Covid-19, Public Violence, Fake News and Vaccines: A Theological Ethical Reflection

Tshepo Lephakga

doi:10.25159/2412-4265/10663

Authors

Tshepo Lephakga University of South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6563-8724

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/10663

Keywords:

Covid 19, Fake-news, Vaccines, Church in the age of a pandemic

Abstract

This paper attempts to deal with Covid-19, fake news and vaccines and is the product of a talk the author gave at a contact session of the Northern Theological Seminary of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa. This presentation was given a few weeks after South Africans were confronted by the eruption of public violence, “apparently” sparked by the jailing of President Jacob Zuma. The author, although requested to share ideas on Covid-19 and vaccines, felt that there was some political nexus between public violence, the feeling of being left out systematically, the unintended consequences of the lockdown, and the spark—the Constitutional Court’s decision to jail the then president. This article does not discuss the Constitutional Court’s decision or the jailing of the then president but tries to academically think about the causes of the eruption of public violence. The author explores the politics surrounding the vaccines and the unintended consequences of the lockdown, discusses “what the Church has become” since the outbreak of this virus, and deliberates the impact of “fake-news” in the era of a pandemic.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

ActionAid. 2021. “Pharmaceutical Companies Reaping Immoral Profits from Covid Vaccines yet Paying Low Tax Rates.” 15 September 2021 (Online). https://actionaid.org/news/2021/pharmaceutical-companies-reaping-immoral-profits-covid-vaccines-yet-paying-low-tax-rates.

Bastian, H. 2021. “A Worrying Drift towards Exceptionalism in the Covid Vax for Kids Debate”. September 15, 2021. https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2021/07/07/a-worrying-drift-towards-exceptionalism-in-the-covid-vax-for-kids-debate/.

Berkowitz, L. 1989. “Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis: Examination and Reformation.” Psychological Bulletin 106 (1): 59–73. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.106.1.59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.106.1.59

Beyer, H. 1995. “Towards a Theory of Evolution Strategies: Self-adaptation.” Evolutionary Computation 3 (3): 311–347. https://doi.org/10.1162/evco.1995.3.3.311. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/evco.1995.3.3.311

Bolsen, T., and J. N. Druckman. 2015. “Counteracting the Politicization of Science.” Journal of Communication 65: 745–769. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12171

Brown, T. M. 2021. “The Covid-19 Pandemic in Historical Perspective: An AJPH Dossier.” 15 September 2021. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306136. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306136

Cheng, J. S., V. C. Ottati, and E. D. Prince. 2013. “The Arousal Moral of Moral Condemnation.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 49: 1012–1018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.06.006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.06.006

David, D. 2021. “Covid: The Vaccine Patent Row Explained.” BBC News (Online). https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57016260.

David, E. L. R. (Ed.). 2014. Internalized Oppression: The Psychology of Marginalized Groups. USA: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1891/9780826199263. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1891/9780826199263

David, E. L. R., and A. O. Derthick. 2018. The Psychology of Oppression. USA: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1891/9780826178176. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1891/9780826178176

Dreger, A. 2016. “Beyond Vaccine Exceptionalism”. September 15, 2021. https://alicedreger.com/vax/.

Fanon, F. 2017. Black Skin, White Masks. London: Pluto Press.

Freire, P. 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Bloomsburg.

Galtung, J. 1969. “Violence, Peace and Peace Research.” Journal of Peace Research 3: 167–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/002234336900600301. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002234336900600301

Garcia Arenas, J. 2019. Political Polarization: The Phenomenon that should be on everyone’s lips, Caixa Bank Research (Online). https://www.caixabankresearch.com/en/economics-markets/public-sector/political-polarisation-phenomenon-should-be-everyones-lips.

Greifeneder, R., M. E. Jaffe, E. Newman, and N. Schwarz. 2020. The Psychology of Fake News: Accepting, Sharing, and Correcting Misinformation. London: Routledge, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429295379-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429295379-1

Hancock A. 2020. “Calculated Risks: Exploring Plague Ethics with Luther and Barth.” Acta Theologica 40 (2). https://doi.org/10.18820/23099089/actat.v40i2.04. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18820/23099089/actat.v40i2.04

Hayes, A., B. Edwards, and M. Gray. 2007. “Social Inclusion: Origins, Concepts and Key Themes.” Technical Report, Australia Commonwealth.

Herman, D. 2016. The Tabernacle, Temple and Sanctuary: The Book of Numbers. USA: Creative Commons.

Hoffmeier, J. K., A. R. Milard, and G. A. Rensburg (Eds). 2016. Did I not Bring Israel out of Egypt?” Biblical, Archaeological and Egyptological Perspectives on the Exodus Narratives. Pennsylvania, USA: Penn State University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575064307

Howe, N. 2020. “Stick to the Science: When Science gets political.” Nature (Online). https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03067-w. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03067-w

Huitt, W., and J. Hummel. 2003. “Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development.” Educational Psychology Interactive.

Johnston, E. J., D. E. Eagle, J. Headley, and A. Holleman. 2021. “Pastoral Ministry in Unsettled Times: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Clergy During the Covid-19 Pandemic.” Review of Religious Research (Online). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-021-00465-y. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-021-00465-y

Just, B. 2020. “Historic Plagues and Christian Responses: Lessons for the Church Today?” Christian Journal for Global Health 7 (1): 7–12. https://doi.org/10.15566/cjgh.v7i1.373. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15566/cjgh.v7i1.373

Laffey, A. 1998. The Pentateuch: A Liberation-critical Reading. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press.

Lamb, S. 2003. “The Psychology of Condemnation: Underlying Emotions and their Symbolic Expression in Condemning and Shaming.” Brooklyn Law Review 68 (4): 6-1-2003 https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/blr/vol68/iss4/2.

Lee, B. X. 2019. Violence: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Causes, Consequences, and Cures. USA: John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119240716. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119240716

Lephakga, T. 2012. “Reclaiming God and Reclaiming Dignity: The Story and Future of Black Liberation from Internalized Oppression.” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 38 (2): 65–80.

Lephakga, T. 2015. “Dealing lightly with the Wounds of my People: A Theological Ethical Critique of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.” Unpublished Dissertation, Pretoria, University of South Africa.

Lephakga, T. 2016. “Colonial Institutionalization of Poverty among Blacks in South Africa.” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (Online). https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/1273. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/1273

Mamdani, M. 2002. “Beyond Settler and Native as Political Identities: Overcoming the Political Legacy of Colonialism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 43 (4): 651–664.

Mamdani, M. 2007. “The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency.” London Review of Books 29: 1–8.

Mamdani, M. 2012. Define and Rule: Native as Political Identity. USA: Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674067356. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674067356

Mao, Z. 1953(1964). On Contradictions. New York: International Publishers.

Menka, J. H., Khan, and Shamshad. 2014. “Socio-economic Status of Beggars in Urban Areas: A Case Study.” Global Journal of Multi-disciplinary Studies 3 (9): 388–416.

Mervis, J. 2015. Politics, Science and Public Attitudes: What we’re Learning, and why it matters? (Online). http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/02/politicsscienceandpublic-attitudeswhatwe-relearningand-why-it-matters. Accessed on April 21, 2017.

Milburn, M. A. 1980. “Theories of Aggression: A Critique and Possible Reformation.” Human Relations 33 (6): 353–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872678003300601. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/001872678003300601

Mohan, B. S., and V. Nambiar. 2020. “Covid-19: An Insight into SARS-Co-2 Pandemic [that] Originated at Wuhan City in Hubei Province of China.” Journal of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology 6 (4) (Open Access). https://doi.org/10.23937/2474-3658/1510146. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23937/2474-3658/1510146

Molina, M. D., S. S. Sundar, T. Le, and D. Lee. 2019. “‘Fake News’ Is not simply False Information: A Concept Explication and Taxonomy of Online Content.” American Behavioral Scientist. 65 (2): 180–212. Sage Publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764219878224. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764219878224

Norwood, J. M. 2008. “Psychological Uncertainty, Stress, Frustration and their Relationship with Counterproductive Workplace Behavior.” Unpublished dissertation. Walden University.

Pillay, J. 2020. “Covid-19 Shows the Need to Make Church more flexible.” Transformation 37 (4): 266–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265378820963156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0265378820963156

Pixley, J. V. 1987. On Exodus: A Liberation Perspective. New York: Orbis Books.

Rietzmann, I. 1998. “The Black Death as a Cause of the Massacres of Jews: A Myth of Medical History?” Med Ges Gesch 17: 101–30.

Runham, N. 2020. “Why did Luther not Flee from the Deadly Plague?” Stimulus. The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought and Practice 27 (3): 61–67.

Small, B. 2014. “Internalized Oppression.” In Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology, edited by T. Teo. USA: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_677. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_677

Stiegler, N., J. Bouchard. 2020. “South Africa: Challenges and Successes of the Covid-19 lockdown.” Annales Médico-Psychologiques, Revue Psychiatrique (Medical Psychology). 178 (7): 695-698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amp.2020.05.006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amp.2020.05.006

Stricker, K. C. 2008. Coming out of Egypt: The Journey out of Idolatry Begins. Oregon Eugene: Resource Publications.

The People’s Vaccine Alliance. 2021. https://actionaid.org/news/2021/actionaid-joins-calls-cop26-be-postponed-vaccine-inequality-sidelines-voices-global-south.

Terreblanche, S. 2002. A History of Inequality in South Africa: 1652–2002. University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, South Africa.

Tognotti, E. 2013. “Lessons from the History of Quarantine, from Plague to Influenza A.” Emerging Infectious Diseases19 (2): 254–259. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1902.120312. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1902.120312

Watts, C. 2020. “The Disinformation Outbreak about the Coronavirus: What to Make of the False Information Plague” (Online). https://www.fpri.org/fie/disinformation-outbreak-coronavirus/.

Weber, T. J., C. Hydock, W. Ding, M. Gardner, P. Jacob, N. Mandel, D. E. Sprott, and E. van Steenburg. 2021. “Political Polarization: Challenges, Opportunities and Hope for Consumer Welfare, Marketers, and Public Policy.” American Marketing Association 40 (2): 184–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743915621991103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0743915621991103

Zannettou, S., J. Baumgartner, J. Finkelstein, A. Goldenberg, J. Farmer, J. K. Donohue, and P. Goldenberg. 2020. Weaponized Information Outbreak: A Case Study on Covid-19, Bio-Weapon Myths, and the Asian Conspiracy Meme. Rutgers, 1–7.

Zaslow, D. R. 2017. Reimagining Exodus: A Story of Freedom. Brewsler, Massachusetts: Paraclele Press.

Zenter, M. H. 2015. “The Black Death and its Impact on the Church and Popular Religion.” Honours dissertation. Sally MacDonnell Barksdale Honours College, 682, 1–67.

Zhu, H., and P. Niu. 2020. “The Novel Coronavirus Outbreak in Wuhan, China.” Global Heath Research and Policy 5 (6): 1–3 (Open Access). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-020-00135-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-020-00135-6

Zizek, S. 2007. On Practice and Contradiction (Mao Tse-Tung). New York: Verso.

Zizek, S. 2008. Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. New York: Picador.