Protestant Pastor in Glasgow on Vaccination of Children & State Intrusion into Family Life
Government Decision to vaccinate children for Covid:
I write to you about the current situation concerning vaccinations against covid for children aged 12-15, which will affect directly some of our families with teenagers at school. Some parents have asked me to say something on this, and I believe it is an issue that affects us all, because we all have a shared responsibility to nurture and to protect the young in our midst.
The Government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the regulative body in charge of decisions on vaccination and immunisation: who should receive all vaccines, when, and how. This body some time ago, very hesitantly and half-heartedly, extended the use of just half-vaccination (a single dose) to 16-18 year olds. (This followed great political pressure, and only after several dissenting members were quietly ‘retired’ from the committee).
It was a controversial decision given that previously the JCVI had repeatedly said there was no reason to vaccinate healthy youngsters who were at ‘vanishingly small risk’ of any severe disease from coronavirus, and they produced no new evidence to suggest this had changed. Just 0.001% of covid deaths in the UK have been in in people under the age of 25, and the vast majority (perhaps even all) were among those with serious and life-threatening illnesses like cancers, and likely terminally ill or otherwise extremely immune-compromised. So, whereas there was already provision to vaccinate those deemed at particular risk, it was at best contentious (and in my view unethical) to make this recommendation for 16-18 year olds.
But the JCVI has refused to go further and endorse vaccination for under 16s.
They stated very clearly that the benefit to children themselves of receiving this vaccine (which is still only useable under emergency-use authorisation – EUA) is virtually zero, whereas the already-known risk of serious harms though small, is not negligible. On a population-wide scale, it would risk significant numbers of children becoming seriously ill, and some dying.
Just one known very serious adverse effect of these novel vaccines is that of myocarditis – inflammation of the heart. This has been reported in many countries, and much more commonly the younger the age group: in Israel 1 in 10,000 21-24 year olds vaccinated, rising to 1 in 6000 in 16-19 year olds.
Despite claims that many of these cases were ‘mild’ and resolved, from my own background in cardiology I can tell you categorically that the use of the term ‘mild’ is misleading, and that in virtually every single case of this there will be lasting damage to some degree in the heart. Some of these cases being studied in the USA show persistent changes on MRI scan on follow up, and it is still very early days with long-term effects unknown. However, myocarditis has a high rate of progressing to heart failure, and is one of the reasons some younger people end up needing heart transplants.
Heart muscle damage is something you do not want to have, however it is caused, whether it is through inflammation (myocarditis) or a blocked vessel causing a heart attack. Obviously a ‘mild’ heart attack is far better than a severe one, and if you are in your 70s, the small lasting damage to your heart muscle may not have a huge effect on your heart function, health and longevity. But if you are in your teens, your heart has a whole lifetime of hard work ahead of it, and any damage will be lasting. The degree to which this may prove extremely serious or even fatal in the medium to long term is simply not known.
To quote from a recent article in the British Medical Journal, “COVID-19 vaccine side-effects are well recognized, but incidence is poorly monitored and understood. The US voluntary reporting system (VAERS) has higher rates of vaccination-associated death than all other vaccines combined over the past 20 years”.
So, given the already-known potential harms (of which myocarditis is just one), and the entirely unknown potential long-term adverse effects, which may come to light only after many months or years (as, for example, with the dreadful permanent neurological effects of the Pandemrix Swine-Flu vaccine in 2009), the decision by the Chief Medical Officers to go against the JCVI advice and vaccinate under 16s is plainly not scientific; as the BMJ article concluded, “From a public health standpoint, it makes poor sense to impose vaccine side-effects on people at minimal risk of severe COVID-19.”
This is clearly a political decision, not a medical one. Nor is it moral or ethical.
A helpful article from the Oxford Centre for Practical Ethics (which is worth reading in full) says the Government and Chief Medical Officers have made a double ethical mistake here.
First, it treats children as mere means to an end: the vaccine has nothing to offer them in terms of benefit, and we are using them supposedly to protect others – adults. This would be wrong even if there were significant benefits to adults, but since we know that the vaccines do little to prevent transmission in any case (very little, if anything, indeed, for the now predominant delta variant) it is even more reprehensible.
But the second ethical mistake is that, in giving the reasoning for vaccination as preventing the disruption in school education, “we are assuming that the appropriate, or even inevitable, response to children getting infected is closing schools and isolating children.” But there is no reason to simply assume that we should isolate an entire classroom or even school when some child in it tests positive. This is absurd behaviour which has never been a feature of epidemic management in the past, and is not the way most other countries have dealt with schools during this one. It has far more to do with the weaponising of the situation by militant unions who have shamelessly used covid as means to further their own self-serving ends, to the detriment of our children. As the paper goes on:
“Isolating healthy children that we have no good enough reason to believe are infected and infectious is a choice we make, it’s not something caused by the virus. We could and arguably we should choose otherwise if we think that the harms to children of isolation and school closure outweighs any harm that COVID-19 poses on them.”
To this I would add a third ethical mistake, which is the most concerning of all: that it has been made quite clear children will be able to receive the vaccine without, or even against, their parent’s consent on their behalf.
Resort has been made to so-called ‘Gillick Competency’, which refers to the infamous case from 1985 where the Law Lords ruled that a 15 year old girl could be prescribed the contraceptive pill without her parent’s consent. That was a controversial ruling, but it dealt with the very specific, complicated circumstances of contraception for an already sexually-active girl. It involved weighing up many complex issues, including the possibility of abortion should contraception be denied. The judgment thus made provisions for exceptional situations; it did not simply override the norms of parental responsibility for minors. It is entirely inappropriate to transpose such specific case law into the context of mass vaccination, and as a justification to sweep parental authority aside for every underage child in the nation.
Furthermore, assessing Gillick Competency is a demanding and specialist medical task, not just a matter of a quick chat with a ‘Vaccinator’ at school or in a vaccination centre. It also clearly stated in all guidelines that consent for any procedure can never be valid if a young person is being pressured or influenced by someone else. It would be very hard to argue that teenagers in a school setting, surrounded by peers and the vast media noise about covid, are in a situation entirely free of pressure or influence. Indeed, quite the reverse is likely to be the case.
All this is yet another deeply sinister sign of the onward march of the secular state into entirely unwarranted intrusions in the realm of family life which we have seen in our country in recent years, and sadly in Scotland in an even more pronounced way: think of the recent Scottish Government’s recommendations for schools stating that children as young as four years old should be allowed to change their gender identity in school life without any recourse to parents’ views.
We should recall also the Scottish Government’s nefarious ‘Named-Person’ legislation, which similarly tried to sideline parents’ rightful place as guardians of their children, but was vigorously opposed in the courts (by a broad coalition spearheaded by Christians) and, mercifully, eventually struck down by the UK Supreme Court. It is worth noting the very strong language used by the Supreme Court Justices in that judgment, exposing the Government’s totalitarian ambitions and specifically condemning its chilling actions seeking to drive a wedge between children and parents:
“The first thing that a totalitarian regime tries to do is to get at the children, to distance them from the subversive, varied influences of their families, and indoctrinate them in their rulers’ view of the world.”
My view, then, is that the decision made by our Governments to allow vaccination of those under the age of 16, even potentially undermining the express wishes of parents, is unscientific, unethical and immoral – and downright dangerous: both potentially to children, and certainly to the very structure and sanctity of family life in our nation.
However, given that this decision has been made, each family with teenage children will now themselves be faced with decisions to make.
As your pastor, it is not my place to intrude into your family life or seek to coerce you into what decision you should make for your children in this circumstance any more than it is the business of the state to do so. Nevertheless, I do have responsibilities toward you all, including our children.
It is my responsibility to remind children that our Lord commands them to ‘obey their parents in the Lord’, and not to defy them, ‘for this is right.’ (Eph 6:1). It would be quite wrong for teenagers to defy their parents and take the injection against their wishes (just as it would be quite wrong for a parent to ‘provoke’ their child by coercing or pressurising them to take it).
It is also my responsibility to make clear to parents that Scripture is clear: it is they (not the Government or its advisors) who are responsible before God for their children’s welfare in all things, both physical and spiritual. So it is the responsibility of parents to think this through very seriously, particularly given that the whole machinery of government (and its allies in the supplicant mainstream media) is throwing its whole weight behind the campaign to vaccinate all youngsters, and also given the sheer power and influence of peer pressure among teenagers.
Parents are the adults responsible here. Whatever you decide is for you to think through clearly, before God, and act on accordingly. People may come to different conclusions, and we need to be careful about condemning others’ decisions if they differ from our own. I echo Paul: each should be ‘fully convinced in their own mind’, and each should seek to act in conscious faith, and not sin, in whatever decision is made, ‘for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin’. (Romans 14:5,23)
Given the mass media’s very one-sided reporting of these matters, and also the many pressures which will come on parents from Government letters, advertising, and perhaps from schools themselves and other parents and school friends, I would personally encourage us all, by way of gaining some balance, to read these articles linked to below, each of which I can recommend as being honest, rigorous, and presenting things in a non-politicised way.
Yours earnestly in love,
William J U Philip
To read letter at source, with links appended, click here
Editor writes…
Once again, Rev Dr William Philip in Glasgow has upstaged (or should that be “out-supernaturalised”) the Scottish Bishops who have consistently failed to protest against the Scottish Government’s repeated intrusion into family life, determined as it is to impose its anti-Christian agenda on us all. Instead, the bishops are co-operating fully with Covid restrictions, even insisting on them at Sunday Mass. All through, they’ve gone beyond even what the Government requires. Incredible.
I’d say let’s hope that the above letter shames them, but I know it won’t. They’re too far gone. That’s my take on their shameless co-operation with the atheistic Scottish Government. What’s yours?
Comments (23)
ED I never even read the Full Letter this Good Man has written to the Communists in Edinburgh as it actually made me Sick . O not Sick in the sense of this Good Man ,but Sick really Sick of these Bergoglion Bishops and many of their Priests . Again as far as our own Bishop is concerned I now regard Him as a Write off ,for following Bergoglios lead to Ban Masses . And I say Ban Masses ,because whether the Bishops like it or not Surely they have Compromised with Horror in the Banning of Worship to Almighty God . As for their Obedience to Nippy and Co we know that if She said shut Catholic Churches as from today, I know of not ONE of them who would object, and that makes me Sick.
As for the terrible Harm caused by these Injections many have said it before me . The least Damage these Gates. Fauci. Eugenics Injections will do is make Young Women Sterile. As for the young Men who have taken it the Damage to them is Legion. It says in that Good Mans letter that no one knows the Future Health Damage these Injections will cause. That’s the only point I would disagree on . Am sure the Mengele Doctors and Scientists know exactly the Future Health Problems that will be caused. When Fauci was questioned by Rand Paul about Gain of Function itself absolutely Evil ,to create these Deadly Viruses in Laboratories and actually mix them with other Viruses is something that Dr Mengele himself would have been very proud of .
As it says in an Article in Life Site Fauci is The Godfather of Covid.
Faith of our Fathers,
You repeatedly say you haven’t read the articles posted or watched videos posted here, and then proceed to prove the fact, because if you’d read it, you would know that it wasn’t written to Nicola Sturgeon and her Government, but to the minister’s congregation. Frankly, it reminds me of the saying (not sure who said it) “It is better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.”
It’s a brilliant letter and all the more important because Rev Philip is also a qualified medical doctor. Once again, I’ve learned something (quite a lot actually) on just a single visit to this blog – I would encourage you to read the whole letter. There’s nothing “sickening” about it although I get it that you are meaning the bishops are sickening but that is a separate issue. All we learn from them is that they lack even basic faith, but we learn a lot from the minister’s letter to his people.
Faith of our Fathers,
I’ve come back in to apologise to you – I think my comment sounds rude, and I should not have quoted something that might make you think I’m calling you a fool I didn’t mean that. We all know you’re no fool, and I for one have a lot of respect for you. Sorry for any hurt I’ve caused!
Lily,
That’s very kind of you, but FOOF knows that he irritates the socks off me (or would if I wore socks) when he does this “I can’t read that…” and “I can’t watch that video…” Reminds me of the daft excuses kids give to schoolteachers for not handing in homework on time.
To add insult to injury, this is not the first time he’s actually made the first comment – not exactly the best way to kick-start a discussion – do you hear me, FOOF?
So, you’re very kind to apologise to him – I won’t be back for that reason, that’s a cert!
No need to Apologise Lilly your entitled to your opinion , after all it is a Free Country , well so They say . Although personally av never met THEY yet and am in my 70s. But my Post concerning the above Letter was to say first last and foremost that, a letter of the same calibre would certainly not have been written to anyone in authority by Our Bishops. Something that should have been done by them Long Ago.
Of course I stand to be corrected, and nothing would please me more if you could name one . I personally would Write to Him saying that I Bundled His name ,along with all the others into saying He would not talk out about these Injections. Especially the Horrific Health Harm they are doing to young people.
FOOF,
As a personal favour to me and to moi, I’d like you to read Dr Philip’s letter to his congregation and then tell me one piece of information or wisdom that strikes you as something our Bishops should be saying.
This is today’s CCC – Catholic Truth Challenge (and you thought CCC meant Catechism of the Catholic Church 😀 )
Some time later…
FOOF On reading your post submitted after I’d posted this, you can forget the challenge (although it would be interesting to read your thoughts if you take it up.)
ED their is that much in that letter that it would be very difficult to pin point one piece of Truth . But Personally First on the List would be to throw out the TVs or at least Ban M.S.M. news . As I said on another Post . Their was a cartoon caption with 3 Masked up People talking to Three Amish People.
The Masked up ones said to the Amish ” So How many Covid Deaths do you Have in your Community ” —–” None ” said the Amish ” We don’t watch TV “
Just here on a flying visit, as Editor would say. Here’s an excellent thoroughly informed medical summary of the entire COVID situation, from the disease itself to the “vaccines”:
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2021/09/27/i-am-spartacus/#more-249675
A teaser from the “COVID-19 Vaccine Dangers:” section:
“The vaccines for COVID-19 are not sterilizing and do not prevent infection or transmission. They are “leaky” vaccines. This means they remove the evolutionary pressure on the virus to become less lethal. It also means that the vaccinated are perfect carriers. In other words, those who are vaccinated are a threat to the unvaccinated, not the other way around.”
RCA Victor,
Why do people post such over-long articles* – who has the time to read all that? Your teaser is really all we need to know but I did persevere through most of the article and another bit hit home, where it says that governments are dismissing the importance of natural immunity. That’s key to what they are up to.
* I didn’t mean YOU posting, I meant the person who runs the Burning Platform site! You posting the link is good! Then we have a choice as to whether to read it all or not, which is more than we’re going to get with the vaccine! It’ll soon be get vaccinated or give up doing anything in the world.
RCA Victor,
At least you paid a flying visit – I’ve been hammering away at the November newsletter, to give us a reasonable chance of making the mid-October deadline for printing and distribution. All go, here in the CT office. So, better late than never, here’s my own flying visit!
I will check out the article at your link asap but, as Josephine says, your teaser is first class, so thank you for that upfront. When I’ve read the rest, I’ll be back – sometime near the end of October (2022) 😀
I read the pastor’s letter and it is superb. He’d make a great Catholic! He really does put the bishops to shame.
It’s packed with information and wisdom. I know he’s featured on here before, and his input is always impressive.
Josephine,
I fully agree with everything in your comment about Dr Philip and his excellent pastoral letter. Like you, I would love to see him becoming a Catholic but in the midst of the current crisis, it can’t look like much of a prospect from where he’s sitting. He has a wife and daughters so he’s not in line for ordination, let alone episcopal office but he’d be given a top executive post here at Catholic Truth, that’s for sure. 😀 And like RCA Victor, he’d be on a six figure annual salary (£000.000) 😀
Reminds me of a well known Catholic (name escapes me but it would have been one of the more famous ones, all the more disgraceful that I can’t remember his name) who replied to a Protestant claim that conversions were not all one-way, that some Catholics had converted to Protestantism. This well known (!) Catholic replied: “Yes, but you get the weeds from our garden, we get the roses from yours!” Sounds like something Chesterton (or perhaps Newman?) might say.
And who can doubt that Dr Philip would be one of the “roses”…
I’m now officially a crawler.
“It is also my responsibility to make clear to parents that Scripture is clear: it is they (not the Government or its advisors) who are responsible before God for their children’s welfare in all things, both physical and spiritual.”
It is sobering to think that the Scottish Bishops have not made this very obvious statement, but instead a Protestant minister in Glasgow has made sure that his church members know their rights and duty on this important issue.
It behoves us to pray for Dr Philip. He is clearly a very good and right-thinking Christian. I hope that doesn’t make me sound like a crawler, too, LOL!
Hey when you all get covid just be consistent and make sure you stay out of hospital.
Editor: I’ve already instructed my closest family members that I will not be notifying anybody except them if I take anything remotely like a cold or flu, just in case it’s Covid (which is simply a particularly nasty flu). I am NOT to be taken to hospital with those symptoms, because people do die and it’s recorded as Covid. Read that sentence again and reflect. No, I don’t want to be taken to hospital and diagnosed with “Covid”. Read that sentence again and reflect. I will do what I have always done when I have flu symptoms: I’ll take some home-made medication popular here in Scotland (think whisky) and stay in bed until it goes away.
I did my own research and found people on Facebook who told me people die in hospital.
Editor: Of course people die in hospital. In terms of Covid, those who die – in the majority of cases – have some other serious illness. Often they’ve contracted Covid IN the hospital. Oh, and don’t forget that there are people suffering and dying from other illnesses outside of hospital, in their homes, because their treatment has been postponed or denied on the pretext of not “overwhelming” the hospitals. Whistleblowers have revealed that the hospital have NOT been overwhelmed due to Covid but, hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story…
I also found out what life expectancy was before empirical medicine.
Editor: What’s that got to do with anything? Who cares?
Irresponsible fools.
Editor: I would normally delete this nasty insult but not this time because I think it’s useful to underline that the two things go together – being an uncritical follower of the propaganda and nastiness directed at those who have the intelligence to challenge it. Usernames are an accepted convention in blogging but I’m increasingly of the opinion that those who insist on being nasty and making rude personal remarks ought, at least, to have the guts to put their real names to their insults. “Anonymous” notes delivered in a patently fake email address are never taken seriously. I don’t usually publish them – they go straight into the “bin” but you caught me in a good mood. Peace and love and all that jazz…
ED i am sure that I posted a Facebook Comment on here from a so called Traditional Catholic Woman with 3 Children and who Has a Business which She uses Facebook to Sell Rosaries Etc that She makes. She says Her 40 Year Old Husband can’t work as He has M. E . Me Lazy that’s my take of M. E . As I worked beside a Guy who retired in his Early 40s with M. E . On a 12 Hour Shift he was lucky if he Eat 2 Biscuits. I know for a Fact that His dinner for 4 was a Quarter of a Pound of Mince and a Pail of Water . Anyhow I digress as usual ,back to the Rosary Maker . She also made comments, that now Her Mother and Father were Injected, those of us who were not should be refused any N.H.S. Medical Aid for any illness. I posted back to this Little Dictator of a Woman and said She was going down a Dangerous Road .
I E . A Smoker should not be treated for Lung Cancer. A Drinker Should not be treated for any Liver Illness . A Driver Speeding and Badly Injured should just be left at the side of the Road.
Someone who’s Obese should not be treated for Arthritis ( She Herself was carrying extra Timber) And last but not Least a 40 Year Old Man should not be treated for M. E. as it’s still a bit of a Mystery Illness.
Of course am still waiting for Her to reply.
Dr Philip’s letter exposes our bishops for the hopeless fathers they have been.
Pastoral care is out with the garbage incase they upset the great leader and her nationalist wee band.
Sacred Heart of Jesus have pity on your people. Send us real shepherds.
graeme,
Yes, Dr Philip, not for the first time, has put our bishops well into the shade. Their silence throughout this pandemic has been deafening. They will face a dreadful judgement. We would all do well to follow your example by invoking the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The pastor’s letter is outstanding. I singled out the following because it is SO counter-cultural, and it needs to be said loud and clear but never is:-
It is my responsibility to remind children that our Lord commands them to ‘obey their parents in the Lord’, and not to defy them, ‘for this is right.’ (Eph 6:1). It would be quite wrong for teenagers to defy their parents and take the injection against their wishes (just as it would be quite wrong for a parent to ‘provoke’ their child by coercing or pressurising them to take it).
Great stuff. Our culture is so “child centred” (except when it comes to abortion) that this would be denounced by the msm as “extremism” or “fundamentalism” when (apart from being fully Scriptural) it’s basic common sense. The family is society in microcosm so if there is disorder in the family, it has the same divisive effect as we see in society at large. We have to obey the people at the top in both the family and society or there is chaos.
MM,
“Outstanding” is the word – it’s a brilliant combination of medical facts and scriptural argument to challenge the culture of undermining family life and parental authority. First class.
ED sorry for going off Topic, but I just Looked at that Rotten BBC News for a Few Minutes and Who’s talking more Garbage again but Saint Greta. Av no Money for a Private Shrink Visit so I hope you forgive me .I actually listened to the wee Brat for 2 Minutes for a Yearly Penance and my God, again like her Buddy Bergoglio,they NEVER EVER mention China’s Pollution.
O and BTW Lilly you are correct I am a Fool, for listening to Thunberg for 2 Minutes. May God Forgive Me ,but don’t please, don’t let Me land beside Her in Eternity . Give me Ian Paisley ,even Maggie Thatcher, any day to talk to rather than that Little Pain in the Nether Regions.
A classic example of some of the comments above, an Autistic Youngster telling Adults what to do .
I agree with what graeme taylor says, that Dr Philip’s letter exposes the Bishops for the hopeless fathers that they have been.
From gloria.tv points out that what is happening in Australia at the present time will likely come to the UK. I am sure that other countries are looking on too, as regards vaccinations (no matter the age group). Talk about hell on earth.
https://www.gloria.tv/post/zSMM8rZWJSBm1nyQxExbGNMQB
Immune System 101 from that wonderful Thai (?) doctor and scientist we’ve seen before on this blog. What an extraordinary man this is!
https://tv.gab.com/channel/realalexjones/view/doctor-exposes-covid-vaccine-attacking-blood-6155ff91153e0a6ab9e5ef93
RCA Victor,
I’m not an Alex Jones fan, but that’s interesting just the same.
And so is this stat from The Daily Sceptic
https://dailysceptic.org/2021/10/01/deaths-among-teenagers-up-56-since-vaccine-rollout-began/
I’m not good with graphs and stuff like that but just the headline brought me up short, and it comes from the Office of National Statistics, so it should be reliable.
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