My Response To Christopher Titmuss

The other day I made a post on my Facebook page entitled “I’m Vaccinated, And No, I Don’t Know What’s In It”.  Among the well over 100 comments, I was surprised and honored when I saw that senior western Dharma teacher Christopher Titmuss left a comment, which he then re-posted on his blog. Below I am posting his full comment and my response… and his subsequently admirable follow-up response. For context, you can see my original blog post here.

“Dear Miles,
You have written a lengthy list of reasons why the Covid-19 vaccination primarily serves your self-interest. It makes me feel uncomfortable.

• Why not provide a list of concerns about the narcissistic self-interest of rich nations with nationalistic leaders and poor nations with nationalistic leaders, who ignore the desperate needs of people at home and abroad?
• Why not criticize the vaccination industry which clings to its patents to make $billions out of people’s suffering?
• Why not criticize the corruption among politicians for enabling their friends in the private sector to make a fortune out of the pandemic and suffering of people?
• Why not criticize the vaccination industry which refuses to share its knowledge and profits to serve people worldwide?
• Why not criticize rich governments who hoard a massive amount of vaccines and give so little to the world’s poor?
• Why not criticize governments for neglecting millions of people with cancer, heart disease, terrible daily pain who have to wait months to see a specialist, let alone get treatment?

And much more…

This is a global pandemic. Billions of people on this Earth do not have our privilege to choose a vaccine or not. I find the ignoring of those facts above harder to understand than people refusing the jab.

Compassion transcends self-interest.

Love Christopher”

MY RESPONSE

“Hello Christopher,

Thank you for taking the time to comment on my Facebook post and bringing your wisdom to the discussion. I’m honored you made the effort.

First I should make clear that the words I posted above are not mine, but rather they were shared anonymously with the invitation to copy and share at the end. That being said I do stand behind every word.

As you well know, when we speak in the public square and advocate our perspectives we always run the risk of making others feel uncomfortable. So even though I stand by my views on this issue, please don’t confuse it for being callous.

Regarding your comment, as always, your passion, eloquence, and wisdom shine through your words. But I do have 2 issues that I hope you can receive (if not agree with).

1. You’ve created a straw man argument response to my post. By evoking the reprehensible selfish actions of certain players from rich countries, nationalistic political leaders, the disgusting habits of the pharmaceutical industry, and so on, it sounds like an attempt to subtly virtue shame me and question my motivation.

As far as I know, you have no idea of my work and where I stand on these issues. When actually, these are all liberal/ progressive democratic issues of which you and I undoubtedly agree upon for the most part. You ask “why not criticize these issues?” Well, I do. Both publicly and privately, as well as in my professional life. Just not in this post.

So by painting me with the brush of self-interest you make a false equivalency by setting up a straw man argument that confuses the issue. It fundamentally misses the point of the post, which is the reason I personally chose to trust my doctor and get the vaccine.

2. The second issue I have with your comment is how you set up self-interest against compassion. Suggesting I am motivated by the former and could use a little more of the latter.

If you read the post again with fresh eyes I think you’d be hard-pressed to find selfish intent in the words. Subjective, yes., but selfish no.

Even though the vaccine issue is incredibly complex and full of dilemmas that all self-reflective people must grapple with, for me it comes down to this simple fact: in this case, I trust the scientific method and the medical professionals when it comes to this vaccine. Yes, this is my subjective view. But not selfish.

I also, by the way, respect everyone’s freedom of choice concerning their health, but that’s another issue.

From where I stand, the issue is the pandemic. Denying the terrific suffering this pandemic has caused, and especially influencing others to deny it, is the definition of self-interest (not to suggest you are doing this).

My compassion lies in the suffering this pandemic has caused for everyone. Regardless of where they stand on the vaccine issue. I am in daily contemplation on the challenge of how to reconcile the difference between those who chose to vaccinate and those who do not. A choice that comes down to one’s personal freedom. For me the choice was easy.

As you know, compassion is nothing without discriminating wisdom. The pandemic is real. The compassionate and discriminatingly wise choice is either to vaccinate, and if not, then accept the consequences of that free choice by regularly testing, masking, and respecting any public health limitations. For the sake of the whole. Anything less is choosing self-interest over public health.

We are both committed to the path of Dharma. And in our own ways, we are compassionately working towards the alleviation of suffering in all beings. Even at the unavoidable risk of making some feel uncomfortable. None of us can escape the truth of the human condition. But all of us can be responsible for it.

Love, Miles”

CHRISTOPHER’S FOLLOW UP RESPONSE

“Dear Miles,

I accept your valid points and appreciate your fine paragraph at the end. I can see why you would understandably read the blog in a personal way. This morning I tweaked the blog to make clear the questions/concerns were for the wider audience.

Love, Christopher”

YOU CAN SEE CHRISTOPHER TITMUSS’ TWEAKED BLOG POST HERE