There are two major religious concerns in regards to the COVID-19 vaccinations:
(a) the use of aborted fetal cell lines to develop and test the vaccinations, and
(b) the inclusion of a type of genetic programming via mRNA.
BUT, these concerns don't just affect people of a certain religion. If you are ProLife or Vegan, the ingredients and processes used in creating these vaccines should concern you too!
Aborted Fetal Cell Lines
According to North Dakota Health, aborted fetal cell lines were used in the development of all three vaccinations. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines required the cell lines for testing and the Johnson & Johnson vaccination required cells from PER.C6 for development and testing. As a member of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren, it is stated in our position paper on abortion that we as members of Christian congregations have the obligation to protest this heinous crime against the will of God. I cannot in good faith support scientific research that continues the use of aborted cell lines. In March 2020, Moderna researchers explained in Science journal that they expressed the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation using HEK293 cells. That means they made the spike protein so they could study it, and they used HEK293 cells as the medium to express it in. HEK293 cells are Human embryonic kidney 293 cells, which are a specific cell line originally derived from human embryonic kidney cells grown in tissue culture taken from a female fetus in 1973. In September 2020, Pfizer researchers explained that they used HEK293 in a neutralization assay to detect the presence of antibodies, a test to make sure the vaccine works as it should, and they transfected HEK293 cells to test expression. That means they added the vaccine in each step of development to the cells to see if they produced the protein as expected. This is the in vitro (in the lab) mRNA expression test. Again, HEK293 cells are Human embryonic kidney 293 cells, which are a specific cell line originally derived from human embryonic kidney cells grown in tissue culture taken from a female fetus in 1973. Johnson & Johnson explained in a scientific report from July 2020 in Nature journal and in another scientific report from September 2020 also in Nature journal that they propagated the virus in the PER.C6 cells means to grow it in them. They will need to do this in ongoing manufacturing. The PER.C6 cell line is derived from human embryonic retinal cells, originally from the retinal tissue of an 18-week-old fetus aborted in 1985. mRNA Inclusion
There are a few red flags for me as a human regarding the nMRA inclusion in these vaccinations. According to the Moderna website, “mRNA is a single-stranded molecule that carries genetic code from DNA in a cell’s nucleus to ribosomes, the cell’s protein-making machinery.”
Because the mRNA in the vaccines is created via proprietary methods, we are unable to know how the mRNA is created and whether or not it is derived from a human or other DNA sequence. Proprietary is just a fancy word for "we're not telling you."
Biblical References The Bible shows us that God is not honored by the inclusion of genetic data from other creatures into our bodies or vice versa. The Bible even instructs us on how to handle the blood of animals as well as instructing u not to combine our genetics with the genetics of animals.
1 Corinthians 15:39 states: “Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another.”
Leviticus 18:23 states: “Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion.”
Using genetics from an unknown source is unwise and unBiblical considering that we know from the Vaccine Exepient list that many other vaccines contain ingredients such as fetal bovine serum and MRC-5 DNA and proteins. We are living in a real-life clinical trial with vaccinations that contain DNA and other biological components from other humans and animals. Even if you receive a blood transfusion or another human organ, they make sure that they find you a match and give you the best chances that what they're injecting in you is as safe as possible. But when it comes to vaccinations, you're getting the same vial as everyone else and your personal genetic and biological makeup is not taken into consideration.
Natural Immunity vs. Vaccinated Response
Statistically, as of July 2021, there are valid reasons to believe that God’s design for our immune system will protect us as well, if not better, than a mRNA vaccination. In the early stages of COVID-19 exposure in the United States, the CDC worked “with commercial laboratories to conduct large-scale geographic seroprevalence surveys to estimate the percentage of people who were previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease.” Scientists asked this question: “What proportion of persons in six U.S. sites had detectable antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, March 23-May 3, 2020?” The findings were as such: “We tested 11,933 residual clinical specimens. We estimate that from 1.1% of persons in the Puget Sound to 6.9% in New York City (collected March 23-April 1) had detectable antibodies. Estimates ranged from 1.9% in south Florida to 4.9% in Connecticut with specimens collected during intervals from April 6-May 3. Six to 24 times more infections were estimated per site with seroprevalence than with case report data.” As of 20 August 2021, the United States has a population of about 332,600,000 people. As of 19 July 2021, there have been 33,396,282 positive COVID-19 cases in the United States. This means that roughly 10% of the United States has tested positive for COVID-19. This does not include asymptomatic people or those who declined COVID-19 testing. As of 20 August 2021, the CDC estimates that 69,747,000 individuals have COVID-19 anti-n antibodies - according to their estimates in the last two weeks of June 2021. Statistically, this means that based on the most current antibody testing, we can reasonably conclude that twice as many people have anti-nucleocapsid antibodies due to exposure to COVID-19 than there are COVID-19 cases in the United States. According to the National Institutes of Health study published in January of 2021, when testing over 200 individuals, “95% of the people had at least 3 out of 5 immune-system components that could recognize SARS-CoV-2 up to 8 months after infection.” “Time since infection ranged from six days after symptom onset to eight months later. More than 40 participants had been recovered for more than six months before the study began. About 50 people provided blood samples at more than one time after infection.” Interestingly enough, according to the CDC, of those who have had “SARS-CoV-2 infection, most people develop anti-nucleocapsid (anti-N) and anti-spike protein (anti-S) antibodies. The COVID-19 vaccines currently used in the United States contain only the S spike protein and vaccinated people develop only anti-S antibodies.” Science is showing that the man-made COVID-19 vaccine does not create the same immune response and antibody creation as our God-given response does. Personal Wellness and Prevention
Data suggests that for individuals who do not have comorbidities, the risk of complications from COVID-19 are less than those who do not properly support their physical and immune system health. Personal health and wellbeing are the responsibility of every person.
As Christians, we believe that God has created our bodies to heal themselves according to His Word and that He has given us the proper tools to maintain good health and wellness. Ezekiel 47:12 refers to the plants of the Earth and says “their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
Many common medicines, like the salicylic acid in aspirin, are synthetic version of natural compounds, like willow bar, sweet birch, and wintergreen leaves. With the knowledge and implementation of healthy foods and supplements, we can strengthen our immune systems in the prevention of illness – not only shortening our sickness downtime, but allowing our bodies natural exposure to develop lifelong immunity.
This again is confirmed by the point made in paragraph above where it has been proven through antibody testing that the antibodies created through vaccination are not identical to naturally occurring antibodies developed through exposure. There are numerous studies focusing right now on using supplements to prevent and reduce the effects of COVID-19. John Hopkins Medicine samples one of these articles and explains how supplements such as Vitamin C, Vitamin D, melatonin, and zinc work and how they each might benefit a patient with COVID-19. The article was printed to PDF on 20 July 2021, and as of 20 August 2021 has been taken down. A copy of their article can be found here. Based on additional information found at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health government website, there is plenty of evidence to show that a proper nutrition creates a strong and capable immune system. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. - Timothy 1:7