Osler's Razor

         Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus today, in a time unlike anything we have experienced. A wearying pandemic soon begins its third year among us with greater force than ever. There is uncertainty, fear, anger, and more than a little impatience with it all. And yet, the solution to the problem lies in that manger: the message of Christ, centered on selflessness and sacrifice, directs us straight to the very actions we must take to end this plague, to the sacrifices we must make for the greater good. We may be tired of wearing a mask, but the chance it might protect others is at one with the faith. 

         The threat of COVID is greater than ever as three things converge. First, the Omicron variant of the COVID virus has become, already, the dominant variety of COVID in the United States. Over 70% of new cases are Omicron, which is stunning. And because it is much more transmissible that earlier variants, it will spread much faster now that it has a foothold. Second, it is Christmas, which means that people will travel and gather, which will further spread the virus. Finally, people are tired of restrictions and deeply divided about mask-wearing and vaccinations. We are unlikely to mount anything like the government-led effort to combat a much lesser threat in March of 2020. Put it all together, and things look pretty dark.

         There is only one thing, in the end, that can prevent even greater catastrophe: humility and sacrifice. It takes humility to acknowledge what we do not know, and sacrifice to do what we must to protect and help others. 

         There are those Christians, of course, who have tried to dodge vaccine mandates by asserting shaky religious exemptions rooted in vague references to one’s body as a temple or tenuous links between vaccines and abortion. Those claims ignore what Jesus told us was most important: that we love God, and that we love our neighbors. The Pharisees pressed him to declare which commandment in the law was most important, and this was his answer, after all. When a lawyer followed up by asking “who is my neighbor?” he gave them the parable of the good Samaritan, in which the reviled Samaritan is the neighbor. We need to look out for our neighbors—and that does not just mean the ones that we like. We have a duty to do what is best for all those around us.

         Loving our neighbor means doing what we can to keep them well, even if that involves sacrifice (the good Samaritan, after all, stopped his travels to find and pay for lodging and food for a crime victim he did not know). Right now, that means masks and vaccines.

         Much of the resistance to vaccines among Christians is rooted in individualism and the idea of rights. People are especially upset when it seems like the government is telling us what to do. It’s worth remembering, though, that the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was because of a government mandate obeyed by Joseph and Mary; the Romans had required everyone to go to their hometown for a census. That mandate was a part of what many of us consider to be God’s will, a part of this great miracle.

 Standing on the idea of rights does not fit well, either (even if there were a right to not be vaccinated without consequence). Christ did not teach us to stick up for ourselves; he taught us to stick up for others—the sick, the naked, the poor, the hungry, and those in prison. And, of course, he set the ultimate example with the sacrifice of his own life.

        But today is not about Christ’s death. For Christians, it is about his birth, and the gift from God it represents. For our neighbors, the best gift we can give is to do the little required to keep them well. In the end, neither a vaccine nor a mask will stop us from looking someone in the eye with love and wishing them a Merry Christmas. As the angel said, there is good news of great joy for all the people—even this year.

# posted by Mark Osler @ 1:00 AM