The US Government, spearheaded by former NIH Director Collins and Surgeon General Murthy, compelled Faiths4Vaccines, a key member of the HHS’ COVID-19 Community Corps, to advocate for COVID-19 vaccines.

Government officials, including former NIH Director Francis Collins and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, employed religious channels to enlist the support of faith leaders nationwide in promoting COVID-19 vaccinations. Faiths4Vaccines, a key member of the HHS’ COVID-19 Community Corps focused on vaccine advocacy, played a prominent role in this initiative.

While the HHS involving faith leaders in endorsing COVID-19 vaccines during the spring of 2021 was anticipated, a more in-depth exploration uncovered the extensive efforts to persuade these faith leaders. The methods used by government officials raised questions about their appropriateness and potential violation of constitutional principles.

According to a study published in the Cureus journal, mRNA COVID-19 vaccines caused more deaths than they saved.

Among the founding members of the COVID-19 Community Corps, the “faith leaders” category stood out with 86 members, including individual leaders and organizations representing various religions like the American Baptist Church, Catholic Charities USA, the Episcopal Church, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and the New York Jewish Agenda.

It’s noteworthy that several faith organizations received federal financial assistance during the pandemic. For example, “American Baptist Churches in the USA” reportedly secured $1.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds through two forgivable loans spanning 2020 and 2021. In their defense, the extensive lockdowns in 2020 left faith organizations, often dependent on member contributions for daily operations, facing financial hardships.

Faith Leaders’ Positions of “Trust” Exploited

In our opinion, however, it wasn’t financial incentives that ultimately convinced faith leaders to push the COVID-19 vaccines on their members. Instead, it was a strategy that baselessly appealed to faith leaders’ deeply held moral and religious beliefs – targeting their virtues instead of their vices – and which shamelessly relied on religious doctrine and a pro-vaccine “theological” interpretation to support pushing the shots.

For instance, in May 2021, during a national summit for faith leaders, NIH Director Francis Collins, often referred to as “Reverend-Doctor,” spoke to hundreds of faith leaders across the country. He asserted that COVID-19 vaccines were a direct response to prayers from God, encouraging faith leaders to view promoting vaccinations as a moment to “love your neighbor.” In a sermon-like delivery tailored for these leaders, Collins cautioned against believing “conspiracy theories” regarding “possible side effects,” falsely claiming their inaccuracy.

In the spring of 2021, when COVID-19 vaccine uptake had plateaued, faith leaders emerged as the Biden administration’s solution to persuade hesitant Americans to get vaccinated. Faith leaders possessed significant untapped potential to convince vaccine-hesitant individuals, especially if convinced that COVID-19 vaccination was a moral obligation to others. Similar to healthcare providers, faith leaders were deemed “trusted,” arguably even more so than one’s doctor. They were associated with the divine and connected to deeply personal, intimate, and sacred moments in Americans’ lives, such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Faith organizations, as discussed in a peer-reviewed article, effectively addressed vaccine hesitancy in “hyperlocal” ways. Additionally, considering the widespread religiosity in the U.S., where an overwhelming majority believe in a higher power, faith leaders’ influence was substantial.

Faiths4Vaccines – A Disturbing Partnership with the Biden Administration

In retrospect, it seems governments began involving faith leaders in promoting COVID-19 vaccinations as early as February 2021. In that month, Washington’s Mayor introduced a pilot initiative ominously named “Faith in the Vaccine.” This program aimed to partner with Washington’s faith communities through DC Health to facilitate widespread vaccination. Eventually, the government’s initiative to collaborate with faith organizations expanded nationally.

Meet Faiths4Vaccines – a founding member of the HHS COVID-19 Community Corps. According to its website, Faiths4Vaccines identifies as a “multi-faith group of local and national religious leaders” seeking to enhance opportunities for faith-based institutions, particularly houses of worship, to engage and support the U.S. government’s efforts in increasing vaccination rates and combating vaccine hesitancy. A striking shared goal of Faiths4Vaccines is to “Demonstrate religious communities’ trust in the vaccine.”

A peer-reviewed study evaluating the impact of faith organizations on COVID-19 vaccination uptake revealed that Faiths4Vaccines includes over 1000 faith leaders across the U.S. The study noted 13 “bi-weekly roundtables” led by faith leaders utilizing their places of worship as vaccination sites. Regular engagement with the White House, including the White House COVID-19 Task Force, CDC, and HHS, was part of these bi-weekly calls. A spin-off initiative named Youth4Vaccines focused on promoting the COVID-19 vaccine among American youth and organized a roundtable showcasing how youths of faith lead within COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Faiths4Vaccines Holds a National Summit to Pressure Faith Leaders to Push COVID-19 Vaccines

The Faiths4Vaccines National Summit, occurring on May 26, 2021, stood as the largest religious summit of its kind in the U.S. This summit brought together around 800 registered faith leaders alongside public health and U.S. government officials. Its purpose was to boost COVID-19 vaccination uptake, diminish vaccine hesitancy, and encourage the utilization of “houses of worship” as vaccination sites.

During the Faiths4Vaccines National Summit, NIH Director Francis Collins, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and Jeffrey Zients (then White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, now Biden’s Chief of Staff) made virtual appearances, directly addressing faith leaders. In their official government capacities, Collins, Murthy, and Zients employed religious rhetoric to persuade faith leaders to advocate for COVID-19 vaccines. Shockingly, Collins even asserted that the vaccines were provided by God.

At the Faiths4Vaccines National Summit, faith leaders were pressured to promote COVID-19 vaccines among their members. As depicted in the slide below, faith leaders were unabashedly encouraged to “Speak about the moral imperative of getting vaccinated in your sermons.”

Efforts to comprehend the widespread acceptance of a novel and experimental biomedical injection therapy by 80% of the U.S. population, lacking long-term safety data, for an illness with minimal risk to a significant portion of the populace have been numerous. Previous discussions have illuminated the funneling of billions in financial incentives to influential private sectors like hospital systems and physicians, facilitating vaccine mandates and resulting in a dearth of patient informed consent. Additionally, federal grants, including those granted through HHS Cooperative Agreements, have influenced physician standardizing organizations like ACOG, leading to risky and unprecedented pro-vaccine recommendations for COVID-19 during pregnancy.

However, the use of religious doctrine and the sanctity of one’s faith tradition with misleading information to advance a risky, experimental biomedical government agenda is particularly troubling. The refusal to provide readily available, affordable, and potentially life-saving medications with an excellent safety profile in favor of promoting this experimental biomedical agenda further challenges ethical boundaries.

When government officials and those who pushed the shots in cooperation with the government fail to acknowledge the shots’ spectacular failure, and when they refuse to give voice to or help the millions who have been hurt and damaged by the shots they pushed – this too shocks the conscience. In manipulating faith leaders to push the COVID-19 injections on their fearful members, our government has abused God, abused Scripture, and abused religious doctrine.

In our perspective, this is precisely what unfolded. As witnessed at the Faiths4Vaccines National Summit, influential government officials employed religious doctrine to pressurize faith leaders nationwide into leveraging their spiritual influence, positions of trust, and sacred spaces to advocate for vaccines among their congregants. Government officials claimed to have insight into God’s stance on the COVID-19 vaccines, dismissing alternative perspectives and sidestepping open debate. By asserting their vaccine “theology” as the correct interpretation, government leaders implied that faith leaders with differing views opposed God or misunderstood God. Collins and Murthy, when addressing those questioning the government’s vaccine “theology,” used language with pejorative undertones, suggesting that hesitant faith leaders were inferior, uneducated, and susceptible to believing in “conspiracy theories” (Collins) or “misinformation and myths” (Murthy).

Faiths4Vaccines National Summit: Vivek Murthy’s Troubling Remarks on Envisioning a Post-Pandemic World

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy speaks while flanked by the American flag and the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps insignia, which are emblems of military might and authority.59

In addition to “othering” the unvaccinated, Murthy’s remarks place the vast majority of them in the undesired category of “myth” and “misinformation” believers. Murthy contends that religious leaders, the majority of whom have no background in medicine, must serve as a reliable source of health information for the American people:

“And we know that there’s a lot of misinformation out there as well.About 2/3 of people who are unvaccinated either believe some of the myths out there or think that some of the myths, common myths may be true. And so we have a lot of work to do, but this is where faith leaders can help, so much, because at a moment when people are casting doubt and wondering who they can rely on for accurate information, they look, yes, to their doctors and nurses, but they look in particular to people they know, to people they trust. And in so many cases, that is all of you.”⁶⁰

Afterward, Murthy takes a religious turn, quoting Scripture in terms that are lovely and true in and of themselves, as though they were inspired by a well-known theologian (who shall go unnamed here but is easily remembered by this Duke alumnus):

“And COVID itself, as a pandemic, has taught us this profound lesson that Scripture has been teaching us for thousands of years. And that lesson is that we fundamentally need one another, and that the bonds of affection that connect us as family and friends and neighbors, that these are sources of comfort, joy, but also help. And there’s a growing body of research, that tells us, in fact, that these human connections that we enjoy and cherish are actually good for our physical and mental well-being.”⁶¹

Interestingly, Murthy’s statements highlight a theological principle that was disregarded during the stringent lockdowns in 2020. This principle emphasizes our interconnectedness through shared humanity, emphasizing that our relationships with each other are not only vital but also constitutive of our existence – particularly during times of crisis.

One might pose the question to Murthy about how this theological principle aligns with the draconian lockdowns imposed in 2020. Research studies, subjected to peer review, indicate that 27% of family members were denied the opportunity to be with their loved ones during their final moments in 2020, precisely when they were on the verge of departing from this life to the next. Does the current administration genuinely prioritize human connection? Murthy asserts that it does, maintaining:

“So in this particular moment when people are looking about for folks to trust, you have an extraordinarily important role to play. And I think what you can also do is to help people look beyond the pandemic and to think of this, not just as a moment to get vaccinated, but to grapple with the question ofwhat kind of post pandemic world do we want to create together? Like how do we build lives that are more centered on the people that we love? How do we more consistently live in accordance with our highest values of kindness, compassion and generosity? And ultimately, how do we lead lives that are guided by love and not fear? You know, the silver lining of COVID is that it’s given us a chance to create a world that is stronger, kinder, and more aligned with our values. And that starts with protecting ourselves and the people we care about from the virus. And that’s where getting vaccinated really is the key.”

Strangely, Murthy concludes that receiving the COVID-19 vaccination is essential for “living lives guided by love, not fear” and for bringing about a post-pandemic world that is kinder, more connected, and more compassionate.

But in the aftermath of the sketchy government campaign to get the experimental COVID-19 vaccines into every American arm – shots that have now disabled and killed countless around the world –  envisioning a kinder, more connected, and more compassionate post-pandemic world means other things to many. It means offering aid and showing compassion to the countless numbers of COVID-19 vaccine injured, who have been ignored, censored, gaslighted, and abandoned by a government that mandated an experimental injection that it falsely promised was safe and effective.

It entails admitting that the government was completely mistaken in several ways too numerous to mention here on its vaccination “theology” and response to the COVID-19 outbreak. It entails acting to overturn legislation that grants pharmaceutical firms that produce vaccines legal immunity and making producers responsible for their dishonest business practices. These are a few of the steps that could help Americans regain their lost faith in their religious leaders, their government, and their medical professionals. They could also help them mend their broken relationships. This would be the first step toward building the perfect post-pandemic society that, in Murthy’s words, “reflects our highest values of kindness, compassion and generosity.”