FIRE CHIEF

Krimmert followed a long tradition in getting shot

Tip of the hat to the fire chief for putting the safety and will of the community ahead of his fears and getting his COVID vaccine. Like a surprising number of people in this country, Chief Kimmert was concerned, in part, about the safety of the new vaccine — though millions of people have now been vaccinated and there have been extremely few cases of adverse events. The chief is now part of a long tradition of people who serve to offer their arms to protect their country. In 1777, President Washington ordered the entire Continental Army to be inoculated against the smallpox virus by infecting them with a less-deadly form of smallpox — an even more experimental and risky proposition. 40,000 probably nervous, but brave soldiers were inoculated within a year, and the infection rate fell from 17% to 1%. Another reminder that we can overcome COVID if we “stick” together.

— Lesley Reed

Getting vaccinated isn’t a personal choice

Chief Krimmert wrote that he didn’t get a COVID-19 vaccine because “I was not sure the COVID vaccine was the right choice for me…” His comment demonstrates a deep and profound misunderstanding of vaccinations. It is not all about you or any other individual. It is about the community, especially vulnerable members of the community who are particularly at risk. Would Chief Krimmert find it an acceptable defense to a citation if, when his crew showed up at my enormous bonfire at the height of the dry season, I said simply: “Hey, that fire ban just is not the right choice for me?”

Vaccines are not about “me,” they are about “we.”

— Suzanne Mager

FIRE DISTRICT CHAPLAIN

In defense of Father Tryphon

I would like to defend Father Tryphon for being ridiculed in a letter to the editor in the Sept. 30 edition.

He was ridiculed for his statement calling the vaccine the “Mark of the Beast” and “refusing to protect your fellow humans”. For the record, I am vaccinated and I don’t believe the vaccine is the mark of the beast. I want to defend Father Tryphon because he is my brother in Christ.

When I walked into a coffee bar on Vashon recently, I overheard six men discussing the statement made by Father Tryphon about the mark of the beast. I joined into the conversation. I will try to answer the question in a few lines, “What in the Hell is the mark of the beast?”

The Book of Daniel, in chapter seven, talks about the beast in the last days of history. Daniel is the key to understanding the book of Revelation, especially chapter 13 that presents the mark of the beast. Although the ancient prophets talked about it, this “mark” could not be put into operation until our time of modern technology.”

Here are the bullet points of Revelation chapter 13.

1. Someday there will be a one-world government. 2. The beast, or antichrist, will rule the world for 42 months. 3. He will war against those who believe in God. 4. He will have political and economic power over every “tribe, people, language and nation.” 5. All the inhabitants of the world will be required to worship him. (Very plausible in politics.) 6. He will be a great deceiver doing powerful works that seem supernatural. 7. People in all the world will be forced to listen to him and watch his image. (Only possible now with the internet.) 8. He will control everyone’s movement and fiscal affairs, by requiring the “mark” for everyone to be able to buy or sell (think microchip).

So, I understand the concern of Father Tryphon. Without a doubt, this worldwide pandemic has given us a foretaste of what will happen in Revelation 13.

— Terry Peretti