously. And I have to agree with him. In simplified terms he believed it was immoral to believe things for which one has insufficient evidence.

 

Here was an example of what he meant by this claim. Clifford told the unhappy tale of a shipowner who was planning to send to sea a shipload of people on a rickety old boat.  The ship-owner had doubts about the seaworthiness of his ship but nonetheless sent ship out to sea anyway heavily loaded with people.  He believed the ship was seaworthy but he really had no good reasons for that belief. In the case of something as important as sending a ship-load of people to sea he ought to have been more careful. He should not have assumed without good evidence that the ship was alright.  Clifford argued, persuasively, to my mind, that the ship owner was guilty of negligence  for the deaths (not murder which requires intent to murder) even though he sincerely believed the ship was sound. According to Clifford “[H]e had no right to believe on such evidence as was before him,” that it was safe to send those people on that ship. His decision was morally wrong. Serious issues require serious deliberation. Clifford said the owner ought  to have checked the boat thoroughly.  He should have examined it carefully, got expert advice if needed, weighed all the evidence with scrutiny and care before sending the vessel out to sea.

 

Clifford would have been appalled by Donald Trump. Why? Because Trump always invariably say he makes his decisions on the basis of instincts. Not evidence! Instincts. I have heard him say that many timers. Instincts are not evidence. Instincts are not reasons. Important decisions, such as decisions about sending a boat load of people to sea must be based on evidence, not instincts or hunches. Important decisions a  president can make such as whether or not he should send bombers around the world to bomb his enemies, or deciding whether captured illegal immigrants should be sent to El Salvador or whether government departments should be closed on account of waste, fraud, and abuse must all be dealt with on the basis of evidence—the best evidence available—and good solid logical reasoning. Not instincts.

 

What does this have to do with Mennonites and vaccines? Everything!

The End Times

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

 

I am still trying to figure out, in a circuitous manner, why Mennonites are at the centre of the Measles epidemic in the United States and Canada. To do that I am recalling the Truckers’ Convoy.

 In Ottawa during the trucker’s convoy, there were abundant Christian sermons and even “Jericho Marches” that circled the Parliament buildings echoing the story in the Bible where the Israelite circled that city for 7 days. On the 7th day they blew their horns and the walls came tumbling down.

In Ottawa a woman draped in a Canadian flag led the march and said, “When we sing, enemies flee,” she said as she entered the grounds of Parliament Hill. Hallelujah, hallelujah.”  The woman was Bonita Pederson from Alberta and she claimed with fervor, “I surrendered to our Lord.” She also said she would not reveal her vaccination status just like Steinbach’s Member of Parliament, Ted Falk.  But Pederson went farther than Falk. She said,” I will give everything I have to the freedom movement. My time, my energy, my money, my resources. If necessary, I will surrender my own freedom and even my life.’ Because that is what it could come to.” In other words, she was filled with religious fervour.

Laurence Leriger, 46, from Niagara, Ont., who was unvaccinated, had until March to get the Covid shots or face losing his job. He wouldn’t get employment insurance either because his departure would be categorized as voluntary leave. He refused the vaccine and was very upset that the government had “crossed the line” by closing churches” to prevent transmission of the coronavirus even though they only closed in person worship services.  He told the CBC in Ottawa:

“I think it’s absolutely appalling… they are holding our livelihood over our heads if we don’t take part in a medical experiment,” said Leriger, standing by the Centennial Flame monument., The very nature of the church is to get together, and the government was trying to rule the church. The government left their sphere of authority…This is wickedness. This is complete rebellion against God.”

 

 

Leriger, who became a Christian at age 30, said his personal trials were only part of what motivated his weekend trips to Ottawa in support of the Freedom Convoy. He felt governments crossed a line by shuttering churches during lockdowns.

 

George Dyck, the good Mennonite from Aylmer Ontario who was interviewed by  CBC radio  demonstrated  what I have been saying, that in large part this movement was being driven by a loss of trust in government and authority. As he said, “I am not sure who you can trust anymore. I lost faith in pretty much everything”.

 George Dyck said during the truckers’ convoy event in Ottawa that he believed there were “shadow powers” behind Prime Minister Trudeau and other world leaders.  As a result, he said this was “just the beginning of a creeping tyranny that will tighten its grip…”We live in the Book of Revelation 100 per cent.”  Talk of pandemics of course energizes the extreme religious views because the book of Revelations is commonly believed among Evangelical Christian to prophecy edict the end times.

To George Dyck his duty was clear:

“If you look at what’s happening, how the government is working. It is step-by-step all in the Book of Revelation. It’s clear as day.”

With pressure mounting on Ottawa police to end the protest and politicians of all stripes condemning the disruptions, Dyck says he knows he’s put all his material possessions on the line for this cause — his career, his rig, his mortgage.

“I have children, they might have children. If we don’t sacrifice everything now, then what kind of future will they have?” he said, “What did Jesus do? He gave it all, he gave everything.”

 

These are things that happen when people expect the ‘end times” are near.  Things get kind of crazy.  Is that what is also happening with the measles pandemic. Is it all part of the end times?

 

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.