Australia

The Ezekiel Declaration

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The Ezekiel Declaration is a letter/ petition written by several church leaders in Queensland and will be delivered along with thousands of signatures to the Prime Minister. It explains the concerns that many people have regarding vaccine passports and mandatory vaccination.

The text of The Ezekiel Declaration is set out below. If you wish to sign the letter, wither as a church leader or church member click here

To the Honourable Scott Morrison,

As Christian leaders, you should be aware that in accordance with scripture we regularly pray for “and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2).

We do write, however, to you regarding a matter of significant concern.  Namely, the proposed introduction of ‘vaccine passports’ into Australian society.  For many Christian leaders and Christians, this is an untenable proposal that would inflict terrible consequences on our nation.

We should initially note that we are not the first generation that has been confronted with the question of ‘vaccine passports.’  Writing in 1880, aware of the challenges that a smallpox epidemic brought to society, the Christian theologian Abraham Kuyper wrote,  

“Vaccination certificates will therefore have to go… The form of tyranny hidden in these vaccination certificates is just as real a threat to the nation’s spiritual resources as a smallpox epidemic itself.”

Kuyper, A. 2015. Our Program: A Christian Political Manifesto. (p. 249). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press; Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty.

Between 1901 and 1905, Abraham Kuyper would hold the office of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.  He evidently understood that a ‘vaccine passport’ would represent a measure that was equal to if not worse than an epidemic itself through the oppressive control over people’s lives.  As Christian ministers, we would also agree with Kuyper’s analysis on such a measure, and for several reasons.

First, the government risks creating an unethical two-tiered society.  While some individuals will receive the vaccination with thanks, others may have good and informed reasons for declining.  One such reason is highlighted in the statement of the health minister Greg Hunt: 

“The world is engaged in the largest clinical trial, the largest global vaccination trial ever, and we will have enormous amounts of data.”

Australian Department of Health

Free citizens should have the right of consent, especially when the vaccine rollout has been labelled as a ‘clinical trial.’  Imposing a ‘vaccine passport’ when the nation is already divided on the matter risks the creation of medical apartheid.  The result being that those who decline the vaccine are ostracised and alienated from aspects of public life.  History has never reflected well for those who would promote segregation.  As there has been no discussion that the precautionary measures will be retracted once the pandemic has concluded, there is a real concern that many of these measures will remain permanent.  A ‘vaccine passport’ would therefore represent the dangerous precipice of a therapeutic totalitarianism that does not promote liberty and human flourishing, but would rather only dehumanise and control its citizens all under the cloak of personal health and safety.

Second,  a good portion of the population are already burdened to the point of despair.  Granted, we understand why our leaders felt compelled to lockdown in March 2020. The threat was unknown and our ability to withstand it, untested.  However, it is now 2021, and the adverse effects of perpetual lockdowns are now being revealed. We understand needing to respond, but we are concerned with heavy-handed approaches that exceed people’s capacity to live a normal life. We are compelled to speak out on behalf of struggling people, the needy, the destitute, those being harmed by such strong measures (Proverbs 31:8-9).

The adverse effects of lockdowns are especially highlighted in the rise of people considering suicide.  The ‘Journal of Psychiatric Research’ published a paper in July of 2021 based on research done on Melbourne’s extended 2020 lockdown, some of their findings are as follows, 

“In September-2020, among 1157 Victorians, one-third reported anxiety or depressive disorder symptoms, one-fifth reported suicidal ideation, and one-tenth reported having seriously considered suicide in the prior 30 days. Young adults, unpaid caregivers, people with disabilities, and people with diagnosed psychiatric or sleep conditions showed increased prevalence of adverse mental health symptoms. Prevalence estimates of symptoms of burnout, anxiety, and depressive disorder were unchanged between April-2020 and September-2020. Persistently common experiences of adverse mental health symptoms despite low SARS-CoV-2 prevalence during prolonged lockdown highlight the urgent need for mental health support services.”

 Czeisler MÉ, Wiley JF, Facer-Childs ER, Robbins R, Weaver MD, Barger LK, Czeisler CA, Howard ME, Rajaratnam SMW. 2021. “Mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during a prolonged COVID-19-related lockdown in a region with low SARS-CoV-2 prevalence.” Journal of Psychiatric Research 140 (August): 533-544. 

One in ten people considering suicide is a tragedy. As these lockdowns continue, it is evident that people are getting more desperate, with many people considering suicide as their means of escape. People are inherently social creatures, meant for human interaction and contact, not long-term isolation. But these policies are causing many people to feel lonely, and increasingly isolated.

In Japan, according to Japanese research, during their second lockdown “suicide rates increased by 49% among children and adolescents, and 37% among women.” The reason this information from Japan is relevant is because it shows that their second lockdown was far worse than their first on people’s mental health. We have been in cascading lockdowns for about 18 months now, this will be taking a toll. 

This psychological effect is not theoretical.  Another recent ABC news report documented the effects of lockdowns on alcohol consumption.

“1 in 5 Australians increased alcohol use during the lockdowns, “We know the statistics. We know that 93 per cent of hospital admissions at the weekend are alcohol-related. We know domestic violence is hugely related to alcohol consumption. We know it’s bad, and people are realising that.” 

ABC News

By changing the goalposts from the original objective of ‘two weeks to flatten the curve’ to now requiring a proposed ‘vaccine passport’ in order to live a normal life, the government is putting immeasurable pressures on ordinary people. If the ABC is correct and 20% of Australians are drinking more during lockdowns, What will be the societal cost of adding a ‘vaccine passport’ which will potentially alienate already desperate Australians and turn them into second class citizens. 

Jesus tells Christians to count the cost, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28). Jesus is here using a secular principle to make a spiritual point, and whether you are making a spiritual or secular decision you must count the cost. There are many people in our communities, not just in our churches, who are facing the costs of these policies and growing increasingly concerned about them. 

Much more can be said on this point, the effects on missed cancer diagnoses and other illnesses by people staying home from the doctors, the effects on children’s missed and inconsistent education, youth graduating into a closed economy finding it difficult to find work. Poverty is the leading cause of poor life outcomes, and these lockdowns are pushing people financially to the brink. The addition of a ‘vaccine passport’ into Australian society may be the nail in the coffin to many people who are already at the point of desperation.

Third, conscience should never be coerced.  The conscience is one of the innermost expressions that animates an individual, and that allows them to worship God as well as obey a legitimate governing authority.  The conscience is the immediate contact of God’s presence in a person’s soul, and so an individual forced to act in a way that is objectionable to their conscience will never be at peace, either before God or before the state.  A government that endeavours to force or coerce an individual who is striving to honour God, will find that they only encounter resistance.  Regarding the need for a free conscience, Kuyper writes, 

“Conscience is therefore the shield of the human person, the root of all civil liberties, the source of a nation’s happiness.”

Kuyper, A. 2015. Our Program: A Christian Political Manifesto. (p. 73). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press; Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty.

A government should never coerce conscience, but rather respect the important function that it carries in aiding a person to worship God freely and live obediently before the state. As we have noted, Jesus commands Christians to count the cost, and many believers do not feel that we have all the information necessary to make a decision on this vaccine at this point in time. We respect that many people have made this calculation and decided it is best for them to get the vaccine that is their right, and we do not seek to abrogate it. But those who are not ready, or hesitant, are so for very valid reasons. Their conscience binds them to wait, and their Saviour advised them to not make decisions before they have counted the cost. This is a principle of wisdom, that everyone applies to many aspects of their lives. We would therefore ask that the Government not coerce the conscience of many Australians through the use of a ‘vaccine passport.’ 

Fourth, making vaccination the basis of participating in normal life would make no logical sense in terms of protecting others. A “CDC study shows 74% of people infected in Massachusetts Covid outbreak were fully vaccinated,” especially noting that four of those who were vaccinated were admitted to hospital. As we have said, we respect people’s right and choice to be vaccinated. But this type of data, published by America’s leading body of disease experts, causes people to wonder about the effectiveness of the vaccine along with concern about coercive measures by which to have it administered.  As it is evident that vaccines do not prevent infection, to restrict a person’s access to society based on a medical choice is questionable.

Fifth, we as Christian leaders find it untenable that we would be expected to refuse entry into our churches to a subgroup of society based on their medical choice.  Only our precious Saviour, Jesus Christ, has the authority to regulate the terms of corporate worship.  These terms tell us that we are to make no distinction between those who call out in faith, neither on race nor medical choice.  We are also under obligation to proclaim the gospel to all men.  Our strongest conviction is that this gospel message is the greatest news ever to be pronounced, and includes nothing less than God’s free gift of saving grace, and the offer of eternal life to all who would respond in repentance and faith. To refuse people access to this message would betray our Saviour and everything he calls us to uphold. Any expectation to enforce a ‘vaccine passport’ on our churches would be met with passionate resistance.

May you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Magpie Season

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The Australian magpie is a very intelligent and usually friendly bird. That all changes in late winter and spring when some of them become very protective of their babies during breeding season.

Normally their form of attack is to swoop on people entering their territory, often with their angry noise, but sometimes with no sound at all. They always attack from behind, but rarely make contact, and once you leave their territory they leave you alone.

Sadly, this year, a baby died after her mother dropped her during a particularly nasty attack in Brisbane.

Cyclists are very vulnerable. I think the helmets make the birds think that riders are a greater threat than normal people, and possibly the much higher speed than pedestrians might add to the threat factor.

In Narrabri, magpie season usually starts in the first week of August. The drought the last few years made the winters a little warmer so the attacks started late July. I think also that the lack of food caused by the drought, and perhaps lower survival of the chicks made them more aggressive.

This year the season started about the second week, and have been less numerous and less intense than previous years. In my normal daily ride there are probably only about 2 swooping magpies spread over a distance of 11 km. I am especially glad that the bird we called the “nut job” has disappeared. He lived at the far end of the bridge near our house, and would attack without warning, often making contact with the helmet.

The magpies that live in the trees near our house are usually friendly enough. They had a go at me this morning in my own driveway. I walked out into the middle of the road and took my helmet off and put it back on again a couple of times while maintaining eye contact. The first time I did this, it was in attack mode but veered away when I removed the helmet. I hope they have it worked out now! Tim later went out on his bike and they attacked him, so he might have to teach them who he is with and without the helmet.

Can’t wait for October when the birds should resume normal behaviour. Although peewees, which have similar colouration to the magpies, can be aggressive even through summer.

Australia, the land where everything wants to kill you. 🙂

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR: SPEAK UP AGAINST GOVERNMENT OVERREACH

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Kurt Mahlburg writes:

A commonly-repeated criticism since the beginning of 2020 has been that if you prioritise freedom over safety, you are being selfish. In many Christian circles, it is said to be “not loving your neighbour” if you vocally defend freedom. Such ideas continue to circulate, even as heavier lockdowns and curfews are imposed in Victoria, New South Wales and beyond.

But they mostly miss the point. Such criticisms assume that every measure that could be introduced to protect Australians against covid is by definition necessary and good. They seemingly deny the possibility that any cure could be worse than a disease, or that there is such a thing as going too far.

The executive director of the Menzies Research Centre Nick Cater has expressed sensible concerns about this. He argues that good public policy has been near-impossible to implement over this period because fear has overtaken reason in our risk assessments:

We are caught in a feedback loop, a vortex of fear, where politicians can no longer act sensibly because they have to respond to public fear. If they opened up now people would go berserk and say that it’s not safe to go outside…

I have come to the conclusion that the government has lost control. It has to obey this mantra of fear, and as a result of that it takes no risks whatsoever.

This reflects the broader culture of our times, not just in Australia but in the Western world more broadly. Nobody is prepared to put up with the slightest amount of risk. Wherever risk occurs the government has to deal with it.

Consider, for example, that while daily case numbers of covid reached into the hundreds this week in Australia, daily calls to suicide helplines reached into the thousands. Lifeline has had its three busiest days in history since Monday, with up to 3,500 people calling the helpline per day. And that’s just one of many such services available to distressed Australians.

Surely “loving your neighbour” also means being concerned — and indeed, speaking out — about government policies that are inflicting this level of distress. As Christians, we believe that people are not machines that merely require a certain set of material inputs to get through life. We are made in God’s image. We are relational creatures who survive and thrive through active involvement in our communities, and meaningful work and service to others.

Even the World Health Organization recognises this holistic view of health, or at least it did until recently. While we seem to have redefined ‘health’ to mean the absence of sickness, the WHO’s Constitution, drafted in the 1940s, pushed back against this reductionistic view:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity… Governments have a responsibility for the health of their peoples which can be fulfilled only by the provision of adequate health and social measures.

Of course, covid is deadly. But so are many things — including some of the measures our governments have implemented in the name of ‘health’. We have allowed fear to redefine our most basic understanding of what it means to live and function as a healthy human being.

To protect their health, Australians have been told to not talk to their neighbours, not to engage in outdoor recreation, not to attend church, not to watch sunsets, not to leave home for more than an hour a day. In all this time, we are yet to hear a single public health official or minister promote exercise, good diet, sunlight, weight loss or vitamin supplements. All of these simple, everyday strategies are important aspects of health, and are known to boost our immune systems and reduce our chances of suffering the most debilitating impacts of the virus.

Meanwhile, measurable deadly impacts are now linked to government lockdown policies. Australian data shows an 87 percent increase in couples separating and an 86 percent rise in the number of people seeking help for addiction. Stay at home orders saw NSW chart historic highs in homebound sexual assaults, and Victoria find that one in ten of its citizens contemplated ending their life.

Is this healthy? Is it “loving our neighbour” to stay quiet?

Read the rest of the article here

People deficient in Vitamin D are 14 times more likely to get severe Covid

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From jo Nova comes this encouragement to get out and enjoy some sunshine.

People deficient in Vitamin D are 14 times more likely to get severe Covid

How badly do our Health Ministers want to reduce Covid infections and deaths? Not much. If they were at all serious — before they hand out free vaccines, they’d hand out free Vitamin D supplements.

In a study conducted in a Galilee hospital, 26 percent of vitamin D-deficient coronavirus patients died, while among other patients the figure was at 3%.  — Times of Israel

If only black lives mattered?  Dark skins are so much more likely to be deficient, this is one of those absolutely easy wins for any politician, yet none of them are doing it?

Nearly half the people in the study were deficient, and half of those who were seriously deficient in Vitamin D would go on to develop a severe case. These were the people with levels below 20 ng/ml. Of all the people above that, only 10% would get a severe case. And just being “above 20ng” would still be classified as moderately deficient by many measures, yet it made such a huge difference.

It was a life and death thing — the mortality rate was 25%, fully five times higher for those who fell below the 20ng/ml bar.

The Israeli study looked at the Vitamin D levels of 1200 patients in their medical records before they got infected with Covid. This is important because although studies like the Indonesian study last year showed that people with low levels of Vitamin D were much more likely to die of Covid, those patients weren’t assessed until they turned up at hospital when  they were already sick. We couldn’t be sure that something about  Covid itself wasn’t chewing through the Vitamin D levels and causing the deficiency. So an Israeli team looked back through their records for up to 2 years to see what their last blood tests showed.serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels before hospitalization, Vitamin D3, Covid, Graph.

People with the lowest Vitamind D levels were the most likely to get severe Covid.

It’s a retrospective study, so the blood levels of D might have changed, yet despite that, the results still pop out of the data. Ideally we’d measure them just before they got sick.

Don’t wait til you’re in ICU to fix that deficiency. And definitely don’t wait for the CDC or Anthony Fauci to suggest it. 

The biggest disadvantage with Vitamin D is that there’s no money in  it.

As I’ve said before:

Vitamin D deficiency is so common it’s an epidemic affecting a billion people around the world.

Vitamin D levels also correlate with lower rates of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease, dental caries, preeclampsia, autoimmune disease, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders. Vitamin D influences over 200 genes. It’s so crucial, it was likely the reason northern Europeans evolved whiter skin. The lack of sunlight and the introduction of grains in diets (as opposed to eating liver and whales) meant that Europeans weren’t getting enough D from either food or sun. The selective pressure was so strong that lighter skin rapidly took over all the northern communities. Eskimos didn’t need to go white — they were still getting D from offal and plenty of fish.

Results:

Results Of 1176 patients admitted, 253 had VitD levels prior to COVID-19 infection. Compared with mildly or moderately diseased patients, those with severe or critical COVID-19 disease were more likely to have pre-infection vitamin D deficiency of less than 20 ng/mL (OR=14.30, 95%, 4.01-50.9; p < .001); be older (OR=1.039 for each year, 95% CI for OR, 1.017-1.061; p< .01), and have diabetes (OR=2.031, 95% CI for OR, 1.04-3.36; p= 0.038). Vitamin D deficiency was associated with higher rates of mortality (p<0.001) and comorbidities.

Half of the people were severely deficient:

Of the 253 individuals with pre-infection VitD levels, 133 (52.5%) had a level less than 20 ng/mL, 36 (14.2%) had 20 to less than 30 ng/mL, 44 (17.3%) had 30 to less than 40 ng/mL, and 40 (15.8%) had 40 ng/mL or greater  (Table 1). Mortality among patients with sufficient VitD levels was 2.3%, in contrast to the VitD deficient  group’s 25.6% mortality rate (p-value<0.001).

Vitamin D is measured in two  different units:

Patients’ 25(OH)D levels were divided into four universally accepted categories: deficient (below 50 nmol/L or 20 ng/ml), insufficient (50 nmol/L to 75 nmol/L or 20 -29.9 ng/ml), adequate (75-99.75 nmol/L or 30-39.9 ng/ml), and high-normal (above 187.5 nmol/L or 40 ng/mL).

REFERENCE

Dror et al (June 2021) Pre-infection 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and association with severity of COVID-19 illness, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.04.21258358

Here Be Dragons

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In ancient times map makers would write in Latin “Here be lions” to mark the unknown land beyond the borders of the map. In medieval times they would draw dragons and other fearful mythical creatures to warn the traveller that unknown dangers lurked off the map. Other cartographers would write “Terra incognita” or unknown land.

Today, politicians talk of “the regions” in the same way. “The regions” are scary places outside of “Greater Sydney” where they elect strange people like Barnaby Joyce, wear funny hats and stand in paddocks all day watching sheep and cows graze. To these people, the people who make the rules that govern our lifestyle here in “the regions”, there is no difference between Byron Bay and Broken Hill, Mudgee and Moree, Narrabri and Nambucca.

That explains why in Narrabri, where there has never been a single case of Covid within 100 km of us, we have to wear masks and limit the number of visitors we can have in our homes. Apparently if somebody coughs in Katoomba we could catch it in Narrabri. You can’t be too careful.

Every election time, the Nationals come out and tell us that they are the only ones who can represent country voters in the NSW Government. That is working out well for us. When John Barilaro makes his empty promises about relaxing the rules “in the regions” you can tell he has been captured by Sydney.

In Goondiwindi, and right through Western Queensland there are no mandatory mask rules. In Boggabilla on the NSW side of the border, of course they have to wear masks indoors. It is a sad day when a Labor Queensland Premier understands her state better than the Liberal/ National leaders do in NSW.

To be honest, I don’t care too much about politics, but I am worried when our elected leaders and their unelected advisers continue to impose rules on the 95% of NSW that is not “Greater Sydney” with such little knowledge and even less concern.

Great Barrier Reef growing at record rate

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Jo Nova writes:

What climate disaster? The Great Barrier Reef has more coral growing on it than ever recorded

The coral cover as sampled by AIMS across the entire Great Barrier Reef is not just good, but better than it has ever been in the 36 years they have been studying it. If the reef is in danger — it’s from being overgrown with coral. Climate Change, such as it is, has caused no trend at all.

If anything, in the spirit of modern-media-science, climate change causes record coral growth.

Tonight the UN scientists decided not to list the reef as “in danger”. The ABC and every Green group who normally follow UN scientists slavishly said that was “only because of lobbying”.

Record Coral Cover on the Great Barrier Reef.

The new AIMS report on Monday showed the Great Barrier Reef had a remarkable recovery, but the graphs were of three different sections of the reef (North, central and South). Peter Ridd obtained all the data and combined it to make one graph and discovered that the coral cover of 2020 was a new all time record high.

Strangely none of the government agencies or paid Professors discovered this. You have to be unemployed to discover record coral growth.

Science and media doomsayers ignore good news on reef

Peter Ridd, (The Professor that JCU sacked for being “non-collegial”) The Australian

Like all other data on the reef, this shows it is in robust health. For example, coral growth rates have, if anything, increased over the past 100 years and measurements of farm pesticides reaching the reef show levels so low that they cannot be detected with the most ultra-sensitive equipment.

This data is good news. It could hardly be better. But somehow, our science organisations have convinced the world that the reef is on its last legs. How has this happened?

The only thing the reef is plagued with is “experts”:

It was reasonable in the ’70s to be concerned about these plagues and they ultimately precipitated AIMS’s long-term monitoring of coral and starfish in the ’80s. I was working at AIMS when this important work started, and it is interesting to look back on what has changed. The coral cover is no less, the number of starfish is no more, but the number of scientists and managers working on the reef has exploded. Perhaps this is the problem.

Record coral cover means there was no disaster on the reef. The only disaster is the quality assurance at the science organisations.

In the last few hours the Great Barrier Reef barely escaped being labeled as “in danger” by a branch of the China-friendly-UN. Instead UNESCO will leave it at “critical” and decide again in a year if the 340,000 square kilometer reef is in danger of turning into a calcium-carbonate quarry.

The Australian ABC has already decided this was only because the Minister played games and pulled some tricks on a “whirlwind diplomatic effort” to override the UN body’s scientific advisors. Apparently the science advisors of the UN are so corrupt they can be bought off with a few rushed phone calls from a minor Australian minister, but these same advisors would never be influenced by the giant Chinese Communists with their billion dollar Belt and Roads, debts and honeypot traps.

Remember the UN experts are always right except when they’re not.

But China still wins this round of sabre rattling. By leaning on the UN to tell Australia off, the Australian government is still  tying itself in knots and spending millions to save a reef that has already saved itself.

We’ll have to hand in our homework report again as soon as February 2022. And the hack-media are not reporting on why UNESCO don’t care about China’s concrete-the-reef approach.

Greenpeace et al, who would have told us how horrified they were if the reef was listed as “in danger”, said they were disappointed it was not.

UNESCO would not get away with these absurdly transparent games if the Western media and most universities did not provide continuous running cover for their hypocrisy.

REFERENCE

The Australian Institute of Marine Science’s (AIMS) Long-Term Monitoring Program – Annual Summary Report on Coral Reef Condition for 2020/21

Latest Great Barrier Reef Condition Report