Head of Southern Evangelical Seminary Identifies the ‘Potentially Grave, Negative Ripple Effects’ of the Government Acting as ‘Big Brother’
September 13, 2021
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Many Americans are still trying to process the sweeping federal vaccine requirements announced by President Joe Biden last Thursday. This announcement will affect as many as 100 million citizens as the nation continues to fight COVID-19 and the surging Delta variant. Expansive new rules from the White House mandate that all employers with over 100 workers require those workers to be vaccinated or test weekly for the virus.
Biden is also signing an executive order requiring that federal employees as well as contractors be vaccinated—with no option of testing out. All of this is part of a tough new “action plan” to curb the coronavirus and cast away doubts about the government’s handling of the pandemic. Over 208 million Americans have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, yet the U.S. is seeing a 300-percent rise in COVID-19 infections per day and nearly twice the number of deaths compared to the same time last year. Biden, in particular, took aim at the unvaccinated.
Judge Phil Ginn, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES, ses.edu), reacted to the draconian measures and their wider implications from a Christian apologetics perspective.
“Let me be clear. I am fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have been since early March 2021,” said SES President Judge Ginn. “After carefully considering the circumstances involved, I thought that vaccination was my best alternative. I still do. I have recommended, and will continue to recommend, that adults be vaccinated.
“However, I draw the line at using the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to force individuals under penalty of law to become vaccinated, as the edict from President Biden does,” emphasized Ginn. “While the ultimate result in this case might be a positive one, the illicit intrusion into the personal freedoms of individual Americans is extremely frightening. All we have to do is ask ourselves a simple question: If the government can force someone to become vaccinated against COVID-19 ‘for the common good,’ what is stopping the government from deciding that other intrusions can be made into the personal freedoms of Americans in the name of this same ‘common good?’
“You may say that vaccinations are not that big of a deal,” Judge Ginn continued. “But what about euthanasia for the elderly, the mentally handicapped, the sickly? What about forced sterilization to rid the population of unwanted genetic issues? What about re-education camps for those who don’t toe the governmental line on religion, sexual orientation, wokeness, or other issues? What about taking your children from your home in order to provide a ‘better’ dictated educational experience for them? It’s a slippery slope when our government intrudes so deeply into the personal liberties of its people, no matter the reasoning behind it.”
Judge Ginn noted, “Perhaps it’s time we all think hard about the potentially grave, negative ripple effects of the government becoming our ‘Big Brother.’”
SES recently held the important livestreamed event, “Awaken,” on August 7, 2021. The event examined issues related to systemic racism in America, police violence, and people of color; the nature of true social justice; and how individuals can escape today’s “wokism.” Featured speakers included SES President Judge Phil Ginn, former police officer Eric Muldrow, and Monique Duson of the Center for Biblical Unity.
The mission of SES is to train men and women, based on the inerrant and infallible written Word of God, for the evangelization of the world and defense of the historic Christian faith. SES offers the 15-hour Certificate in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).SES believes that one must minister to the present generation according to its needs—and to do so with truth and power. Students need training in the ethical, political and economic implications of the unchanging Faith “once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). The PPE can also be used as a concentration within most master’s degrees (excluding Master of Arts in Religion).The combination of PPE training and classical seminary education can be a potent one in combating the new heresies and false doctrines rooted in a secularist, progressivist worldview.
For more information on SES, visit its website at www.ses.edu or its Facebook page, follow the SES Twitter feed, @sesapologetics, or call (704) 847-5600.
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To interview a spokesperson for Southern Evangelical Seminary, contact Hamilton Strategies, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Jeff Tolson, 610.584.1096, ext. 108, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.