{"id":1613,"date":"2021-05-10T21:49:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T21:49:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-07-03T20:57:26","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T20:57:26","slug":"fr-stavros-kofinas-health-anti-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fosfanariou.gr\/index.php\/2021\/05\/10\/fr-stavros-kofinas-health-anti-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"Fr. Stavros Kofinas: \u201cHealth, anti-vaccine propaganda\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

A World Council of
\nChurches and Conference of European Churches online regional consultation on
\nthe Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

\n<\/o:p><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Challenges faced by
\nEuropean churches and society during the pandemic. Where does this lead us?<\/span><\/i><\/b> <\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cHealth, anti-vaccine propaganda\u201d<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Our health (physical, psychological, and spiritual) defines the way we
\ninteract in the experiences of life. The \u201chealthy\u201d person who feels real and
\nalive is able to incorporate his and her being into the whole, to be a significant
\npart of a universal experience that is not centered around one\u2019s self<\/i>, without
\nfeeling that personal autonomy, genuineness and a sense of worth is at state. Thus,
\none\u2019s existential fulfillment as a person is determined on how one
\nparticipates, interacts, co-exists in the catholicity of being. To fully
\nparticipate in this catholicity, one has to develop and maintain a sense of
\nontological security \u2013 a basic sense of trust \u2013 that will allow one to cope
\nwith the \u201cenemies\u201d (the difficulties) that threaten life \u2013 the greatest being
\ndeath. Without a sense of security and trust, the circumstances of daily life and
\nhuman relationships will be a living threat, a sheer hell, and one will have to
\ncontrive ways to preserve a sense of being. The inner threat of the self<\/i>
\nis often projected as an outer enemy that needs to be defeated. When an outer
\nthreat is real \u2013 as in the case of the Covid-19 virus \u2013 one\u2019s inner threats
\nbecome even more horrifying. To deal with this, one will create one\u2019s own
\nreality, denying the threat that surely exists.<\/i>  <\/span>Thus, one will form one\u2019s own world in
\nwhich he or she will be able to fully control to preserve one\u2019s autonomy and
\nidentity, so that the projected or real \u201cenemy\u201d will not invade and destroy
\none\u2019s sense of being.<\/i> Such a defensive reaction, based on denial and
\ndisplacement, harbors fear to the point of paranoia, anger and, on a social
\nlevel, a type of group or \u201ctribal\u201d isolation \u2013 separateness. This separateness
\ndoes not mean that the experiences of the world will not affect him or her. On
\nthe contrary, these experiences will be in interpreted and processed within the
\nunreal world the threatened self<\/i> has created. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It is necessary for us to understand
\nthese dynamics to understand why there has been such an adverse reaction to the
\nway many have delt with the pandemic that has come upon us. The new virus
\nthreatens both the insecure self and the social realm that constitutes one\u2019s being;
\nthe \u201cfreedom to be\u201d as a narcissistic entity and the possible implosion of the
\n\u201cworld\u201d one has created for himself to feel protected from all inner and outer
\n\u201cenemies\u201d.  <\/span>When these dynamics are
\ncoupled with the immediate threat of death, a feeling of social injustice and
\ndiscrimination, a lack of education or misinformation, they become explosively
\ndangerous.<\/p>\n

The anti-vaccination propaganda that
\nwe are witnessing is an overt expression of this phenomena. It is based on the
\nneed to have full control of what enters our body in fear of the unknown.<\/i> The
\npropagators are arguing to preserve their ontological beings so as not to be engulfed
\ninto the masses. It cultivates a denial of death and the need to feel
\nomnipotent, something that Western societies have cultivated for years. Considering
\nthis, such propaganda <\/i>should have not come as a surprise.<\/p>\n

The growing fundamentalistic trend
\nthat is characterizing many faith communities has become part of the
\nant-vaccine propaganda because, in essence, these communities express the dynamics
\nI have described; the of the unhealthy psychological and social make-up of
\none\u2019s person. Although those that adhere to such communities profess total faith
\nin a God that will protect them from all dangers, in practice, they breathe
\nmistrust both in life and Man; they cultivate doubt and shame in the fear of
\ncondemnation and the fear of ostracization from the group that will protect
\nthem for all evil.<\/p>\n

After the pandemic ends, we, as
\nfaith communities, will have to deal seriously with the fundamentalist trends
\nthat undermine health on all levels of human existence, cause division on all
\nlevels of society and distort the possibilities of establishing a healthy faith
\nin God and a healthy relationship with our fellow humans being. Even more, we
\nwill have to deal with the psychological and social dynamics that constitute these
\ndangerous trends. This will be our greatest challenge.  <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Fr. Stavros Kofinas,<\/span><\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Coordinator, <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Network of the
\nEcumenical Patriarchate <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

for Pastoral Health
\nCare <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

May 7, 2021<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n