God and Nature Spring 2021
The COVID-19 Vaccine Cannot Save America |
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By Mario Anthony Russo
We are all tired of the COVID. Tired of hearing about it. Tired of arguing about it. Tired of restrictions and mask requirements. In Germany (where I live), we entered a second lockdown in November of 2020 that was supposed to last for 30 days. It has been extended six times, most recently through April 2021. There is no telling how long restriction measures will last, but there can be no doubt that we are ready for them to end. We are ready for the COVID-19 vaccine. But what are we to make of this weird tension between wanting to be safe and healthy, yet not wanting to follow certain restrictions?
If we are honest with ourselves, we do not simply want the COVID-19 vaccine for the health and protection of ourselves and loved ones. Of course, we want our loved ones to be safe and healthy, but some of us want to go back to things being “normal.” We want to get back the routine and predictability of life. Other Americans, however, fear a return to “the way things were.” They see this as an opportunity for change. Either way, Americans are looking to the COVID-19 vaccine to signal the end of life as it is now. America’s hope is in the COVID-19 vaccine.
"We all want the pandemic to end, but what we want to happen after that is where opinions start to differ." |
But maybe that is asking too much of the vaccine. And maybe a return to “normal life” is impossible. Maybe a new way forward is the only way forward. What we have learned about the spiritual health of America in the wake of the Corona pandemic is seriously concerning. It is something we must deal with. And as helpful as the vaccine will be in moving forward, America needs more than a vaccine to save it.
Welcoming the Vaccine
Vaccines can be a controversial topic in the United States. Some parents refuse to vaccinate their children. According to an August 2020 Gallup poll, over one-third of Americans would have refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine if it had been available then. In February 2021, when vaccinations were well under way, those numbers had improved somewhat, with 71% saying the want to get the vaccine. But even though Americans are hoping for the vaccine to end the pandemic, many are hesitant to get it themselves.
It is important to emphasize that vaccines are safe and effective. Potential adverse effects are extremely rare, and vaccines have saved many of us from numerous diseases, including polio, hepatitis, smallpox, tetanus, tuberculosis, diphtheria, malaria, and measles.
All three COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States work well, and eventually we will reach herd immunity. Why, then, won’t things “go back to normal”? Why won’t a COVID-19 vaccine save America?
Why a COVID-19 Vaccine Will Not Save America
We are all hoping for things to return to the way things were as regards lockdowns and social distancing, but many Americans are also hoping to make some dramatic social changes. We all want the pandemic to end, but what we want to happen after that is where opinions start to differ. The COVID-19 vaccine may make America immune to the Coronavirus, but it will do nothing to rescue us from the many social injustices that Americans must face in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. America needs a spiritual awakening.
One of the things the pandemic did was provide the right amount of heat to an already boiling pot. It brought out some of the worst in Americans. This year has been the perfect storm of unrest that has revealed some deep spiritual flaws in the nation. The pressure and stress of bearing the COVID-19 pandemic helped bring those flaws to our collective attention.
Combining the many social issues Americans are facing with the pandemic, this year feels like a bad dream from which we just cannot seem to wake up. We are facing political division and sharp discourse, lack of unity as a nation, the failure of evangelical Christian leadership through the scandals of Jerry Falwell Jr., Ravi Zacharias, Carl Lentz, and others, social unrest and nationwide protests related to systemic racial injustice and police shootings, an increase in the number and severity of natural disasters, QAnon conspiracy theories, even division over the presidential election results… And perhaps we have barely begun to scratch the surface.
With these issues now on the collective minds of Americans, and many picking sides and digging in, the simple reality is “the way things were” no longer exists. There is no going back to “the good old days” because what we are learning now is that for so many Americans the old days were not so good. Like when we squeeze too hard on the toothpaste, America’s true sickness, its sinful spiritual state, is spilling out, and we cannot put it back in the tube.
America has a lot of questions to answer, a lot of injustices to right, a lot of sins of which to repent. It is time for the country to face reality. COVID-19 is not the problem; it was merely the fist squeezing on the tube. What we are seeing today—the failure of ministry and political leaders, the unmasking of social injustices, and the sharp divisions between us—are things against which there is not and will never be a vaccine.
It is fine to want to return to attending sporting events and church services. It is perfectly reasonable to want to never wear a mask in public again or stand six feet from someone else in a line. All of these are good desires. But returning to an America where social injustices go unaddressed and unchanged, Christian leaders continue to perpetuate abuse, and suspicion (rather than love) for your neighbor is the prevalent attitude is simply not an option. America must move forward by making the necessary social changes. It must address its social injustices head on.
The COVID-19 vaccine may save us from physical disease, but it will not change what the pandemic revealed about America’s spiritual state. Our inherent tendency to rebel against authority and truth, and to propagate rather than fight injustice, is not the result of a virus but of a sinful condition—the only remedy for which is Jesus Christ. Fortunately, His remedy for our sin was provided a long time ago. The question is, how will America respond to Him?
Mario A. Russo is the Director of the Dortmund Center for Science and Faith. He earned a Doctor of Ministry from Erskine College and Seminary, a Master of Arts Religion from Reformed Theological Seminary, and an Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Psychology from the University of South Carolina. He has written and spoken on various platforms about issues related to science and faith for over 15 years. He lives in Dortmund, Germany, with his wife and two children.
Welcoming the Vaccine
Vaccines can be a controversial topic in the United States. Some parents refuse to vaccinate their children. According to an August 2020 Gallup poll, over one-third of Americans would have refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine if it had been available then. In February 2021, when vaccinations were well under way, those numbers had improved somewhat, with 71% saying the want to get the vaccine. But even though Americans are hoping for the vaccine to end the pandemic, many are hesitant to get it themselves.
It is important to emphasize that vaccines are safe and effective. Potential adverse effects are extremely rare, and vaccines have saved many of us from numerous diseases, including polio, hepatitis, smallpox, tetanus, tuberculosis, diphtheria, malaria, and measles.
All three COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States work well, and eventually we will reach herd immunity. Why, then, won’t things “go back to normal”? Why won’t a COVID-19 vaccine save America?
Why a COVID-19 Vaccine Will Not Save America
We are all hoping for things to return to the way things were as regards lockdowns and social distancing, but many Americans are also hoping to make some dramatic social changes. We all want the pandemic to end, but what we want to happen after that is where opinions start to differ. The COVID-19 vaccine may make America immune to the Coronavirus, but it will do nothing to rescue us from the many social injustices that Americans must face in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. America needs a spiritual awakening.
One of the things the pandemic did was provide the right amount of heat to an already boiling pot. It brought out some of the worst in Americans. This year has been the perfect storm of unrest that has revealed some deep spiritual flaws in the nation. The pressure and stress of bearing the COVID-19 pandemic helped bring those flaws to our collective attention.
Combining the many social issues Americans are facing with the pandemic, this year feels like a bad dream from which we just cannot seem to wake up. We are facing political division and sharp discourse, lack of unity as a nation, the failure of evangelical Christian leadership through the scandals of Jerry Falwell Jr., Ravi Zacharias, Carl Lentz, and others, social unrest and nationwide protests related to systemic racial injustice and police shootings, an increase in the number and severity of natural disasters, QAnon conspiracy theories, even division over the presidential election results… And perhaps we have barely begun to scratch the surface.
With these issues now on the collective minds of Americans, and many picking sides and digging in, the simple reality is “the way things were” no longer exists. There is no going back to “the good old days” because what we are learning now is that for so many Americans the old days were not so good. Like when we squeeze too hard on the toothpaste, America’s true sickness, its sinful spiritual state, is spilling out, and we cannot put it back in the tube.
America has a lot of questions to answer, a lot of injustices to right, a lot of sins of which to repent. It is time for the country to face reality. COVID-19 is not the problem; it was merely the fist squeezing on the tube. What we are seeing today—the failure of ministry and political leaders, the unmasking of social injustices, and the sharp divisions between us—are things against which there is not and will never be a vaccine.
It is fine to want to return to attending sporting events and church services. It is perfectly reasonable to want to never wear a mask in public again or stand six feet from someone else in a line. All of these are good desires. But returning to an America where social injustices go unaddressed and unchanged, Christian leaders continue to perpetuate abuse, and suspicion (rather than love) for your neighbor is the prevalent attitude is simply not an option. America must move forward by making the necessary social changes. It must address its social injustices head on.
The COVID-19 vaccine may save us from physical disease, but it will not change what the pandemic revealed about America’s spiritual state. Our inherent tendency to rebel against authority and truth, and to propagate rather than fight injustice, is not the result of a virus but of a sinful condition—the only remedy for which is Jesus Christ. Fortunately, His remedy for our sin was provided a long time ago. The question is, how will America respond to Him?
Mario A. Russo is the Director of the Dortmund Center for Science and Faith. He earned a Doctor of Ministry from Erskine College and Seminary, a Master of Arts Religion from Reformed Theological Seminary, and an Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Psychology from the University of South Carolina. He has written and spoken on various platforms about issues related to science and faith for over 15 years. He lives in Dortmund, Germany, with his wife and two children.