On Sabbath, January 15, 2022, Pastor Doug Hardt of the Markham Woods Seventh-day-Adventist Church in Longwood, Florida, preached a sermon addressing some key controversy points around the COVID-19 vaccine titled: Vaccines, Liberty and the Bible.
this presentation by Pastor Hardt is preeminently reasonableâŚi think its appeal is its passion-free reference to a wide range of considerations and evidence, without any effort to force personal views, which are stated plainly, openly and honestlyâŚthis kind of sermon, that appeals primarily to the mind, is what i tend to appreciate mostâŚwhen pastors lapse into drama, theatrics and emotionality, i instinctively become suspicious, and almost reflexively guard myself against manipulationâŚbut calm, unhurried reason always charmsâŚit makes me feel as though iâve been respected, and addressed as someone who can think independentlyâŚ
iâm proud of our NAD leaders for standing firm despite the abuse theyâre receivingâŚi hope our pastors can remain united in their encouragement to be in harmony with authorities, and to get vaccinatedâŚright now, and on this subject, i think our mainstream pastors and administrators are looking very goodâŚ
What we see in Doug Hardt is someone who enjoys being a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. He doesnât want to be a Fox Network late-night political commentator; he understands the difference between biblical theology and alt right political ideology. He doesnât want to be a grifter; he understands the difference between the church of Jesus Christ and a racket. He doesnât want to be a celebrity; he understands that the fifteen minutes of fame currently enjoyed by certain Felicias in our faith community are fleeting gewgaws. He doesnât want to be a lawyer; he understands that pretending to have expertise in the law, the Constitution, and the First Amendment is silly and offensive. And I am confident that he doesnât want to be an anti-Semite; he no doubt understands that loony conspiracy theories, including the anti-vax loony conspiracy theory, are corollaries of the worldâs oldest loony conspiracy theory, which holds that nothing we see is legit and that we canât trust the government, the mainstream media, healthcare experts, pharmaceutical companies, and world organizations because behind the scenes the Jews are pulling the strings.
This was an excellent and refreshing sermon! His congregation is blessed to have him. Someday we will learn of the health and death consequences of Adventist pastors who preached against life saving vaccines.
As it turns out, the vaccination statement posted like an SDA church policy by the NAD and the GC is null and void because they have no authority to assemble said policies. Church policies of this wide category can only be voted in at a GC session. All is made clear in the SDA policy book.
Much confusion could have been avoided if our leaders knew more of their own responsibilities and the boundaries.
This is Allen, âEnemy of Soulsâ posting
For some reason, I must have missed the sermon Elder Hardt gave taking Biden and Harris to task for their condemnation of the vaccine that Trump was developing. Was it posted here?
A few comments.
He has the whole church masked now, in January 2022! Surgical and cloth masks do no good, or minimal at best. The omicron is so contagious, we all will get it, and that is Fauci. And it is a mild disease. We are not masking here at all.
The left accuses the right of misinformation, when they are misinforming as well. Lock downs destroyed economies, and children have never needed masks, they are only very. mildly affected by the illness. Thase policies were misguided, and are so to this day, and are being actively promoted. That has led to distrust of the CDC etc. Read all the articles on covid on Realclearpolitics to get a broad view of the matter.
And the numbers have been inflated for political purposes. That is clear.
I am in favor of the vaccine. I have taken it and the booster, as has my wife. We are older, and I have seen older folks who did not take it that have even died. Occasionally vaccinated people we get it and rarely die. But the vaccine really helps. But there are folk that do not trust the government, and refuse. And there are others that just feel it is dangerous. But fighting âmisinformationâ with condemnations of the source just does not work. Promoting truth does. And respecting them as well. They are only hurting themselves.
Here is a small quote from an article on Realclear called âThe leftwing case against vaccine mandates.â Good to read the whole article:
The Covid vaccine rollout is seen as one of the success stories of the pandemic. Over 60% of the worldâs population [has now received one dose of the vaccine]. This has coincided with a fall in Covid mortality among the elderly, vulnerable, and most at risk from the disease, which is is great news; yet it has also coincided with a shift in the hysteria surrounding lockdowns towards the question of the individualâs moral duty to get vaccinated, and with the introduction of highly discriminatory measures.
As writers from the Left, we are disturbed by this turn of events. We donât think there is anything progressive about the current move towards compelled â and in places mandatory â Covid vaccinations. These are discriminatory against minority communities, many of whom for historical reasons [are suspicious of medicine and the state] End
The cousts have struck down mandates. Masks will shortly be discarded as unnecessary.
Here is a note from today on mask mandates fro schools:
An infectious disease scientist in Anthony Fauciâs National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is undermining his promotion of continued masking )while skirting direct confrontation with NIAIDâs director of 38 years.
Margery Smelkinson identifies her NIAID affiliation on Twitter, where she regularly questions COVID-19 policies, but she hasnât otherwise removed her mask, so to speak.
The scientist made perhaps her biggest splash Wednesday with an Atlantic essay questioning the CDCâs purported evidence for COVID-19 mask mandates in schools, including a North Carolina study promoted by the National Institutes of Health, which oversees NIAID.
While the NIHâs safe school reopening guide called masks âvery effective at slowing the spread,â Smelkinson called the North Carolina study and others weak because they didnât isolate the impact of masks and had no control group.
âThe time has come to pivot towards mask-optional policies,â she tweeted. Mask mandates in schools are neither âbased on robust evidenceâ nor âbalanced against potential harms.â
The science does not show that masks are âvery effectiveâ especially in children. The policies have been child abuse. As is distnace learning.
The virus cares nothing for your political leanings, rhetoric, or sensibilities. So long as you view the pandemic and its drivers as political you cannot be taken seriously and remain a source of misinformation.
What amazes me about your post is that you see my political views etc. as reason to not answer. Just show some facts to counter the ones I have posted. Then you have discredited me. Quote studies, not opinions. It will get you credibility. I will counter if I think there is a problem with the study.
And you think there were no politics involved? PleaseâŚ
The problem with claiming I spread disinformation is that your side has done it in spades:
"When liberalsâ favorite media outlets, from CNN and NBC to The New York Times and The Atlantic, spend four years disseminating one fabricated Russia story after the next â from the Kremlin hacking into Vermontâs heating system and Putinâs sexual blackmail over Trump to [bounties on the heads of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan,ââ none of that is "disinformationâ that requires banishment. Nor are false claims that COVIDâs origin has proven to be zoonotic rather than a lab leak, the vastly overstated claim that vaccines prevent transmission of COVID, or that Julian Assange stole classified documents and caused people to die. Corporate outlets beloved by liberals are free to spout serious falsehoods without being deemed guilty of disinformation, and, because of that, do so routinely.
You can argue with me about some of this, but you need to show studies rather than look shocked, pull up yours skirt and flee to the exit!
Ahhhh, associating the feminine with weakness and fear of confontation. Some respondents to this sight might take issue with you, Allen. But perhaps you were referring to kilts. If so, a different group of respondents might take issue. 
You saw right through meâŚ! My Scottish ancestors would doubtless be embarrassed.
I might add there is another interesting article in the New York Magazine by Eric Levitz âWhy Joe Biden is Bleeding Black Support.â There is an interesting section on vax mandates that some blacks do not favor.
Ahhhh, Allen. Youâve acquired the press conference skill of slightly acknowledging the issue then quickly changing the subject . Masterful!
But of course you have not addressed the issue at hand at all. But perhaps the subject is of little interest. I did like your anti-misogynist and kilt comments, however, quite creative.
The desire to bait, troll and fight members of the community seems to be a passion for some. Case in point, as illustrated above, some commentators do not seem to realize that their missives on various topics are also a confession of their character.
Wow! You said I was spreding misinformation, and so far, I have not seen any post that proves that, but merely and accusation about fighting the âcommunityâ. You got two likes, so there are three of you that agree.
But donât you think information would be better than accusation?
David 1,
You need to read this article from Realclearpolitics web site, Mon Jan 31, afternoon posting. It is a more balanced view:
COVID AFFECTS YOUR MEMORY
by Alex Gutentag
Then we can talk about misinformation.
Sorry for a third reply to David from the âenemy of souls,â but I want to point out that the Brits and the Danes are suspending all Covid restrictions, with several other countries to follow, while pastor Hardt has his whole church remarking! And his message seems to imply that is a virtuous action.
There was also a recent study that showed the uselessness of lock downs.
Interesting report on how useful the lockdown was: Johns Hopkins Study: Lockdowns Had âLittle To No Effect On COVID-19 Mortalityâ But Had âDevastatingâ Effects On Society | The Daily Wire
I just listened to the sermon. I donât think I have ever heard a more direct assertion that to rebel against any government action is to rebel against God. I donât know why people donât think a little more deeply about Paulâs statement about rulers being put in place by God. I mean not hard to see he is talking about when they do rightly and not just everything. Well, maybe that is so much clearer to see after Hitler and Stalin, and Mao. But to hear it from an Adventist sermon is kind of amazing.
Also, the sermon asserts how good the Adventistists were from the 1917âs to 1940âs about how they established so much, etc. I seem to hear all kinds of things here on Spectrum about how these folks were fundamentalists that we are constantly battling against, kind of a different story.
The sermon also equated the wash your handâs law with these emergency mandates as if they are the same thing. Nope laws are way different than a governor who has grabbed at emergency authority and setting up a mandate with a law that is produced through a legislature. But these are just pesky technicalities. Better to just call people that question such things âanti-vaxxersâ. No reason to actually look at truth and larger issues is there?
One more thing. He said he had just had Covid, mid-January it sounds like. This means it was Omicron yet he credits the light symptoms with the vaccination which did not of course prevent the infection or his ability to spread the disease and since Omicron is milder symptoms anyway, yet he was able to say that the vaccination did itâs job. funny how that works, I guess it is science though seems to me like an opinion without substance.