Trump calls COVID-19 vaccine 'a medical miracle,' but many religious people are skeptical
Weekend Plug-in 🔌
Editor’s note: Every Friday, “Weekend Plug-in” features analysis, fact checking and top headlines from the world of faith. Got feedback or ideas for this column? Email Bobby Ross Jr. at therossnews@gmail.com.
(ANALYSIS) “A medical miracle.”
In a Friday night video, that’s how President Donald Trump characterized the first COVID-19 vaccine approved by the U.S. government.
“We have delivered a safe and effective vaccine in just nine months,” Trump said. “This is one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history.”
But as the New York Times’ Simon Romero and Miriam Jordan note, “A vast majority of people will need to be vaccinated to create a decisive decline in infections.”
However, “only about half of Americans are ready to roll up their sleeves when their turn comes,” report The Associated Press’ Lauran Neergaard and Hannah Fingerhut.
What’s religion got to do with it? (A lot, actually.)
The Times article features a Mississippi pastor named Adam Wyatt who enrolled in a vaccine trial after one of his congregants died of the virus:
Mr. Wyatt views hospital visits as one of his most important obligations as a pastor, and recalls feeling helpless as he gathered with the congregant’s family in a hospital parking lot, barred from entry by pandemic precautions.
But Mr. Wyatt, 38, did not tell many people about his decision afterward to enroll in the trial in Hattiesburg, about an hour’s drive west of his small town. “You hear, ‘This vaccine is the mark of the beast, don’t get this, it’s Bill Gates’s population control, you’ll get the microchips in you,’” he said. “A lot of my folks probably won’t get it.”
Meanwhile, Washington Post religion writer Sarah Pulliam Bailey traveled to Houston to talk to a pastor whose life depends on the vaccine but who faces skeptics within his own church.
Bailey notes that the pastor, Steve Bezner, is high-risk because of heart failures in his 20s. But he serves a congregation where many members “shun masks and don’t take the virus seriously.”
Bailey’s powerful story explains:
Bezner would be less fearful of his congregants if he and enough of them would get vaccinated for the coronavirus. But many of his Southern Baptist parishioners are skeptical of vaccines or completely opposed to getting inoculated, a reflection of broader suspicion of the coronavirus vaccines among many White evangelicals. They are split nearly 50-50 on whether they “definitely/probably” will get the vaccines, according to a November survey by the Pew Research Center, compared to 60 percent of the American population who say the would get them.
At Religion News Service, Jack Jenkins profiles a Washington, D.C., rabbi who participated in a vaccine trial.
“It’s the most important sermon I’ve ever given — by far,” Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, whose shot was captured in a widely distributed photo, told Jenkins.
To counteract skepticism among spiritual flocks, “a growing number of faith leaders and religious groups are following Herzfeld’s lead by promoting the use of vaccines or offering up their facilities to assist with the daunting task of distributing the drugs to hundreds of millions of Americans,” RNS reports.
At Christianity Today, some pastors interviewed by Rebecca Randall “urge vaccination as a form of neighborly love, while others leave it up to conscience.”
Power Up: The Week’s Best Reads
1. Pandemic, loss unite two rural Missouri pastors around faith: Three members of The Associated Press’ global religion team — Luis Andres Henao, David Crary and Jessie Wardarski — tell the story of two disparate but connected congregations.
Amid the challenges of COVID-19, the churches’ pastors seek each other’s counsel and share each other’s joys and burdens, notes the in-depth piece, which mixes a sensitive narrative with compelling photos and video.
2. The rise and fall of Carl Lentz, the celebrity pastor of Hillsong Church: New York Times religion writer Ruth Graham details how Lentz “helped build a megachurch favored by star athletes and entertainers — until some temptations became too much to resist.”
After Graham’s exceptionally revealing story was published on the Times’ front page last Sunday, conservative David French penned an insightful column on “The Crisis of Christian Celebrity.”
In related news, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Stephanie Toone reports that media mogul Tyler Perry has given nearly $100,000 to the disgraced celebrity pastor as Lentz seeks treatment “at an outpatient facility that ‘specializes in depression, anxiety, and pastoral burnout.’”
3. Dave Ramsey, Christian personal finance guru, defies COVID-19 to keep staff at desks: I’ve followed the career of Ramsey for a long time, profiling him for The Associated Press in 2003 and writing about him for Religion News Service in 2009.
But I have to agree with The Washington Post’s Sarah Pulliam Bailey when it comes to this latest news about Ramsey.
“This story is bonkers,” Bailey tweeted about this report by RNS national correspondent Bob Smietana concerning Ramsey’s lackadaisical approach to the pandemic.
Amen.
More Top Reads
• Black pastor leads his white North Carolina church toward a fuller reckoning on race (by Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service)
• Biden could redefine what it means to be ‘a Catholic in good standing’ (by Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post)
• Congress could soon get serious about balancing religious freedom and LGBTQ rights (by Kelsey Dallas, Deseret News)
• Federal executions pit the Trump administration against the Catholic Church (by Tom Gjelten, NPR)
• Drive-thru live Nativities are tailor-made for a COVID-19 Christmas (by Emily McFarlan Miller, RNS)
• Minnesota town votes to allow white supremacist church (by John Reinan, Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
• Religious right eyes Biden warily after Trump’s good favor (by Elana Schor, The Associated Press)
• Supreme Court rules for Muslims placed on no-fly list after refusing to become FBI informants (by Robert Barnes, Washington Post)
• Bill Murray stars in 'The Book of Job,' meant to spur discussion on division in rural Ohio (by Danae King, Columbus Dispatch)
• Biden's HHS pick praised by Catholic Health Association, not by some pro-lifers (by Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter)
Inside The Godbeat: Behind The Bylines
The Associated Press, Religion News Service and The Conversation hosted a Zoom panel last week on “Moving Forward with Faith — Religion and Politics in a Biden Presidency.”
Peter Smith, religion writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and immediate past president of the Religion News Association, moderated the discussion.
If you missed it, you can watch the recording.
Charging Station: In Case You Missed It
Here is where you can catch up on recent news and opinions from Religion Unplugged.
• Will U.S. push for international religious freedom continue under Biden? (by Susan Crabtree)
• Excerpt from ‘Jesus. A World History’: A New Book On The Life And Influence Of Jesus (by Markus Spieker)
• Despite COVID-19 and lockdowns, Angel Tree is bringing Christmas to kids of prisoners (by Micah Danney)
• Religious Freedom Lately: Love Jihad in India, an anti-Semitic town and more (by Timothy Nerozzi)
• A pastor fights to stop old men from marrying young girls in Nigeria (by Linus Unah)
• Why 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' remains beloved by both Christians and non-believers (by Clemente Lisi)
• An Advent vision to inspire equity and strengthen Black communities (by Rev. Khary Bridgewater and Chelsea Langston Bombino)
• India's 'Love Jihad' interfaith marriage story may be political spin, but its effects are real (by Ira Rifkin)
• 5 interfaith leaders answer: Does faith conflict with science during COVID-19? (by Jillian Cheney)
• Tensions rise regarding Holy Communion between Biden and U.S. Catholic bishops (by Terry Mattingly)
• Tribals in India seek census recognition of faith after resolution passes in Jharkhand (by Shuriah Niazi)
The Final Plug
Markus Paul was part of five Super Bowl championships, but Christians at the North Colony Church of Christ, where he had worshiped since moving to Dallas, knew little or nothing about his NFL career.
Paul didn't just talk about this faith.
He lived it.
Paul, 54, collapsed Nov. 24 inside the Dallas Cowboys’ training facility in Frisco, Texas, where he was the team’s strength and conditioning coordinator. He died the next day at a local hospital.
Full disclosure: I assigned and edited this story by Christian Chronicle correspondent Cheryl Mann Bacon, but I highly recommend it. It’s a great read about the off-the-field life of a man more famous for his football career.
Bobby Ross Jr. is a columnist for Religion Unplugged and editor-in-chief of The Christian Chronicle. A former religion writer for The Associated Press and The Oklahoman, Ross has reported from all 50 states and 15 nations. He has covered religion since 1999.