Moral groundwork for the special session

Wyoming state capitol, Daylight Dome

Next week (October 25, 2021), Wyoming’s legislature will be gathering in Cheyenne for its second special session in as many years. While last year’s special session was called to distribute federal largess, this year’s session has been called to defend Wyoming’s citizens from federal power.

On September 9, 2021, President Biden announced that his administration would use the power of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the military, and other agencies to force 100 million Americans to receive the COVID shot. 

Now, 40 days later, there still is neither a constitutionally passed law, nor an executive order, nor even the merest clarification of this announcement. Nevertheless, by the sheer force of words, executive agencies, military commanders, and numberless corporations have scrambled to impose inconveniences and punishments designed to force Wyoming’s soldiers, citizens, and students to ingest a medicine that they would, otherwise, refuse.

In “The Essence of Conservatism,” Russel Kirk wrote, “Men and nations are governed by moral laws; and those laws have their origin in a wisdom that is more than human—in divine justice. At heart, political problems are moral and religious problems.” As our legislators gather to address the legalities, let us consider the heart of the problem.

A statement from nearly threescore health care academies, colleges, associations, and societies is an excellent place to start. Published about two weeks before Biden’s press conference, this “Joint Statement in Support of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for All Workers in Health and Long-Term Care,” can be read as the moral groundwork for the administration’s approach.

It advocates “that all health care and long-term-care employers require their workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.” And it justifies this posture by asserting: “This is the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers...” The word, “ethical” jumps off the page. 

Ethical behavior is that which conforms “to accepted standards of conduct.” In a day when practically every standard of conduct is being challenged and rejected, it is more than fascinating that the Joint Statement appeals to this notion. This is both refreshing and puzzling.

It is refreshing because dozens of medical organizations openly appeal to an unwritten—and yet, commonly accessible—standard of conduct. This hearkens back to a day when common sense was common. It offers hope that we may, again, be able to talk about ethics in polite society.

It is puzzling because the bulk of these organizations have, long ago, jettisoned the ethics of the “Hippocratic Oath.” So, it raises a question: What standard of conduct are they talking about?

Standards are objective. They do not exist in each person’s opinion. Rather, they are principles written into the very fabric of nature and universally discoverable by every human being. The Declaration of Independence calls them, “The Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” Ethics are an inherently religious category. 

The second thing to notice about ethics is that they do not only make demands on a person because of how they might affect that person individually. Ethics are public, not private. When private actions affect the lives of others, ethical conduct demands adherence to objective standards. 

The third thing to notice about ethical behavior is that it centers on human health. Vaccine mandates limit themselves to temporal life and health. By contrast, traditional ethics takes a much longer—eternal—view. As Kirk observed, these are profoundly religious questions. 

Christians order their lives according to the Ten Commandments, not only because these are personal convictions, but because every divergence from them negatively impacts others as well. Christians recognize that an unhealthy spiritual life will infect others in the community. So, they seek spiritual cleansing not only for themselves, but also in service to others. 

For Christians, this spiritual cleansing is accomplished by gathering together in face-to-face fellowship with fellow believers, by listening to Jesus who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life,” and by taking into their bodies sacramental elements that St. Ignatius of Antioch called, “the Medicine of Immortality.” They understand these and other Christian activities, as treatment for the deadly disease of sin. They create and build systemic faith that gives a person immunity from eternal death. All of this, together, is done for personal health, for the health of the community, and for the world at large.

Parallels between spiritual health measures and physical health measures should be obvious. With so much at stake, it is a wonder that Christians do not use economic and bodily force to compel all people to receive these cures. But they have learned from bitter experience that religious mandates only bring misery. They never have the desired effect.

As Wyoming’s legislators gather to consider another religious mandate, let us pray God’s blessing on their deliberations. May He grant them both wisdom and humility. 

Also published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, October 22, 2021.