Through Catholic Lenses
A few days before Christmas, I posted a critique of Fr. Dave Nix’s video against COVID vaccines. I had gone line by line pointing out errors.
In the time since then, several other things have come to light indicating Fr. Nix is even further confused on vaccines. This is dangerous stuff to be promoting as a Catholic priest and is damaging to the faithful.
I will briefly address his response to my video, then cover some other things people found Nix saying online.
His Response to My Article
Fr. Dave Nix had no substantive response to my article. Despite my article substantially dismantling most of his arguments. I explicitly stayed in the top three sections of Graham’s hierarchy of disagreement.
On the other hand, his arguments against it generally fall into lower categories. He made three arguments:
Donations
First, I ask for donations and have ads:
Here’s two reasons in red why you should take Fr. Matthew Schneider’s rebuttal of my COVID-vaccine-video seriously. VERY SERIOUSLY. pic.twitter.com/c7d3djQUBg
— FrDave Nix � (@FrDaveNix) December 24, 2020
Well, yes. My community needs to pay the bills and we rely on donations. I ask politely at the end of my blogs to consider donating. In fact, Fr Dave includes a donate page on his website and tweeted about it between when he posted the video and my critique.
Thanks to your generosity, my little 700sqft hermitage is paid off! Next year I will take a regular priest salary, so if you haven’t lost your job, please consider donating a tithe or your Christmas bonus to my tax-deductible ministry. https://t.co/JgkTQFNpfg
— FrDave Nix � (@FrDaveNix) December 21, 2020
Evangelizing Kids
Second, he critiques that I did a series of videos reading the Passion for kids on YouTube.
I won’t comment on his YT channel as he did on mine because it’s not worth it: https://t.co/BjiawStjYh
— FrDave Nix � (@FrDaveNix) December 24, 2020
Yes, as we were starting a lot of the quarantine or restrictions for COVID just before Holy Week 2020, I was looking for ways to help people live Holy Week. I read the Passion and demonstrated the scenes with figurines for preschool and early elementary school children. I had originally planned to do this just for my nephews and niece, but I figured the effort would be about the same to post it publicly. It definitely isn’t my standard fair, but I’m not ashamed of this attempt at trying to reach kids with the Gospel during quarantine.
Ad Hominem
Third, somehow, he claims I’m arguing ad hominem and doxing him.
I assume you mean that for his blog post against me since it was a long “ad hominem” attack by even starting with doxxing me. If not, you’re not reading his blog or my video or the dictionary definition of “ad hominem.”
— FrDave Nix � (@FrDaveNix) December 24, 2020
First, I cannot see how I start by doxing him. He says his name at the beginning of the video, then I link to his site and his archdiocese’s site for his status. (To dox, for those not familiar, means “to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge.” This refers to some kind of private investigation to identify the person; when your primary source is the about page on their own site, that is not doxing.)
Second, as noted above I avoided anything that would be ad hominem, sticking to the higher levels of argumentation.
Crazy Things Fr. Nix Argues about Vaccines
As several intrepid friends and a bit of my own work uncovered, Fr. Nix had made several other errors of fact about vaccines.
Polio Is Better Than Vaccination
First, he thinks vaccines cause autism and says polio is better than autism. This tweet (archived version, found by @vagrantcatholic):
He has also repeated that vaccines cause autism in reply to my article (archived version).
Really?
First, vaccines don’t cause autism. Here’s a list of studies analyzing millions of kids. They all conclude that there is no link. This has been one of the biggest scientific myths of the past 20 years, it has stigmatized autistics, it has diverted funding from real autism research, and it needs to stop. In fact, the most important cause of autism has been found to be genes and the next biggest factor is in utero environment.
Second, to consider polio (as in those cases that bring about partial or full paralysis) better than autism is a horrendous, ableist, untrue idea. I don’t even think that needs a refutation it is so horrid.
The COVID Vaccine is the Mark of the Beast
Fr. Nix liked this tweet:
Really? This can’t be definitively proven as we can’t prove what the mark of the beast is. However, the Church has discouraged excessive reading current events into revelation and predicting the end of the world so soon. In fact, Jesus even says, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)
The COVID Vaccine Changes Your DNA
Fr. Nix liked this tweet:
The mRNA vaccines do not change your DNA in any way that is dangerous. In fact, tanning changes your skin DNA in a far more dangerous way. Nuclear DNA, which is what you pass down from generation to generation is not affected at all. The only DNA that might change would be the cells in your immune system that keep a library of things to kill outside the nucleus adding COVID to it. (Sources: 1, 2, 3, & 4.)
Modernist Interpretation of Nature
Fr. Dave Nix posted the following:
God would not allow your health to be aided in any way by any vaccine connected to abortion.
— FrDave Nix � (@FrDaveNix) December 22, 2020
I pointed out that this was contrary to the facts.
We’ve all been protected from rubella by vaccines with a remote connection to abortion. This has reduced fetal defects & stillbirths. Contra factum non valet argumentum. https://t.co/9aGigiIyk3
— Fr Matthew Schneider LC ��� (@FrMatthewLC) December 23, 2020
A friend of mine produced a good summary of what is wrong with Fr. Nix’s position. It is a modernist reading contrary to the teaching that creation follows natural rules.
Fr. Matthew is presenting the traditional teaching of the Church.
Fr. Dave, by positing private experience as the locus of development of doctrine and suggesting that the Church’s dogmata regarding the rational nature of the universe have thus changed, is the modernist.
— ابن أندراوس�� (@_ibnandraos) December 23, 2020
I don’t think I can add much.
More Dangerous
On his blog this week (archive), Fr. Nix noted that several people he knew got COVID and one even needed to be hospitalized. But he responds to this, “I am still more wary of the vaccine than the virus.” He cites three things, two of which have nothing to do with the danger of the vaccine. The third is mentioning that something was being investigated, and assuming one result. Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, the principal investigator in the study he mentioned, assumes the exact opposite result of Fr. Nix. Dr. Ramasamy stated, “Based on the mechanism by which mRNA acts, we do not expect the COVID-19 vaccines will have an impact on male fertility. But obviously, we want data to confirm that hypothesis.” Unsurprisingly, Fr. Nix repeats some prior errors in this post.
Conclusion
The prior video I critiqued and Fr. Dave Nix’s comments or likes above are dangerous for people’s health. It would be bad for anyone posting this as “Catholic” content. It is an even bigger problem when a priest with a decent following posts such dangerous misinformation.
Please pray that Fr. Nix comes around to stop sharing bad information. Please don’t trust him on vaccines. And please remember that vaccines save lives. (If you have not read the first part of this, it’s worth a read.)
(All images except the first one are fair use screenshots. I archived all of Fr. Nix’s tweets cited above in case he deletes them. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to archive a tweet and make who liked it visible at the same time.)
Note: If you like this, please consider supporting me on Patreon. I just passed 12 giving at least $12 a month so will be sending out special thank you gifts to all of them.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In