Articles by Herschel Smith

Just a quick note to let readers know that there is a new featured article at the top of the web site, Religious Exemption To Mandatory Covid Vaccination.

It’s easy to miss the featured articles.

Ammoland.

There’s a “virus” — far more deadly than COVID-19 — spreading in North Carolina. This is the plague of gun control, which has historically been used by tyrants to kill hundreds of millions of people.

The latest “epidemic” is coming from local ordinances that are being rewritten to effectively ban shooting on private property.

North Carolina law is requiring local ordinances to be updated and reorganized.

While getting rid of old and obsolete ordinances is probably a good idea, anti-gunners are trying to sneak in restrictions that should gravely concern property owners and gun owners.
Consider, in Rockingham County, a proposed ordinance would have required a shooter to not only be a half-mile from any residence to discharge a firearm, but also have a 15-foot berm as a backstop.

Any gun owner can see how ridiculous, impractical, and unenforceable this proposal was. If this went into effect, shooting on private property in Rockingham would have been effectively outlawed, unless a landowner owned significant acreage with few neighbors.

Thankfully, due to the outcry from gun owners — especially those who flooded the County Commissioner’s meeting — the proposal was fully withdrawn.
Another attack on private shooting occurred just to the South in Guilford County. The Democrat-led commission sought to require over 16 acres of land to comply with the ordinance and discharge a firearm on one’s own property.

Gun owners again turned out in large numbers and flooded the chambers to oppose the proposal. Of the members of the public who signed up to speak, nine supported the restriction, but thirty-five signed up opposed. Andy Stevens, my colleague at GOA, and I both spoke out against the ordinance.

It appears the surge of emails and residents flooding the Commissioner’s meeting has worked — at least for now. As of the time this article was written, Guilford has backed away from further restricting private property shooting.

Yet, the attack on private property and shooting did not end in Guilford. Just an hour’s drive down Interstate 85, Cabarrus County also considered a private property shooting ban. This Ordinance required effectively 23 acres of land to shoot on one’s own property unless one had written permission from his or her neighbors.

Again, due to the turnout of gun owners, the idea was tabled for a later meeting.

Thanks to Jordon Stein for pointing this out.  I live in North Carolina and didn’t know this.  The controllers never sleep and always look for more ways to control others.  We must stay vigilant.

I authored this paper for an individual who wishes that the name be removed.  The name has been redacted from the copy provided here.

In order to assist the reader with a framework for understanding this paper, it should first be emphasized that it is written from a very specific theological perspective.  The necessary presuppositions are outlined at the beginning.

It could of course be objected that there may be other (what I am calling “committed Christians”) who do not hold one or more of the views expressed here.  The intent is not to engage a theological debate.  I could very well do that, but it is best left to another occasion.

Presuppositions are axiomatic irreducibles.  They are the necessary starting points for discourse, not the subject of proof.  For more on that, see Alvin Plantinga, Gordon Clark, Greg Bahnsen, John Frame and others, or any basic course in logic.  As I’ve explained in the paper, if one holds different presuppositions, he will [necessarily] come to different conclusions.

That doesn’t mean that presuppositions are arbitrary.  Some are properly basic and foundational, and they are always subject to interrogation for whether they can be successfully used to build a coherent world and life view, whether they can be shown to be logically compatible, and whether they are existentially pleasing and answer man’s basic questions about life.  None of that occurs in this paper.  That’s not its design.  That’s best left to another occasion for readers interested enough to return.

The conclusions in this paper might find a welcome home with, say, Doug Wilson’s church in Moscow, ID, or Apologia in Mesa, AZ, or John MacAuthur’s church in Sun Valley, California.  On the other hand, they might evoke laughter in the National Cathedral.  I am as settled with the potential willing acceptance as I am the laughter of Hyenas.  It doesn’t matter to me any more than the price of eggs in Siberia.

This paper will be meaningless to some readers.  It might assist others.  That’s up the reader.

Warning up front: I am attaching at PDF of the paper here (Religious_Exemption_Modified).  It has the full list of footnotes and references (36 in all).  I’ve included footnotes by copy/paste below, but I regret the way WordPress incorporates them.  If you wish to read what I consider to be a “cleaner” document, download the PDF.

Thus the paper begins.

Religious Exemption from Forced Vaccination

[name redacted]

Basis and Preliminaries

The presuppositions behind this position statement follow: [a] The Holy Scriptures are inerrant in the Autographa (αὐτόγραφος), and protected in transmission by God’s wise providence, [b] The Holy Scriptures has many authors but one singular author, God Himself, as the authors were inspired by the Holy Spirit, [c] The Holy Scriptures are internally coherent and logical in all of its parts, and does not contradict itself, [d] God has given mankind all we need to make ethical judgments that comport with His will for our lives,[1] and [e] The Holy Scriptures are perspicuous and clear enough to make ethical judgments.  We cannot issue a Linux ‘grep’ command to interrogate God’s knowledge on a particular subject, for such a script would never end in our lifetimes and God has not subjected Himself to His creatures in such a manner.  God has not given us comprehensive knowledge of Himself or the world, nevertheless, everything necessary for obedience has been properly cataloged for us,[2] or by “good and necessary consequence” may be deduced from the Holy Scriptures.[3]  Finally, it is sinful and abhorrent to God to dishonor lawful oaths and vows.[4]  Differences in presuppositions will lead to different conclusions than outlined herein.  My presuppositions are my own, and I am entitled to them and in fact theologically bound by them.

The Biblical View of Abortion

The testimony of the Holy Scriptures is uniformly that life begins at conception.  In Psalm 139:13-18, David speaks of himself using first person, present tense pronouns.  As an example of the legal protections afforded the unborn, we may cite Exodus 21:22-25.  Psalm 51:5 and Jeremiah 1:5 assign a moral status to the unborn child, something that can only obtain upon the presupposition of ontological unity of body and soul.  Luke 1:15, 41 and 44 notes that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit in utero.

This pattern is seen throughout Scripture where those in the womb are commonly referred to by the same language used of persons already born.[5]  These citations are sufficient to explain the fact that, Biblically considered, life begins at conception, but this list is not all-inclusive and these aren’t the only passages or references that could be produced.[6]

The Testimony of the Church on Abortion

The only historically consistent position against abortion has come from classical Christianity.  Various writings of the early church contain references to abortion, always in a tone of condemnation.  The Didache, Epistle of Barnabas, Apocalypse of Peter, the Council of Elvira, The Council of Chalcedon, and the Council of Ancyra condemn abortion and infanticide as murder.  Additionally, condemnation of abortion is seen in the writings of various theologians and church fathers, including Clement of Alexandria, Athenagoras, Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Methodius of Olympus, Ambrose, Jerome, Crysostom and Augustine.[7]

In contrast, the NIH has attempted to address the issue of the ethical considerations of taking the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, but in language reminiscent of John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism rather than the Holy Scriptures.[8]  The NIH hasn’t even come close to developing a full-orbed discussion of ethics necessary for the committed Christian (and wisely didn’t attempt such a project, leaving their analysis vacuous, based on secular views and utterly void of religious considerations).

The Sources of the SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines

This data is based on multiple references, some of which will be supplied herein. ^[[9], [10]^{, [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23]]}

1. Pfizer and BioNTech – The Pfizer Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
2. Moderna – The Moderna Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is cited by the vaccine researchers Kizzmekia S. Corbett, Darin K. Edwards, and Sarah R. Leist.
3. Johnson & Johnson – The J&J Vaccine has publicly admitted to using a cell line called PER.C6. This is published on the Janssen website. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute.
4. Sputnik V – The Sputnik V Vaccine cites their manufacturers as using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293.
5. AstraZeneca – AstraZeneca was developed using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is also contained in documents permitting its emergency use in the United Kingdom.
6. Vaxart – Vaxart was produced with the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
7. Altimmune – The Altimmune vaccine was produced and developed with the abortion-derived cell line PER.C6. This information is recorded by Altimmune’s own Clinical Trial Protocol. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute.
8. COVAXX and United Biomedical – COVAXX was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
9. Medicago – The Medicago Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
10. Novavax – The Novavax Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by researchers at ScienceMag.
11. University of Pittsburgh “PittCoVacc” – PittCoVacc was produced with the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by EBioMedicine at the Lancet.
12. Walter Reed Army Institute – The Walter Reed Vaccine was produced with the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
13. Sanofi Pasteur and Translate Bio – The Sanofi Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the vaccine researchers at NPJ Vaccines.
14. Inovio Pharmeceuticals – The Inovio Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by researchers at ScienceMag.
15. Arcturus Therapeutics – The Arcturus Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
16. Imperial College London – The Imperial College Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
17. Providence Therapeutics – The Providence Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
18. CoronaVac – CoronoVac was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by researchers at ScienceMag.
19. CanSino Biologics – The CanSino Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by researches at BioSpace.
20. ImmunityBio and NantKwest – The ImmunityBio Vaccine was developed, produced, and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
21. Institut Pasteur and Themis and Merck – The Institut Pasteur Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
22. Rega Institute, KU Leuven – The Rega Vaccine protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Global Virus Network.
23. Anhui Zhifei – The Anhui Zhifei Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cell Press Journal.
24. Clover Biopharmeceuticals – The Clover Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Various writers have attempted to address this ethical issue for the committed Christian by pointing out that it is highly unlikely that the cells from aborted babies end up in the vaccines themselves, that it was the “immortalized cell lines” that were used in the development of the vaccines. ^{[[24], [25]]}

The church has for more than 2000 years held that life begins at conception.  This isn’t the first time we’ve faced issues with euthanasia.  Abortifacients (chemical agents) were in use during the days of the Greek empire, as well as the Roman empire at the time of Christ.

A simple denial that the cells from aborted babies were used to develop the vaccine isn’t sufficient, and the suggestion that it would be so is virtually insulting to committed Christians.  What they are calling the “immortalized cell lines” wouldn’t exist if not for the original cell lines from the aborted baby.

These considerations are determinative, insurmountable and final for the committed Christian.  Religious commitment does, after all, still exist in America, as the CEO of Houston’s largest hospital system recently learned when he fired 150 nurses for refusal to take the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, incorrectly expecting that he could quickly find more.  Doubtless, some of these nurses refused because of religious reasons.  To his dismay, his hospital is now so burdened that it cannot properly function.[26]

To the committed Christian, her religious views are not an “add-on” or an iPhone “App” for additional information.  They are a world and life view.

Oaths, Vows and Informed Consent

Christian theologian and philosopher R. J. Rushdoony has stated “For Christians, healing, i.e., medical practice, is a religious practice and salvific activity. This means that medicine is a priestly vocation and calling. For this reason, historically the church has fought for the sanctity of the confessional. What is confessed to a pastor . . . (holds true) of all communications between a patient and a doctor; it is a form of confession for the purpose of healing. The doctor is God’s agent in process, and the communication is privileged.”[27]  Continuing this line of thought, he observes,

“Salvation in the Bible means literally health, health of life in relation to God, and also health of body, since the body is God’s creation. The biblical fruits of medical practice are in the Levitical ministry. The relation between patient and Pastor or Dr. is immune from man’s controls and intervention, because it is a facet of God’s ministry to man’s total life.”[28]

“Primum non nocere” isn’t a punch line or catch phrase to be taught in school.  To the committed Christian, it is a religious commitment, an expectation of the Almighty.

The knowing and intentional administration of unnecessary or potentially harmful medicines, vaccines or treatments isn’t just an error or an incident to be considered in morbidity and mortality conferences.

It is a sin.

Even the NIH has gone on record stating that there is a risk of ADE (antibody dependent enhancement) from administration of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.[29]  If this URL becomes “disappeared” from the web, there is an archived version.[30]

And yet, on how many occasions have doctors, the medical establishment and pharmaceutical companies explained this risk to patients?  Even the NIH, who sponsored the study on “Informed Consent,” has ignored its own counsel on the subject.  But there is indication that ADE may indeed be a problem with variants of the virus, ^[[31], [32]^] and epidemiologists have now begun to admit that no one knows the long term effects of the vaccines.[33]  No one knows the long term effects for a very simply reason – there is no such thing as long term for vaccines that have been available for a year.  Monte Carlo and Las Vegas are inappropriate models for patient care, especially in the absence of proper informed consent.

With such risks being explained, this is more than merely something for medical professionals to consider as it relates to their own behavior.  It is something to consider for the individual who is considering the vaccine, as well as for corporations who attempt to force the vaccine on their workers.

In short, this is more than a medical issue.  This is a religious issue for reasons of lawful oaths and vows (WCF XXII), the practice of medicine seen as a ministry, and personal consideration for taking the vaccine.  For the committed Christian, self-immolation and self-harm is a sin.  For the committed Christian, enticing others to sin by offering the vaccine without “informed consent” is to create a stumbling block for others (Lev 19:14, 1 Cor 10:32-33), and is thus sinful and abhorrent to God (who doesn’t grade “on a [Gaussian] curve”).

Finally, even the flu vaccine has non-trivial risks associated with reproduction,[34] and mankind was instructed by the Almighty to “be fruitful and multiply,” and children are considered in the Holy Scriptures to be a blessing from God.

Unexplored Ethical Considerations

There are unexplored ethical considerations for the committed Christian.  There has been speculation and even hints that DNA can actually be modified from mRNA vaccines.[35]  As a matter of fact, a recent study conducted by MIT and Harvard suggests that segments of the vaccine are indeed ending up in the DNA genomic coding.[36]

If true, this opens an entirely new line of effort where committed Christians need the help of Christian theologians and philosophers and Christian medical ethicists.  Thus far, sadly and tellingly, they have been absent in this conversation.  Does God approve of man modifying the genomic coding designed by Him?  We must assume not since He is the creator.

This is not all-inclusive, but just one more line of inquiry for the committed Christian to consider.

Summary

The single pertinent piece of information the committed Christian needs for consideration of the vaccine is found in its origins.  Yet, there are other pressing religious issues that would be problematic in the total absence of consideration of the origins of the vaccine(s).

The committed Christian must resist the temptation to acquiesce to pressure from secular corporatists for the purpose of employment when the Almighty has made His precepts known to all men everywhere.

[1] 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

[2] Deuteronomy 29:29.

[3] Westminster Confession of Faith, 1.II.

[4] Westminster Confession of Faith, XXII.

[5] Gen 25:22, Job 3:3, Is 44:2, Is 49:5, Hos 12:3.

[6] It should also be pointed out that this position is unaffected by whether one takes a “creationist” or “traducianist” view of the origin of the soul.

[7] Michael J. Gorman, “Abortion and the Early Church,” Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 1982.

[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6844122/, accessed 8/21/2021.

[9] https://lozierinstitute.org/update-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-and-abortion-derived-cell-lines/.

[10] https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.08.280818v1.full

[11] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2622-0

[12] https://www.janssen.com/emea/emea/janssen-vaccine-technologies

[13] https://sputnikvaccine.com/about-vaccine/human-adenoviral-vaccines/

[14] http://actanaturae.ru/2075-8251/article/view/10302/106

[15] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/information-for-healthcare-professionals-on-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-regulation-174

[16] https://clinicaltrials.gov/ProvidedDocs/67/NCT03232567/Prot_000.pdf

[17] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.04.20226282v1.full

[18] https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6520/1089

[19] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(20)30118-3/fulltext

[20] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-021-00324-5

[21] https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/the-national-research-council-of-canada-and-cansino-biologics-inc-announce-collaboration-to-advance-vaccine-against-covid-19/

[22] https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/117/51/32657.full.pdf

[23] https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30812-6

[24] https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-vaccine-idUSKBN27W2I7

[25] https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/11/no-cells-from-aborted-fetus-are-in-covid-19-vaccines-that-rumor-is-patently-false.html

[26] https://fee.org/articles/massive-nurse-shortage-hits-houston-weeks-after-150-unvaccinated-nurses-and-hospital-workers-fired/

[27] Rushdoony, R.J., Chalcedon Medical Report No. 11: 11: 11: 11: 11: The Church and Medical Ethics. Vallecita, CA: Chalcedon, 1985.

[28] R. J. Rushdoony, Roots of Reconstruction (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1991), 493.

[29] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33113270/

[30] https://archive.ph/9Sow9

[31] https://dailyexpose.co.uk/2021/08/21/study-finds-vaccinated-are-at-real-risk-of-suffering-antibody-dependent-enhancement/

[32] https://www.journalofinfection.com/article/S0163-4453(21)00392-3/fulltext

[33] https://torontosun.com/news/national/burial-costs-covered-for-canadians-killed-by-approved-vaccines

[34] http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/812621_4

[35] https://thewashingtonstandard.com/bombshell-moderna-chief-medical-officer-admits-mrna-alters-dna/

[36] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33330870/, and https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2021/03/16/mit-harvard-study-suggests-mrna-vaccine-might-permanently-alter-dna-after-all

Taliban.

“All girls over the age of 15 and widows younger than 40 should be married to the insurgent fighters,” a Taliban commander was quoted saying by The WSJ.

They demand the children and abuse people.  Thank God no government in the Western world behaves that way.  Oh wait.

They are herding thousands upon thousands of children in stadiums, without their parents, to perform (allegedly) voluntary mass vaccinations, despite the possible dangers. The army has been deployed to check papers and vaccine status at road checkpoints.

[ … ]

Generally speaking, the Australian police have taken to their role as fascist enforcers with remarkable ease in the past year. They’ve been sending threatening letters to independent journalists, hitting protesters with their cars, stamping on their heads, pepper-spraying teenaged girls and performing dangerous chokeholds with genuine enthusiasm.

So who’s worse?

And I’ll say it again, both to the Afghanis and the Australians.  Never give up your guns.

He raises a very interesting question at the end of the video that had not occurred to me when I first saw the stupid report. Point: virtually everything you see is staged propaganda, or has the high probability of being so.

Full interview on the Wei and Cathy Show.

While the world and legacy media shout and screech about the Afghan crisis and hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees who need to be resettled, what has happened to the crisis on the Southern border?  That’s right.  It has disappeared from the TV screen and news.

One corollary is that ordinary Americans may get more than they bargained for.  Here is a rundown of the awful crime wave brought to Europe from immigrating Afghanis.

Read it all.  And then read it again.

Here it is elsewhere.

We surely don’t want these weapons of war coming across the ocean like the disposed Afghans surely will and through the porous border.  We need gun control – now!

Maybe this was all planned.  Maybe somebody is trying to cover their tracks by handing over weapons technology that ultimately ends up in the hands of Iran, Pakistan and China.

Maybe.

That’s a question I’ve been asking myself recently.

I know all about Occam’s razor.  I know the simplest explanation for all of this in Afghanistan – that the current administration is filled with goobers.  Indeed they are.  But can they really be as stupid as they seem?

But I am beginning to have some difficulty with the belief that they were caught flat-footed.

What is some of the video is staged?  What if the situation was well-understood and planned?  What if the current administration wanted Americans to feel sympathy for Afghanis, and decide to open the doors of the border wide open for them, nay, even demand that the administration rescue them and provide them with a place to live, food for their tables, and education for their children?

What if this is a continuation of the project to terraform America?