By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Eva Andrade
Hawaii Family Forum, a moderate to conservative, mostly evangelical Christian organization with a Catholic connection, wanted to know where its members stood on the coronavirus pandemic. So they took a poll.
The survey, conducted March 29-April 7, was not scientific. Hawaii Family Forum president Eva Andrade said she simply wanted to know “if there was an overwhelming position one way or another” regarding vaccinations, and government and church action.
“The answers showed me that there really is a pretty big divide between people who are fed up and those who really believe people did what they could under the circumstances,” she told the Hawaii Catholic Herald.
Most of the survey takers were not happy. The 432 who responded had a strong anti-vaxxer streak and were generally disdainful of their government officials and the media, but moderately satisfied with the actions of their individual churches and pastors.
Hawaii Family Forum is a non-profit educational organization promoting life, faith, family and religious freedom in Hawaii.
Andrade is also director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Diocese of Honolulu. She said HFF has about 5,000 members. Some are Catholics, but she does not know how many.
The survey posed five multiple-choice questions and one final box for comments. The questions were:
- Will you be taking the COVID-19 vaccination?
- Do you think the vaccinations should be mandatory?
- How well did our leaders handle the pandemic?
- How well did your church handle the lockdown?
- Did you attend church services during the past year?
The comments section channeled a spectrum of opinion. Andrade said she was surprised “that over 270 actually took time to write an essay response.”
To the first question which asked whether the respondent will be getting vaccinated, 42% said yes, they already have or plan to; 39% said no; 12% are waiting for “more studies”; and 4% “don’t know yet.”
Three percent said no to the vaccine “if it contains aborted fetal cells.”
Andrade was not surprised by the answers to the vax-or-not-to-vax question. She said they match what people have been telling her over the past year.
As to whether the vaccine should be mandatory, an overwhelming 91% said no; the rest, yes.
Most respondents had little love for their civic leaders. For the question on the handling of the pandemic, most of them checked the box “They need to go” for the governor, lieutenant governor, state legislators, the mayor and public health leaders. Handling the pandemic “very well” was the least marked box for these folks.
But business and church leaders scored favorably to the same question with most respondents selecting the sympathy answer: “(They did) the best they could under the circumstances but there were some areas they could have done better.”
And churches got good marks to the question, “How well did your church handle the lockdowns?”
Thirty-eight percent checked off “My church/pastor was stellar!” Forty-one percent of the respondents said, “My church/pastor did the very best they could in the circumstances.”
Thirty-five percent said they attended church services weekly, “without fail,” over the past year, either in person or online. Only 8% said they never went at all.
The general comments were mostly negative — angry and critical of government and the news media for exaggerating the threat and for taking away personal freedoms. A few said they were putting their trust in God, not in government protocols.
Here is a random sampling of final comments:
- “I’m concerned that our liberties are being ‘attacked’ and if we do not stand up we will be stripped of our individual rights.”
- “JUST SAY NO TO THE VACCINE!”
- “Our beloved Hawaii has become a communist state.”
- “The prayer for the Covid pandemic said before Mass is right on point. Thank you to the author.”
- “The lies and the fear need to stop about COVID. Completely politically manipulated. Most of the politicians and leaders promoting masks and vaccines are hypocrites.”
- “COVID scare is such a fraud … seriously … shame on them being the devils advocate”
The survey was anonymous. Some who responded thanked Andrade for giving them an opportunity to say what they thought. A few, she said, didn’t like the survey because they felt “the questions were leading and or inadequate to really capture the faith-based conservative position on the issue.”
