I remember 1972. I was ending my High School experience early and rapidly approaching my 18th birthday. Nothing strange, nor weird, just life ahead to live. There was no graduation service for me (I didn’t care), college scheduled, working a full-time job, and looking for a place to live. Someone told me my Senior year would be my best year. And it was! Out of school early in the morning, done by 8:30 a.m.! And no more school after December!
Perhaps, the only thing that worried me was the infamous “Selective Service.” This was the order for all young to register as they turned 18, and then, the government could call you up to Military service. We would be given a number, and then the luck of the draw took over! I cringe thinking about what my options may be in the near future!
“The last draft call was on December 7, 1972,
and the authority to induct expired on June 30, 1973.
The date of the last drawing for the lottery was on March 12, 1975.”
[Source]
The last “lottery drawing” for my birth year to be drawn was just 5 weeks before I got married!
Whoa! Talk about missing a conforming experience!
Can A Free-Spirit Conform?
Though I was a “free-spirit,” (I have no problems defining this thought the way I think it means, not what the world thinks!) I had no problems conforming to God’s call on my life, even agreeing to a specific outlook for my life when I was about 12 years old. But the fear of conforming to someone’s view (military) of how to look, act and respond to crisis? Well, the pressure to conform was more real than I imagine.
“J-U-M-P!” Yells the Drill Sergeant. All around me, I imagine young men obeying without considering the options. As a group, they jump, and me? I’m standing there thinking it through! I’m a little too analytical, I suspect.
“How high? Which way? Big jump? Little jump? One Leg? Both?
Where do I put my hands? Forward? Backward? Or a little side step motion?”
I’m rejecting the premise that I would make a lousy soldier, only I would need to squelch my analytics in favor of group response, trusting the order intended to produce specific results. Again, the pressure is real. You must lose your individuality and conform for the sake of the command.
March ahead nearly 50 years, and I’m watching the soldiers guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I know they are chosen for exacting dimensions, conformity, and ability. The honor to serve is only given to those who can conform to the image of the respect given to those who gave their all.
Life Attempts to Conform Us All
Through the pandemic, we’ve watched as the world conforms to a minimal standard to be safe. Distancing. Masking. Sanitizing. We’ve been shown the side effects of the disease, and the news about the worst that could happen is drilled into all of us. Our front-line defenders face huge battles. How do you interact in a potentially dangerous world?
As the pandemic comes to an end, governments are starting to acknowledge special rewards for inoculated individuals and ignoring those who are not. In other words, you are being rewarded for conformity.
Will everyone conform? No. Not everyone can. Some fear an experimental drug thrust on us more quickly than any other treatment we’ve seen. Others have underlying health conditions that preclude their vaccination. Still, some are against the vaccine for a myriad of personal reasons.
Will we draw the line between those who conform and those who will not? I see it happening all around us and even within our own circle of influence. It’s how we divide ourselves. Have’s, and have-nots…
In my state, all the vaccinated names are given to the Lottery Commission, so randomly, a lucky soul can be chosen to receive a reward…but only if you conformed. One local bar is opened only to the inoculated, and special discounts are given in many establishments if you conformed. We are encouraged to trust the science, data, and hoped-for results.
Notice, the line is drawn between those who will, and those who won’t. There has been discussion about special passports to permit the “will’s” access and keep the “won’ts” out.
Why Must We Choose?
Conforming is not aligning with everyone else on one side and standing against nonconformists on the other side. In this current culture, all matter, or none do, right?!!? Don’t both sides matter? Or, popularity rules us all?
In a world of many religions, each will have it’s say on who makes it, who doesn’t, but seldom do they tell you who can belong, or not. Well, there are some that only allow certain ones in. You know who you are.
From my Christian perspective, how does the church respond during these times? Jesus put it like this:
Come to Me,
all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
(Matthew 11:28 NKJV)
Jesus did not make any distinction between any side. All… Come… Conformists from either side of the aisle!
But it’s not just about “making it in.” It’s also about living it outward.
By this, all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:35 NKJV)
Lest I make this a deeper subject than I intended, who gets to decide what “Love” is? Can you judge it? Does it require a “love language” template, scorecard, or final grade?
Did you? Do you?
I’m not worried about those who choose not to conform to the popular scenario. If the virus is real, might they pay a harsher price? That’s their choice. Right? Equally, those who choose to conform could also pay the price for using a drug with no long-term data.
It reminds me of using seatbelts, wearing bike helmets, mind the speed limits and other realities that have been forced on us through the years. I’ve been waiting on required safety shoes while pushing a mower! I mean, I learned to do it barefooted! 60 years ago! Surely our collective toes matter, right?!!?
You may say everyone should go one way or another, but ask the lemmings if it makes sense to rush where certain doom could be possible? Okay. Poor example. Yet, the concept is valid. We rushed an untested drug to market, praised its efficacy, and then tried to force everyone to conform. Just the year before, we were upset with the pharmaceuticals because they were pushing unsafe drugs or made us addicted.
A headline this morning? “Not all medical practitioners are taking the vaccine.” Whoa, Nelly! Neither are soldiers of the conformed ranks! Now, they are asking for volunteers to test their children out with the vaccine – Come on Down! Calling 5-year olds! Have we got a deal for you!!! Remember, you volunteered, but you are going to force your children?
Resistance To Conformity
It takes decades and centuries to get rid of diseases, but there are many more creeping in. We are getting better at facing them down, but the loss of life to sickness and disease has come to be expected. Is cancer cured? Diabetes? Alzheimer? Why? Ever notice the warnings about medicines advertised in the media… The side effects? Death? Really? And why not allow pregnant mothers? (Because they would not test the drug on pregnant mothers, it might harm the unborn baby.)
The numbers are static, but we know more lose their life to cancer than just about any other disease. [Source] Heart disease is high on the list. Traffic accidents. Murders. What else? Old age? Yes, there might just be a drug for that…
Okay. Unfair comparisons, but pick on any life-draining sickness, and you’ll find we are a long way from finding cures. But let’s trust something that was 6 months in the creating process! Right?
We Don’t Even Know What We Don’t Even Know
We don’t even know if there are downsides to the vaccination.
Compare today to yesteryear. We’ve struggled with resistance to anything, everything, for generations. Age-old positions stand in the modern world, and battle lines are drawn. Philosophies, religion, personal viewpoints, and even the conformity of this world accepting something a decade ago were anathema.
A close friend (there are a few!) resists the siren call of technology. Someone else, computer-aided cars. Others? Flying. Traveling. Fashions. In a multicultural world, we are still struggling with accepting one another, and it creates heartaches that are not new.
A recent coup in an Asian country catches everyone unaware – of course, there’s resistance! Do ethnic cleansings still happen? In this modern-day? You bet. As the world becomes more secular, religions struggle to maintain their spiritual beliefs that go against the norms of society. The distance between the haves and have-nots lengthens. The rich keep getting … well, richer. And the poor, well, they head in the opposite direction of their desires. Socialism is not the answer because we know a rising tide will not raise every ship. Road rage incidents worsen, cruelties to the planet and life grow exponentially dangerous, and we all wonder how we can improve?
Somewhere in the middle, there must be a neutral zone where we can meet the non-conformists from the other side.
How Do We Choose?
Personal values and religious beliefs often give us our framework as we age, yet we always adapt to the world as it changes. My personal values may change, but my view of religion has not. Why? It’s founded on something timeless, and if you believe in God as I do, then you want to stay in tune with his plan.
As the world turns (remember that soap opera?), it’s almost impossible to have a religious belief that is different from modern times unless you are willing to defend your stance. You will not change others’ minds, but you will be labeled or canceled and refused to live with your choice. Just because everyone believes something does not mean God approves. How do we choose which side of the conformity coin do we stand on?
I feel the lemmings stirring! Better get out of their path! Or…maybe it’s to stand up to the flow and be the rock in the middle of the stream and say, “I’m not changing!”If my Bible tells me something is wrong, just because everyone seems to accept it today does not change my view. Why? I’m a believer in God’s Word. If God says “No!” then I can never say “Yes.”
Regarding The Pandemic
Jesus spoke of a time when everyone will make choices. Persecutions will happen from within households. (Matthew 10:16-25) Some will choose to be on one side and castigate those on the other side. Siblings against siblings. Parents on the opposite side of children. I feel like the pandemic has created the desire to be on one side or the other within ourselves. No matter what the family needs might be. That choosing draws a boundary from which the other side will never be able to cross over for a long, long time.
How do you choose? Are the naysayers right? What about science and data? Do we trust big pharma, the government, or do they have ulterior motives? Everything feels so rushed, and I hate to be lost in the lemming crowd. When I drive anywhere, I’m always aware of the traffic flow and am spotting ways not to be boxed in, yet, I feel like we are at that place. Boxed into agreeing, disagreeing, and creating boundaries that we do not cross over for a while to come.
What does that mean?
I’ve made up my mind about how to live through these times. You are making up yours. We may disagree, but that should be okay in the long run. Except, we may not get to see each other for a long time because of our personal choices or the new rules of the road.
Are we okay with that? I suspect we have to be.
At the end of WWII, Germany was split between East and West…and a huge wall was built in places, with guards, neutral ground, and checkpoints to allow only certain ones the privilege to cross between the two… One side ruled differently than the other until there was a reunification plan. Families reunited after decades of separation.
I think we are headed to a permanent split between families, friends, co-workers, and the nation…with no reunification plan in mind. Forget herd immunity. Conform, or else! Get the vaccine, or else! Or we will stay split down the lines… between the have’s and have-nots, with no reunification plan in place.
What do you think?
Allow Others To Think
Not everyone comes to life from the same page.
When we start rubber-stamping everyone into a single image, we are removing the uniqueness that is “us.” Yes, this even includes whether someone chooses to be vaccinated for their own view of why or why not. An old story has a line that says, “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man would be king.” Conformity, until another, has a little vision, and we rank them higher and better than ourselves.
At the same time, some choose to never “see” and we will each pay the price of our personal conformity.
The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity,
and the characteristic result is religious warfare.
Other animals fight for territory or food;
but, uniquely in the animal kingdom,
human beings fight for their ‘beliefs.’
~Michael Crichton