Microchips. Bill Gates. The mark of the beast. 5G cell towers. False positive rates. Big pharma. DNA alteration. It’s been hard to avoid the swirling morass of misinformation and conspiracy theories around the pandemic. And this confusion and fear have surged in recent weeks as the first covid vaccines have begun to be rolled out. But why have so many people, including many in the church, fallen for untruths about coronavirus? Where has all our trust – in government, in science, even in doctors – gone? How can we steer a clear path through the toxic brew of lies and misinformation swamping the internet and social media?
In each episode of Matters of Life and Death, brought to you by Premier Unbelievable?, John Wyatt and his son Tim discuss issues in healthcare, ethics, technology, science, faith and more. John is a doctor, professor of ethics, and writer and speaker on many of these topics, while Tim is a religion and social affairs journalist. We talk about how Christians can better engage with a particular question of life, death or something else in between.
Microchips. Bill Gates. The mark of the beast. 5G cell towers. False positive rates. Big pharma. DNA alteration. It’s been hard to avoid the swirling morass of misinformation and conspiracy theories around the pandemic. And this confusion and fear have surged in recent weeks as the first covid vaccines have begun to be rolled out. But why have so many people, including many in the church, fallen for untruths about coronavirus? Where has all our trust – in government, in science, even in doctors – gone? How can we steer a clear path through the toxic brew of lies and misinformation swamping the internet and social media?
Read the World Health Organisation’s guide to navigating the ‘infodemic’ and verifying online information here: who.int/news-room/spotlight/let-s-flatten-the-infodemic-curve
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you may also want to read my article exploring some of the ethics and science involved in covid vaccines, and listen to our three-part podcast series on the same topic:
In each episode of Matters of Life and Death, brought to you by Premier Unbelievable?, John Wyatt and his son Tim discuss issues in healthcare, ethics, technology, science, faith and more. John is a doctor, professor of ethics, and writer and speaker on many of these topics, while Tim is a religion and social affairs journalist. We talk about how Christians can better engage with a particular question of life, death or something else in between.
The first coronavirus vaccine jabs have already gone into the arms of people here in the UK, as Britain this week became the first country in the world to actually deploy a vaccine which had completed all its clinical trials and been signed off by the regulator. But there remain lots of questions about the vaccine – how has it been made so fast, can we be sure it is safe, who should get it first, and can Christians be given it without compromising on their religious convictions?
Listen to previous episodes on covid vaccines here:
Part 1 – https://shows.acast.com/matters-of-life-and-death/episodes/coronavirus-vaccines
Part 2 – https://shows.acast.com/matters-of-life-and-death/episodes/coronavirus-vaccines-part-2
Read John’s article on vaccines and Christian ethics here – https://johnwyatt.com/2020/10/08/article-coronavirus-vaccines-and-christian-ethics/ At the bottom is a document which has more detailed information on which particular vaccines have used which particular cell lines which may have ethical concerns, produced by the pro-life research centre the Charlotte Lozier Institute.
John has also put together a document on his website tackling some of the frequently asked questions about the vaccine – https://johnwyatt.com/2020/12/21/faq-coronavirus-vaccines-frequently-asked-questions/
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
I have also pulled together an FAQ tackling some of the biggest conspiracy theories and misleading claims out there about the covid vaccines, which you can read here.
And lastly, the World Health Organisation have an excellent resource on how to assess and verify information you come across online to tackle what they call the ‘infodemic’ – Tim mentions this briefly at the end of the episode.