Innoculation

In my college communication classes, I noted as time went on and I tackled course after course, you could see that though were studying communications, which to many would be, ‘Oh, yeah, we had a conversation’, or ‘I talked to so and so on the phone yesterday,’ it is so much more than that. We as complex human beings, are multi-dimensional. Mark 12:30 tells us, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Everything about us participates in our communication efforts, whether by inclusion of omission. Our human nature, personalities, culture, character, and our attitudes.

Let me share with you a short excerpt from one of my papers called ‘Persuading the Masses.” In a portion titled ‘Knowing your audience’ regarding attitudes.

“Attitudes stem from human nature, character, and personality, along with cultural background and exposure. A person may not have an opinion yet on what you are addressing if they have never heard of it before. If this is the case, you will have an empty canvas to work with and a very good chance of persuading them. It is important to know what the listeners attitudes are in general, and about the specific topic you are presenting before attempting to persuade them. You may have to do a little ‘inoculation’ first. Meaning, you may have to ‘dissuade’ them in some areas before you can ‘persuade’ them on your viewpoint (Shen, et al, 2013).

People generally want to know how doing what you are asking, or believing what you are saying, will affect them personally. Find out if they are patriots, community minded or just self-centered. For example, know if they are single or married before presenting a topic on marriage, because depending on your findings, your approach to the subject will be completely different, as will their attitude toward the subject. Studies have shown that if you can change a person’s attitude, you can also change their behavior (O’Keefe, 2016).”

We studied extensively, what is known as the ‘Inoculation Theory,’ developed by William J. McGuire in 1961. It is a theory in communications that shows how that attitudes and beliefs change, yet they can be protected from and be resistant to persuasion and influence. McGuire uses the analogy of medical inoculation to prove his point. If you are inoculated with a disease, you build up an immunity to the actual disease that may attack your body on an even greater scale, thus protecting you from the gravest symptoms of the disease. This is what they have been expressing in this unique environment of COVID-19. In the same token, if you ‘inoculate’ or pre-expose your audience with a lesser version of a stronger threat that is inevitable, you can basically prepare them for it and thus prevent attitude change, and by doing so, protect them from propaganda, fake news, peer pressure and false rhetoric.

There is a great responsibility upon the shoulders of Christians, parents, and teachers in the world we live in today. Our first step is to teach, teach, teach, twenty-four/seven, the principles of the Word of God to our congregations and at home to our children. This will mold their attitudes and beliefs so that they can be set strongly in stone and stored in their heart for times of crisis. Secondly, they need to be ‘inoculated,’ so that their attitudes and beliefs can be resistant to change. This is accomplished by taking the classroom to the street, so to speak. Teaching should be taking place in every setting we find ourselves in, while doing life. We are trying so hard to not be tainted by the world, we play the avoidance game, however, then, when we do encounter a real-life situation, we are totally ignorant as to how to tackle it and to the devices of Satan. He is the master of deceit. Now more than ever, we must tackle the problems of this world head on, yes, sadly to say, even with our smallest children. It is sad that children must grow up so fast these days, but if we do not teach them from our knowledge, experience and the Word of God, the world, ungodly teachers, their friends who are just guessing at life themselves, and the internet, will.

Do not lose heart, if you have not filled the shoes as a parent or Christian leader as you should have to this point, it can be remedied. Takes steps towards dissuasion, and then persuasion. First learn your audience, aka your congregation or your children, find out what they are dealing with now in their world. Secondly, find out what the word of God says on the subject and adjust your beliefs and attitudes toward the subject in accordance with His word. Thirdly, begin to deal with it without fear. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Your attitude and approach will make all the difference in how the child and/or child of God are influenced. You will be ‘inoculating’ them just by bringing up a subject, or not shirking a subject, because their little wheels will begin to turn. This allows them to stop just ‘going with the flow’ and begin to make their own course. Dissuasion can begin by asking open ended questions like, ‘Who told you that?’ ‘Do you think they are right?’ ‘What would you have done in that situation, and why?’ So on and so forth. They must begin to mature and think for themselves to make it in this ‘godless’ world as in Judges 2:10, “And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.” If we do not tell them about the miracles of the Lord, who will?

Ephesians 6:4 tells us to “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Eye rolling moments happen naturally, quite a lot in homes, especially when there are teenagers, however, a lot of those and much conflict, could be prevented by parents being proactive. So often parents are in ‘la la land’ and take on a subject way after the fact. We must ‘inoculate,’ broach a subject, way before the world hits them with it or an even greater blow. This will protect their beliefs and attitudes about the subject and often, they will just take it with a grain of salt instead of being in full shock mode if they are caught off guard or blindsided. As you are aware in this COVID world, one shot is not a cure all! You need the flu shot, the Covid shot, the this and the that, continually to stay up on the latest mutation of the disease. So, it is with this world. It is not a one-time deal. We must stay engaged in the word of God, and in teaching, always. We must not let down our guard.