Regardless of one’s eschatological view or thoughts about “the mark of the beast,” there’s something rather sinister behind mandating all men to become vaccinated against a disease with a 99% survival rate. Even more immoral is to link Covid-19 vaccines to a human being’s access to goods and services and to restrict their agency if they refuse it.

For the past couple of months, a worst case sampling of such woefulness has been mainly on display in Australia, where their citizens are enduring extended lockdowns, travel and relocation restrictions, and privacy violations - at least until they reach a vaccination rate of 70%. Once this goal is attained, the economy will reopen and things will return to “normal” - at least for the vaccinated. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews recently announced his state will move to a “vaccine economy” that will “lock out” the unvaccinated from most aspects of their society, including access to healthcare. New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Berejiklian recently announced a similar plan as she admonished unvaccinated residents to not get “left behind” once NSW is back in full swing.

As I and others have pointed to Australia as a cautionary tale to our family and friends, it was easy for most to dismiss their experience as irrelevant to our way of life in America. Despite the lockdowns, church closures and mask mandates we’ve enjoyed here in the U.S., there have been those who believed what’s happening in Australia could and would never happen here.