Jen Russum

Black Lives Matter

June 6, 2020

In lieu of a regular Saturday Snippets, I thought I would post some interesting articles I've read and podcasts I've listened to regarding the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement, the protests, the riots, the concept of social justice, and the role of the church. Warning: These sources will not repeat all the arguments and slogans you've already seen on social media. They will consider what the Bible says about justice. I am Too Conservative to Stay Silent on Racial Injustices Do the Work Black Lives Matter and Biblical Christianity Christianity and Social Justice The New Legalism Just Thinking Podcast: George Floyd and the Gospel Relatable Podcast: Does the Truth Matter? ... Read more

Coronavirus # 9: Conspiracy Theories

May 19, 2020

Our official order from the governor is called "shelter-in-place." In some states, it's called a "stay at home order." We have called it many names over the past two months, ranging from "quarantine" to "lockdown." During this extended time at home, it's been easy to consume far too much media about COVID-19. With ever-changing statistics about the virus rolling in daily, there are new conspiracy theories popping up every day as well. I call them "conspiracy theories" loosely because as I've discovered more about the corruption of our government and the media, I've learned that many narratives that question either of those two institutions get labeled as conspiracies when often they are (at least partially) grounded in truth. Here are some of the main theories that have been circulating around alternative news sources and social media for the past two months: Democrats want this virus to decimate the economy, so Trump doesn't get re-elected.The virus was intentionally created in a lab and released -- possibly as a form of biowarfare from China.The virus is being used as a distraction as the Trump administration and U.S. military rescue trafficked children and/or bring down a ring of elite pedophiles.The virus has probably been in our nation undetected since November since containing a pathogen between China and the U.S. is improbable with intercontinental air travel. Therefore, hundreds of thousands of people have already been exposed to the virus, have antibodies, and the death rates are much lower than those published on the news.Governors shut down schools to widely roll-out 5G technology, which emits EMF radiation and will be detrimental to human health (Trump did sign a 5G expansion bill on March 23, 2020).Effective treatments for Coronavirus include vitamin C, zinc, hydroxychloroquine (malaria medicine), Pepcid, or Z-packs, among others, but head health officials refuse to acknowledge these treatments because they are not patentable and won't make money.Bill Gates, Anthony Fauci, Rockefellers, etc. are using the virus (possibly a planned pandemic or, at the very least, a long-awaited one) to move forward with pushing universally mandated vaccines, from which they will profit greatly. Hospitals are inflating numbers of COVID-19 deaths. This could be to help justify the economic shut-down once it became obvious that the virus was not as deadly as hypothesized. Or hospitals could be trying to reimburse their profit losses as Medicare pays more for COVID deaths and for patients put on ventilators.Governors and legislatures in states that were already struggling financially before the pandemic are using the situation to beg the federal government for funding.News of Kawasaki-like illness in children with COVID may simply be in line with the normal statistics of children who develop Kawasaki each year (some of whom will presumably have COVID antibodies now that the virus has circulated widely for months). This could be a fear-mongering ploy to keep schools closed for longer since children do not seem susceptible to complications from Coronavirus.We are quickly moving toward embedding chips under the skin and becoming a cashless society, which means the end times of the Bible are upon us.Homeschooling may soon be outlawed on a federal level as the government uses the pandemic to exert control and squash individual liberty.Democrats want the nation to stay closed through the fall (or close back up in the fall due to a resurgence of the virus), so they can demand mail-in voting in all states and rig the election. Some of these theories seem to be true, at least partially, and others feel far-fetched. As you can imagine, it's exhausting keeping up with it all. I finally had to pull a media fast a few days ago and delete the social media apps from my phone. I planned to take a break for just 24 hours, but it felt so nice to read no headlines and watch no news clips that I'm about hit 72 hours media-free. I will go back to engaging media eventually, but I needed a break from the constant stream of conflicting information. ... Read more

I Didn’t Know

May 18, 2020

I didn't know. I didn't know when I taught a course called Media Ethics this semester that my class would end on the same exact day COVID-19 was declared a "global pandemic." I had no idea the nine weeks I spent with students teaching them to analyze and scrutinize the media would culminate right as the world went on lockdown. I had no idea I would spend the rest of the spring semester on a fearful maternity leave, wondering if I would be able to find food in the stores to feed my family or whether I would give birth in a hospital all alone. I didn't know that our entire lives would be turned upside down by doctors and journalists and politicians in the days after my class ended. I had no idea my students would be flooded with media information in the coming weeks and that citizens everywhere would be desperately trying to figure out which messages were true and which sources they could trust. I didn't know the topic of vaccines would be plastered on every newspaper and news broadcast around the globe. I had no idea when I assigned my students a research project called "What's up with Bill Gates?" that the entire world would be asking the same question over the next few weeks. I didn't know. But here is what I do know. I know SB276 passed in California in September and I could not stop reading about it. I know that the information presented in my doctor's office and by the CDC and dispersed by every mainstream newspaper does not match up with what I read in peer-reviewed studies on the efficacy and risks of vaccines. I know that I found a growing number of moms, nurses, and doctors who were beginning to speak out about medical freedom and informed consent and the prevalence of vaccine injury and the dangers of mandated medicine. I know that as I poured over the research and the debate and the nuance I noticed that no mainstream media publications were talking about the conflicting information available. None of them were covering both sides or asking questions about the staggering rates of childhood chronic illness in the United States. And, one day, I realized that I had to teach my upcoming Media Ethics course on precisely this topic -- medical freedom. I know that I asked my students to examine the ethics of our media and its relationships with both pharmaceutical companies and our government. I know that I reached out to doctors, pharmacists, immunologists, and mothers with differing viewpoints and they all agreed to speak to my students and share their experiences. I know when I reached out to three different local journalists who had covered vaccine-related news stories in the past year NOT ONE OF THEM RESPONDED. I wanted to hear their perspectives. They gave me the cold shoulder. As I sat in front of my students week after week, simply asking questions, giving them sources to research, teaching them to carry out their own investigations and to come to their own conclusions, I knew that the time was coming where they would have to fight for freedom, for bodily autonomy, and for the right to protect themselves and their families. But I thought that day was years away -- maybe decades even. I didn't know the fight would begin the day they turned in their final papers... ... Read more