Opinion by Richard Sternberg M.D.
Maybe God wants people to be vaccinated

During Hurricane Katrina more than 1,800 people died primarily from flooding caused by the hurricane and by the levees breaking in New Orleans. Many of those who died lived in the city’s ninth ward.

Initially a mandatory evacuation order was sent out but many people ignored it and stayed in their homes. A man, who we will call John and who was very religious, was at home. As the water started to rise, the police started going door-to-door telling people to evacuate. John said to the police, “I’ll be fine because the Lord will protect me.”

The waters continued to rise. They became too high for regular vehicles. The fire department came by on its trucks urging people to evacuate. They offered to take them out of the area. When they got to John though, he said “I’ll be fine because the Lord will protect me.”

The waters continued to rise. John moved up to the second floor in his house. People with boats came and said “Come on, get in. The water will continue to rise and you’re going to be drowned. You have to get out now,” but John responded “I’ll be fine because the Lord will protect me.”
Finally, John climbed to the roof of his house. A Coast Guard helicopter came by and through their loudspeaker yelled down to John, “we are going to drop a harness down for you. Put it on and we will winch you up and take you to safety.” John refused, he responded, “I’ll be fine because the Lord will protect me.”

The waters continued to rise, the house was covered, and John drowned. John, being a very religious man, went straight to heaven where he met the Lord. “Lord, I’ve been a very religious man. I have tried to lead my life at all times following your precepts. I had faith in you. Why did you not rescue me?”
“John,” intoned the Lord, “I sent the police. I sent the firemen. I sent the boats. I sent the helicopter. You have to meet me halfway.”

This is my response to all those who for some reason have now found a religious reason for refusing the vaccination. All major religious authorities state there is no religious contraindication to being vaccinated. I recognize there are certain denominations and sects that almost always refuse medication and medical assistance and I am not including those here, but for the vast majority of people who generally do believe in medicine, who do generally follow their physician’s instructions and recommendations, I strongly question how, when the Lord has given us the tools to fight this terrible disease, they refused to use them, putting themselves and their children in harm’s way.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Who are any of us to say he wants us to refuse help to prevent massive suffering and death? Who are any of us to say that the brilliant people who work trying to save as many human beings as possible, aren’t directly inspired by the Lord to do his good works?

Why do you go running to doctors and nurses to try and save you and your family members and trust the information they give you then, but won’t trust the information they give you to prevent illness in the first place. Yes, there are a handful of instances when vaccinations can’t be given including in the face of acute active cases of COVID, but these are few and far between. Using God as an excuse to avoid getting a vaccination is disingenuous, and in my opinion, contrary to what the Lord wants from us.