Burn your vaccine passport (VP). Sure, whether to take the vaccine or not is a personal health choice, but we’ve progressed way, way past that. In the current context, where taking a vaccine represents a gateway to freedom, your decision carries so much more weight. You are in fact choosing a lifestyle, an ethic… a set of friends. A master.

We all bow to something and someone, and the character and moral compass of the standard we choose is the crucial factor in determining whether our souls can be at ease. It makes a difference to your conscience exactly who you choose to give the thumbs-up to. This is exactly what you are faced with at this time: whether to accept or reject the way of a brutally coercive master.

You no longer have the luxury of time – this issue is right now at your doorstep. Well beyond a decision regarding your own immune system, you are being asked to declare your idea of social acceptability – something which pervades every social setting we find ourselves in, including our homes. The question for everyone who covets the golden ticket – the celebrated VP which unlocks access across state borders and full civic participation – is this: how will you cope with the tension in your midst? How will you handle the stress of dealing with those amongst you who haven’t got access rights? 

There are so many images which might drive this home for you. I watched Braveheart again recently, and the parallels are very confronting. William Wallace declined the “sweet deal”, from Edward the Longshanks, which the Scottish nobles were clambering to accept. Why is that? Consider the 11 apostles, and the sweet deal which only Judas Iscariot took up. What could possibly entice the 11 to take the narrow path of guaranteed persecution, discomfort or even a brutal death? Elsewhere in the Bible we are confronted with “the mark of the beast”. Whatever else that loaded term connotes, it universally denotes a weak moral constitution; she who takes the mark is compromising her values for vain gain. These analogies all depict a “greener pasture” which, for the upright, courageous and faithful, comes at a price which their conscience could never abide. And my message to you, dear reader, is something which your conscience might also be straining to vocalize.

I believe your future self would tell you this: it is not worth it. Rip up your VP right now. Even if you choose to take the vaccine, reject the VP status. Burn the certificate and decline the privileges which would have you counted in the ranks of the most vile of leaders. Choose instead to fight for open borders and an open society. Otherwise the barriers inside your homes, friendships and community will become insurmountable. And that’s simply not worth it. Regardless of the reward, it never will be.