The Booster, Information and Child Poverty.

Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
The Booster Jab, but first Information and Child Poverty.
Monday 13th December 2021

Reliable Information

All of us are struggling under the weight of information and sadly misinformation. It’s become quite a challenge to navigate through it all. One ‘Journal’ I turn to weekly sometimes several times a week is The Conversation.

“The Conversation Australia and New Zealand is a unique collaboration between academics and journalists that in just 10 years has become the world’s leading publisher of research-based news and analysis. Everything you read here is created by academics and journalists working together, supported by a team of digital technology experts. Our professional editors turn knowledge and insights from academics into easy-to-read articles, and make them accessible to readers like you. We are committed to ethical journalism, with a strict Editorial Charter and codes of conduct. We are transparent: every author discloses their expertise, funding, and conflicts of interest”.

For a Christian perspective on issues to do with Culture, Politics and what’s trending, I turn to Christianity Today, Barna Research, The Pew Research Centre, and anything and everything Timothy Keller writes.

A note about Main Stream Media (MSM) and Media Bias. It’s true that most MSM outlets have a bias. They are ‘owned’ by people and companies who need to get sales and profits and that can be a problem when it comes to truth telling and maintaining journalistic ‘ethics’. A few years ago I came across this organisation that studies media bias. Very helpful indeed. I’ve printed their infographic and stuck it on my office wall right beside my computer.

On their homepage they say, “Everyone is biased — and that's okay. But hidden media bias misleads, manipulates and divides us. AllSides Media Bias Ratings make media bias transparent, helping you to easily identify different perspectives so you can get the full picture and think for yourself”.

Child Poverty in NZ

POV. According to the Child Monitor things are improving. But I am still staggered that in a country like NZ (see below) that so many children are experiencing income and material hardship. I know many churches are contributing towards assisting these folks but is there any more we can do? Something together, something big. What about every local church take on two households in your neighbourhood in 2022 and do what it takes to give these families a hope and a future. That would be about 6000 household’s, impacting about 30,000 people most of whom are children. Now that would make a dent on the problem.

“18.4% of mokopuna live in low-income households. The target on this measure by June 2028 is 10%. 11.3% of mokopuna live in households experiencing material hardship. The target by June 2028 is 6%. About 25% of children live in home that have problems with dampness. For tamariki Māori that is much higher at 35% and for Pacific mokopuna its 37%”.

Why Get The Booster?

POV. If you are like me you may have a few questions about the booster. This did catch me a bit by surprise. I don’t remember reading or hearing anything about the need for a booster and especially not 6 months after my second jab. So I needed to pause, think this through a bit and get a little professional advice. Early next year I will be asking my own doctor before I line up to get the booster.
In the meantime here is a most helpful article published late last week by The Conversation. Amongst other questions it answers these three ‘top of mind’ questions. How much does immunity wane after 2 doses? How effective are booster doses? Will the booster protect me against Omicron?

Thank You

As this is my last ‘Gospel and Culture’ blog for 2021 I want to say one big Thank you to all my readers. It’s been another ‘full on’ year and my many POV’s on Covid-19, needless to say, have generated quite a lot of email traffic and long phone calls. I have greatly appreciated the feedback and the insights that some of you have shared with me. So thank you. I feel more passionate than ever to invite and encourage pastors and Christian Leaders to wrestle with the big issues of our day. I am convinced more than ever that when we as Christians speak and act with both ‘grace and truth’ about the tough and complex issues of our day then we will be the ‘salt and light’ that Jesus has called us to in what is now a very secular NZ. There is hope, there is always hope.

Merry Christmas and see you in 2022.
Alan Vink