In my opinion, the (C-19) unvaccinated are the heroes of the last four years.
In the face of tremendous pressure they allowed us all to have a control group in the great experiment of the Covid Jabgenda. Though marked for special persecution and coercion they stood firm. They showed us the brake pedal while the whole world was accelerating madly towards the cliff of forced compliance.
SDA administrators and doctors (about 90% of them) believed they had logic, love and truth on their side and it was easy to wish ill upon the unvaccinated (as expressed in Church publications). Those SDA’s who ridiculed and mocked the noncompliant did it because they were embarrassed by their courage and principles. To them, we were ‘hostis humani generis’ — enemies of the human race. Outliers from the common good.
Like so many Americans I woke up to a lot of reality during Covid (C-19). I realized there was an agenda being pushed by the media, and powerful government agencies. Just to test it, I posted on Facebook (January 2021) “I wonder if hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin are helpful as an early treatment for C-19? My account was immediately blocked for several days as a punishment for not parroting the C-19 Jabgenda. I didn’t want to be part of that agenda. Most SDA administrators did.
Big Doctor
The SDA church has lots of doctors, and I am grateful for the Health Message insights that many of them bring to work with them. But all of them are little fish in a big pond, conditioned for ten years to be servile to Big Doctor (the medical establishment: WHO, NIH, FDA) if they want a career. After this indoctrination, genuflecting to this system in order to be certified and accepted is an easy bend of the knees on this modern Plain of Dura. We saw this during C-19. Many conservative SDA doctors vigorously defended the Jabgenda — progressive doctors and administrators were worse! The common denominator? Ten to twelve years of indoctrination by Big Doctor.
They aren’t many, but my hat is off to the SDA doctors and nurses who rose up from their genuflection to Big Doctor to stand on their principles during C-19. Their twin principles were,
A healthy regard for the Adventist Health Message found in books that the Lord inspired for our benefit, and
A growing sense of unease at the coercive spirit that had taken over geopolitical world tyrants and collusive institutions. They murmured under their breath “Something ain’t right about this.”
They spoke out about their concerns, paying the price of noncompliance along with the rest of us in the rank and file. They were ridiculed, mocked and placed on the ‘bad list’ by SDA branch Covidians. May their tribe increase.
Coercion
This, to me, is the biggest lesson we learned from Covid. I personally don’t care if people choose to get vaccinated, that is their choice and I’m cool with that. Best of luck to them.
But don’t try to force / coerce the conscience of others who choose natural immunity over the Jabgenda. That brings me to the GC’s oft-cited claim that they gave everyone free choice during Covid. Balderdash, poppycock, and cue the 9th Commandment.
The truth is, they would not help people whose jobs were threatened, and made statements that Adventist should not seek religious exemptions from C-19 coercion. They and the NAD discouraged conferences from letting their pastors write religious exemptions.
They fail to explain why It is Written had to bring an attorney in to get the conference men off their back when they attempted to coerce It Is Written. Hats off, to It is Written.
Our health and education institutions gave their employees the freedom to lose their jobs if they chose to stay vaccine free.
If you worked at the GC and needed to travel on business related work, they would not pay for your travel expenses if you were unvaccinated. Jabgenda. They say they gave people the freedom to choose, the truth is they made it costly if you didn’t choose their way.
When Biden issued an unconstitutional vaccine mandate on September 9, 2021, the GC, and PARL (both of whom are adroitly connected to the United Nations) hastened to support the mandate, while Answers in Genesis, Asbury Theological Seminary, and the SBC Evangelical Seminary all sued to block the mandate. The latter three were vindicated when the supreme court blocked the Biden Mandate as unconstitutional by a vote of 6-3. The GC ended up with soil on their genuflection pants and egg on their face. Zero concern or courage there.
Why We Should be Grateful to the Unvaccinated
The unvaccinated—those who stood firm on personal and biblical conviction, informed conscience, and a trust in natural immunity and the Health Message—became unwitting prophets. They reminded us that principle cannot be surrendered for expediency. They paid the price: lost jobs in Adventist institutions, ridicule in church circles, and separation from community. But in their resistance, they provided the Seventh-day Adventist church with a mirror. Without them, we might have marched lockstep into full compliance, forgetting our historic stand against coercion in matters of conscience.
Now, years later, as excess mortality questions linger, as trust in institutions erodes, and as more voices (even within medicine) acknowledge early treatments were suppressed and risks downplayed, the unvaccinated's quiet courage looks less like rebellion and more like faithfulness. They did us a favor by preserving a remnant of independence in a time of mass conformity.
As end times approach, coercion will return—not over a virus, but over worship. The church that bows to force today will be unprepared to stand tomorrow. Let us honor those who held the line, repent where we participated in the pressure, and recommit to liberty of conscience as a core Adventist value. The unvaccinated didn't just resist an agenda; they helped safeguard our soul as a movement. For that, we owe them profound gratitude.
Their tribe must increase—before it's too late.
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Stay sharp, love God and walk in truth!