BY ROGER WATSON
The analogies between membership of the Branch Covidian cult and true religion have been drawn before. Other cults with religious parallels exist such as Extinction Rebellion and the general cult of ‘wokery’ described by Andrew Doyle in his book of the same name as ‘The new puritans’.
Just as in any religion, including Christianity, there are splinter groups and sects with some claiming a more complete world view and the concomitant answers to the problems which beset the human race. The new religions vie for attention and manifest themselves in different ways.
Analogies are never perfect, but it struck me that the religion of public health was the one that most paralleled a religion and not just any religion. It has all the trappings of the most elaborate of the Christian denominations, the one that provides the most varied ways of interacting with your maker: The Roman Catholic Church which offers the faithful the seven Sacraments.
Baptism (Vaccination) – baptism is the means whereby someone is initiated into the Christian religion; the stain of original sin is removed, and they are marked as belonging to God.
By vaccination the person is deemed free from the risk of infection, sufficiently cleansed to be allowed to mingle with the rest of society and, in the case of many children, are literally marked on the upper outer quadrant of the left arm.
Eucharist (Boosters) – In Baptism we meet God for the first time and in the Eucharist, when we take Holy Communion, we encounter God repeatedly. Through this repetition and preparing ourselves properly, we become stronger in our faith and move closer to Salvation.
By taking repeated boosters, even though the vaccines are supposed to be 100% effective in the first place, we signal our faith in them and our defiance of the naysayers who claim that they have adverse effects. Thus, we are encouraged to take multiple boosters to move us closer to salvation from the deadly virus.
Confirmation (Face Masks) – By Confirmation we meet God again, complete the process begun at Baptism and, importantly, indicate to others that we are fully committed to our faith and that we are not embarrassed about it.
Wearing a face mask completes the protection that the vaccines offer us, meaning that we are now more than 100% protected. Most importantly, it signals to others our membership of the public health cult, our belief in its precepts and that we are not embarrassed to show it. However, where Christianity encourages humility; the public health cult imbues an overwhelming sense of superiority.
Reconciliation (Cancellation) – The Sacrament of Reconciliation, often called ‘Confession’ is the means whereby we become reconciled to God by sharing our sins with a priest, doing penance and being forgiven. All this is done in private.
The public health cult prefers to call people out on social media and on the mainstream media for their sins of expressing scepticism about vaccines and not wearing a face mask. Unlike Confession, there is no forgiveness in the public health cult, only smugness.
Matrimony (Promiscuity) – Matrimony is considered a Sacrament because it is ordained by God for the union of a man and a woman for the conception and upbringing of children.
The public health cult considers what has been written in the previous sentence as outmoded. ‘Men’ and ‘women’ are things of the past and ‘conception’ and ‘children’ must be avoided at all costs. Thus, the Sacrament of Promiscuity is recognised by acceptance that there are many genders in the mansion of public health, the use of contraception is a sine qua non and when it fails or you simply change your mind then there is abortion, essentially on demand. Thus promiscuity with impunity is encouraged and you can even conduct it with a different gender (yours or the other person) as frequently as you like.
Anointing of the Sick (Assisted Dying) – Anointing of the Sick, often referred to as The Last Rites, is the means whereby sins are forgiven and the dying person is given Holy Communion, referred to as ‘viaticum’ (for the journey), close to death.
The public heath cult prefers to send you directly on the journey and, instead of Holy Communion, midazolam is the preferred route to salvation.
Holy Orders (Professorships in Epidemiology and Public Health) – Holy Orders are held by those ordained as priests and bishops and these are the leaders of The Church. They curate the doctrines and traditions of The Church and pass them on and, mostly, are not questioned by the faithful.
The priests, better described as the high priests, of the public health cult are the professors of epidemiology and public health at our great seats of learning. While there is no supreme pontiff or ‘Pope’ as such, primus inter pares in the United Kingdom sits Professor Neil Ferguson and across the pond Dr Anthony Fauci, recently Chief Medical Adviser to the United States President. Most countries have one of these characters, but breakaway sects led by reprobates have been developing, for example, in Sweden under the leadership of Dr Anders Tegnell.
That completes my consideration of the Seven Sacraments of Public Health. Remember, the path to self-righteousness can only be followed by love, devotion and surrender to these precepts. If your faith is weak then get boosted and wear your face mask with pride. Vaccimun vobiscum sit.
Roger Watson is a Registered Nurse and Editor-in-Chief of Nurse Education in Practice.