The Treaty and mRNA Vaccines
Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
The Treaty and mRNA Vaccines
Tuesday 8th February 2022
The purpose of this weekly ‘Gospel and Culture’ blog is to assist pastors and Christian leaders to quickly understand ‘key’ issues of the day and how they might intersect with the Gospel, Church and with Christianity generally. It is essentially a ‘curated’ blog that raises between one and three current issues and directs you the reader to a reliable article, podcast and/or a website for further reading. It is my contribution to help us ‘think Christianly’ and to develop a Christian world-view. Jesus prayed for us in John 17, “I’m not asking you, Father, to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one………make them holy by your truth”.
The Treaty of Waitangi
Here is an excellent article that Keith Newman has written entitled ‘Breaking Down The Walls’. In it Keith takes a look at the Treaty through a biblical lens. “The Treaty of Waitangi was an obstacle to greedy politicians, lawyers and land agents acquiring lands as cheaply as possible and then on-selling it for profit to top up government, individual and investor coffers. The Maori voice was effectively silenced. Even a long line of advocates including the Williams brothers, Colenso, Octavius Hadfield and later Maori prophets and kings achieved only a token hearing when they raised concerns about the obvious betrayals and injustices………….
And here is an important article published in the Sunday Star Times on Waitangi Day. Titled “Can The Crown and Tino Rangatiratanga Co-exist – Kelvin Davis Walks a Delicate Line’.
POV. For the last 4 months I have been deeply involved in a historic land confiscation issue at the Raglan Airfield. It has been and is an incredible experience and a heart wrenching one at that. I have seen Maori extremely angry with Crown Agencies. I’ve witnessed Waikato District Council behave appallingly and arrogantly, needlessly in my opinion upsetting Maori. And I have listened to multiple stories of pain and sadness. I have concluded that there is so much healing that still needs to be done. The Christian church is so well placed to minister in this space as we carry this transformative message of reconciliation, peace and healing.
How mRNA Vaccines Work
Here is a video and an article on how the mRNA (Pziffer) vaccine works in your body and how it differs from the traditional vaccine. I found it very helpful.
“To trigger an immune response, many vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. Not mRNA vaccines. Instead, mRNA vaccines use mRNA created in a laboratory to teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies”.
POV. New developments in science and technology have given rise to this new vaccine. As with all break through discoveries and inventions there are always some ‘experts’ who are not sure and/or opposed. That is true in whatever endeavour of life you care to mention, whether it be in business, medicine, education, engineering and so on. Not everyone agrees or is in support. So nothing surprising there. What it does do is help explain why about 6-8% of NZ’s population is opposed to the mRNA vaccine and in some cases all vaccines.
Uncomfortable Fact: 49% or 3000 people in prison are Maori yet Maori make up only 17% of the National population.
Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.
