The news that Pope Francis is urging people to receive the COVID-19 is no secret. However, some crazy conspiracy theorists are bound to say, “See, what did I tell you? COVID-19 is the mark of the Beast! The Pope is endorsing it!” The idea in itself is stupid for many reasons. For one, Pope Gregory introduced the Gregorian Calendar centuries ago and it’s not the Mark of the Beast. Did you know that Pope Francis actually endorsed natural family planning? A Catholic nun named Joan Chittister said that if you care about is a child born but not a child raised–you’re simply pro-birth. Both Pope Francis and Chittister are right about not having too many children if you’re financially incapable of raising them.
One of the biggest problems today is genetic fallacy and guilt by association. Genetic fallacy is when you dismiss something because of the source. Guilt by association is when you say something is evil because somebody does it. Both are very misguided ways to determine right and wrong. For example, let’s say that Pope Francis creates a very delicious Mexican dish and it’s a hit. Would it be a sin to eat Pope Francis’ recipe? Would it be a sin for me to taste the papal cream cake because the late John Paul II loved it? Would it be wrong for me to get vaccinated all because the Pope endorsed it? Praying to Mary and the saints is wrong not because Catholics do it–it’s because the Bible says we’re to pray to God alone. Catholics also do charity work but that doesn’t make charity wrong.
Some people are following anti-Catholic conspiracy theories than anti-Catholic truths. I’m anti-Catholic but I’d like to testify how sites like Chick Publications and Jesus-is-Savior ruined my testimony. I’d like to say that I was glad that I dropped Reformation Online in-between because “Vatican expert” Patrick Scrivener makes such ridiculous ideas. Scrivener has a whole lot of wide ideas that could drive anybody paranoid. David J. Stewart of Jesus-is-Savior is also a guy who cooks up a lot of conspiracy theories that you’ll never know he’s misleading you with doctrinal error. Chick Publications is notorious for selling fake testimonials for money as evidenced by the still-ongoing release of the Alberto series even after the late Alberto Rivera was proven to be a fraud.
For people who believe that the COVID-19 vaccine is a Jesuit conspiracy still need to prove it. They still need to prove that the vaccine manufacturers are actually chipped or that people get magnetic. That’s one reason why I dropped Chick Publications and Jesus-is-Savior some time after I dropped Reformation Online. I still don’t want to believe that the Lambda Variant is now the next “Jesuit or Illuminati top secret plan”. Such talk should be avoided and it’s speculative at best. So far, people who are vaccinated (and still got infected) are doing better than those who are infected while unvaccinated. Where’s the claim that vaccinated people will die then unvaccinated people will go to concentration camps? I guess that’s the result of reading the Alberto comics or other related conspiracy theory materials.
Here’s what–Christians can take the advice of the late J. Vernon McGee. McGee mentions that many signs today show that prophecy can come to pass. Membership shopping is already a sign. Not being able to buy and sell without a vaccination card is already a sign. However, neither is the mark of the Beast. People who have membership shopping are not doomed to the Lake of Fire for that reason–it’s their being unsaved if they’re unsaved. People who are vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine aren’t going to the Lake of Fire for the vaccine–it’s only if they die unsaved. Pope Francis is not wrong to urge vaccinations to people either like he’s not wrong to urge family planning.
Reformed Baptist Christian Blogger 