Shanghai Disneyland will close in effort to contain coronavirus

sirloindude said:

My experience with my churchgoing friends who are against <insert current issue> almost never, if ever, actually present a theological argument against them. More than anything, it has seemed like they’ve used politics as their reasoning, which tells me that if they’re trying to claim religion as the reason, it’s just as a cover for another reason.

Fixed it for you.

I mentioned in another thread that my wife (we co-pastor a church together) had a fringe member of the church who is a health care worker ask her for a religious exemption. She said she was waiting for a sign from God to get the vaccine and until she got that sign, she wouldn't get the shot. My wife clearly explained that our denomination (Presbyterian Church USA) has a very strong pro-vaccine position, almost everyone in church has gotten the vaccine including both pastors, there is no scriptural basis to not get the vaccine, and in fact, Jesus would almost certainly get the vaccine. This was not enough of a sign from God and the lady left, presumably to wait for a "clearer" sign from God. As mentioned, without any history of religious exemptions from medical treatment, this is really just a cover for an already held political/medical position. If this isn't taking the Lord's name in vain, I don't know what is.

ApolloAndy said:

She said she was waiting for a sign from God to get the vaccine and until she got that sign, she wouldn't get the shot.

Holy crap. Does she take that same approach with everything else in life? "Well I see Betty starved to death. I guess God didn't give her a sign that she should go to the grocery."

If we were talking about 2% of the population looking for exemptions, and 98% being vaccinated, the pandemic would be effectively over. I mean, kids don't get polio or mumps anymore. What a wonderful world that would be.

Your wife should have told the woman about the flood. Not the big one but a much smaller flood. Town had been experiencing weeks of rain. Flood waters were rising. Chased pastor of local church to the top of the church steps. Rescuers came by in a boat and pleaded with the pastor to get in the boat. He refused saying that he knew his God would save him. Rains continued and rising waters with it. Waters chased pastor to roof of the church. Another boat came by and again pleaded with the pastor to hop in so he could be taken to safety. He again refused saying that he knew his God would save him. Rain continued and now the rising waters chased the pastor to the top of the church steeple. This time a helicopter came by and the team shouted down to him to grab hold of the ladder so he could be taken to safety. But again the pastor refused stating he was confident in his God. Rain continued, waters rose further and the pastor drowned. When he got to heaven and met God, the pastor was very upset. He told God that he had total faith in Him and He made the pastor look like a absolute fool. How could you abandon me like that? God replied: What do you mean? I sent two boats and a helicopter.

ApolloAndy said:

She said she was waiting for a sign from God to get the vaccine

Most people would consider 5.28 million deaths from COVID worldwide to be a pretty good sign...

Yeah. The ultimate point is that she was clearly not actually looking for a sign from God, but looking for confirmation for her already established beliefs and/or at least an excuse to maintain those beliefs in the face of mounting pressure. I'm sure the sign from God was her employer saying "get jabbed or get lost." God works in mysterious ways, I guess.

> Having exemptions isn't necessarily a problem

Agreed; I should have been more clear. A 2% exemption rate (as Jeff suggested above) strikes me as lower than I might have guessed given some of the other things I've read. At least for students and faculty, I suspect part of that is selection bias. For staff, maybe a little bit less so.

Where does the 2% come from? 10% was cited in the article posted by Ohio Stater about religious exemptions.

It comes from the University of Michigan.

I missed the add of the article. And for whatever reason, my network blocks his link. Maybe he needed to x out the M's in it. :)

Not for another 350ish days.

We interviewed an OSU PhD candidate for a teaching position today. To his credit, he wore a Block-O pin during his talk.

Would hope pride in one's university survives one loss on the football field. We old guys have seen our share of losses to TTUN. I have a daugther in grad school. In her life, there have been 5 such losses. I saw 5 as a student (2 degrees). And 2 others in between. Part of the issue a couple weeks ago likely was a sense of being entitled and an expectation rather than showing up and earning it. Having lived the flip side of the rivalry, being entitled or an expectation are foreign concepts to yours truly.

And its 352 days. But who's counting. :)

Yeah, I've seen runs on both sides of it. All things are temporary.

Birds Aren’t Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/technology/birds-arent-real-gen-...22VHQoUhko

That's the one that makes "Stevie Wonder isn't really blind" truthers look pretty normal.

I’ve seen a bunch of Birds Aren’t Real posters and stickers around Pittsburgh. Always makes me laugh.

Andy Kaufman would be damn proud of that young man.

I guess I got my answer to my (above) question tonight in the form of a post by a Facebook "friend" who is a Vietnam-Era-Vet friend of my dad. He just sent me this:

I wonder why Jesus’ blood is only good against Corona? Seems oddly specific.

He works in mysterious ways.