By now, even progressives are aware that the restrictions imposed by COVID-19 hygiene rituals are onerous.  Temperature-taking, hand-sanitizing, mask-wearing, social distancing — all have become ubiquitous social practices since the arrival of the virus eighteen months ago.

Now forced vaccination and possibly vaccine passports have been added to the list of requirements deemed necessary for establishing and maintaining national health.

It strikes one that the ever-changing rituals pronounced by such entities as the CDC and WHO have become not only arbitrary and increasingly revelatory of dubious and ever-changing science, but also evocative more of religious practices than of rational, scientific measures.

Eerily, many of the rituals of COVIDism have assumed the status and significance of the ceremonies practiced by millions of Christians, who cross themselves, genuflect before the altar, and pray the rosary.  Christians believe those rituals are an acknowledgment of the higher power who is God. God is represented by the irreducibly Christian symbol of the cross and worshipped by the observance of sacraments, of sacred liturgies, and by bowing the knee in prayer.

Devotees of COVIDism are acknowledging by their repetitious and symbolic rituals a higher power as well—that of the almighty State.

Fear is often the chief impetus behind the establishment of a political religion of the State, which requires rituals indicating obedience.  As Jason Christoff has put it:

To effectively brainwash and mind control a population you first need fear. ... The tyrant is best served by being in control of the fear plus manufacturing the ritual that removes the fear. That pre-manufactured ritual will in turn trick the public into participating in their own enslavement and brings them willingly into the iron grip of the tyrant.

While no one seriously doubts that COVID-19 is an illness requiring medical attention, it is increasingly apparent that the fear of the virus and almost superstitious practices have been factors in the rise of the cult of COVIDism, which in turn has become a useful tool for establishing the State's control over every sector of society and every aspect of life.

It is also perfectly clear the governing priestly elite foisting their quasi-religious rituals on the masses are miraculously immune from a virus that discerns who are the pure sheep of the church of COVIDism and who are the deplorably diseased goats.  The high priests partying at the Obama birthday bash on Martha's Vineyard, at the Met Gala, and at the Emmys do not have to wear masks.  Nor do they have to observe the rules of social distancing once reserved for lepers and others deemed unclean.

But the unhealthy goats, most of them congregated in churches, the middle class, and the military, do have to follow the regulations and rituals.

Now it appears that even the United States military must submit to the ritual of forced vaccination, which could be seen as COVIDism's imitation of Christian baptism.

No doubt encouraged by the nearly complete capitulation of churches, public schools, the media, and academia, the federal government has continued on its campaign of forced conversion.  Joe Biden has declared that all members of the military must submit to vaccination.  The White House has declared those who refuse should be dishonorably discharged.  Such action smells of a purge of any dissenting troops.

It's salutary to recall that pseudo-religious rites have been characteristic of the religious-political ideologies of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.  Many historians recognize the semi-religious qualities of Nazism, which had strict dogmas and easily recognizable symbols and rituals.  Raising one's arm in a salute, chanting "Heil Hitler, singing the Horst Wessel song, displaying the swastika, and acknowledging the authority of the ruling class were ways to declare oneself a loyal follower of the Third Reich.

It is critical that Americans realize the terrible implications of and strongly resist the forced vaccination of our soldiers.  Demanding that soldiers be forcibly vaccinated is a violation of inherent human and religious rights — rights enshrined in the Constitution of the United States and also in international ethical codes such as the Nuremberg Code of 1947, which clearly states that any medical procedure considered experimental requires "the voluntary consent of the human subject" as "absolutely essential." 

Ominously, while the military pays lip service to conscientious and religious objections, the process is slow-walked through labyrinthian procedural requirements punctuated by what amount to struggle sessions designed to change the objector's mind.  An official chart outlines the procedures:

It is hard to avoid the impression that the current administration is shaking up and re-forming America's armed forces.  The forced vaccinations Biden and his show generals Milley and Austin are attached to and fostering look like part and parcel of the globalist vision outlined by Biden at the United Nations.  That vision is essentially a religious-political vision that includes the universal sign and seal of vaccination and acceptance of the globalist dogmas of global warming; anti-capitalism; and, increasingly, hostility toward the entirety of Western civilization. 

Add to the above the ignominious retreat of the United States from Afghanistan, the arming of a vicious authoritarian regime, and the reshuffling of old alliances that virtually exclude Europe, and one can deduce that this administration is determined to destroy the exceptional nature of America and the unique qualities of Western civilization in order to shift global alliances.  

It is hard not to speculate that the United States Army is being shaped according to a globalist vision.  It is suspect that America's soldiers are being forced to accept the sign and seal of vaccination and to accept being led by officers whose ultimate loyalties lie not with America, but elsewhere.  After all, Americans have seen that General Milley has pledged to inform the Chinese of our battle plans.

Who can help stem the tide of COVIDism, which in turn may be the spear point of globalism?

The churches have already been conquered, with nearly all acceding meekly to the State.  Christian churches, Protestant and Catholic alike, folded before state demands.  There still is almost universal acceptance of masking and social distancing.  On the near horizon is the acceptance of a vaccination passport indicating entrance into the body of the secular blessed.  Given the churches' history over the last eighteen or more months, it seems no government edict concerning vaccinations will be in serious danger of being defied by religious institutions that have willingly and even enthusiastically drastically altered or suspended what were once considered vitally essential sacraments. 

To be fair, most churches have not recognized COVIDism as being religious in nature.  Separated into conclaves largely ignorant of the forces that are determined to alter and even to crush them, most have been blind to those who wish to seize the impetus that was once behind the Great Commission for their own purposes of converting the entire globe to their vision.

Given the failure of most religious institutions in discerning and confronting the tyrannous aspects of COVIDism, it appears the military itself must utilize the tools still available to it.  Officers, commissioned and noncommissioned alike, as well as soldiers of every rank must resist the assaults against religion, conscience, and bodily integrity, claiming the universal rights given by the Almighty and established in law by the Constitution the military has sworn to uphold and protect.  Physicians who are in the military must rise up for the sake of true medical science.  Lawyers should consider lawsuits to fight transgressions against soldiers' human rights.

It is time to resist the totalitarian nature of COVIDism.  It is time to reject the authoritarianism COVIDism represents.  It is past time to stop COVIDism's devotees from forcing what have become essentially religious beliefs and practices on our military and on the entire nation.

Fay Voshell holds a M.Div from Princeton Theological Seminary, which awarded her the prize for excellence in systematic theology.  Her thoughts have appeared in many online magazines.  She has been a regular contributor to American Thinker for about a decade.  She may be reached at fvoshell@yahoo.com.

Image: torstensimon via Pixabay, Pixabay License.

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