The Religious Wars of the Pandemic Endgame, Rebel Wisdom

One of the biggest problems with talking about something as vast and impactful as the pandemic is to find the right level of analysis. In this epic piece, we look at the deeper religious and theological forces playing out below the surface of our day to day conflicts over topics like vaccines, authoritarianism and safety. We pull apart the hidden religiosity of "both sides" of the pandemic, that seems to be accelerating, even as the rapid spread of the Omicron variant brings us towards the pandemic endgame. It features interviews with the cognitive scientist John Vervaeke, Unherd writer Mary Harrington, the author Paul Kingsnorth, emergency doctor Rocky Jedick and many more. We have recently launched the Rebel Wisdom Substack for all our written content, and to host exclusive videos for members (just $5). The full length conversations with John, Mary & Rocky are available there for subscribers: https://substack.com/rebelwisdom  We are running our groundbreaking Sensemaking 101 course again in February, check the website for more details: https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/courses/sensemaking-101-page  Pieces referenced in the film include: Joe Rogan with Peter McCullough: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0aZte37vtFTkYT7b0b04Qz?si=1f7ce5a6705b463e  Joe Rogan with Robert Malone: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3SCsueX2bZdbEzRtKOCEyT?si=5a8207578958440e  Breaking the Polarity Spell of the Covidiots and Covidians, Peter Limberg: https://thestoa.substack.com/p/breaking-the-polarity-spell-of-the  Vaccine purity has infected the West, Mary Harrington: https://unherd.com/2022/01/vaccine-purity-has-infected-the-west/  This Vaccine Moment, Paul Kingsnorth: https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/p/the-vaccine-moment-part-one  Paul Kingsnorth: Why I changed sides in the vaccine wars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_uAwsVn10Y  Covid & the Sensemaking Crisis, BJ Campbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IjW16FCpkA  Covid could still save Boris, Freddie Sayers: https://unherd.com/2022/01/covid-could-still-save-boris/  The Age of Breach, Alexander Beiner: https://medium.com/rebel-wisdom/the-age-of-breach-gamestop-wokeism-and-the-capitol-8e3ac46efaf9  Tortoise, Pfizer's War: https://www.tortoisemedia.com/audio/pfizers-war/  Robert Malone goes full anti-science on Joe Rogan's podcast, Debunk the Funk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjszVOfG_wo&t=1s  Robert Malone & Peter McCullough: A litany of untruths, Decoding the Gurus: https://decoding-the-gurus.captivate.fm/episode/robert-malone-peter-mccullough-a-litany-of-untruths  No, Ivermectin Did Not Help Japan Bring Down Covid-19 Coronavirus Delta Surge, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/11/27/no-ivermectin-did-not-help-japan-bring-down-covid-19-coronavirus-delta-surge/?sh=717ea5842938  Ivermectin Didn’t Save Uttar Pradesh From Covid-19, Gideon M-K: https://gidmk.medium.com/ivermectin-didnt-save-uttar-pradesh-from-covid-19-17684f49d8b3  Walking the Talk on Free Speech? With Triggernometry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdGUp0y-bzc&t=1472s    Episode Overview:  00:00:00 Intro 00:00:50 The return of religion and the 'post secular' 00:04:55 The Covid Thesis vs Covid Antithesis 00:05:43 The Religiosity of the Thesis Narrative 00:08:39 The Religiosity of the Antithesis Narrative 00:14:25 Covid Synthesis? 00:16:47 What makes us intelligent leads to self-deception 00:20:24 We're all biased  00:24:48 Mary Harrington, vaccine purity codes & theology 00:33:44 The scapegoat dynamic 00:37:45 Religion, Egregores & 'Mass Formation' 00:44:53 John Vervaeke, suspicion is eating itself 00:48:45 Dialogos & the 'hermeneutics of beauty' 00:56:50 'Pfizer are shitbags' 00:58:53 Responsible heterodoxy vs conspiracy thinking 01:01:25 Making sense of Robert Malone's claims 01:10:44 An ER doctor evaluates Robert Malone, Rocky Jedick MD 01:20:00 Understanding the red flags 01:27:14 Our broken information landscape 01:32:07 Understanding motivation vs ad hominem 01:35:42 Epistemic humility & holding per