Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • News
  • Politics
  • Coronavirus Updates
  • Faith
  • Opinion
  • Christmas
  • Set Free Course

Ethics Professor Gives Emotional ‘Lesson’ on Vaccine Mandates — Then She’s Placed on Leave

Rumble screenshot
Rumble screenshot
Share Tweet
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

September 13, 2021

Dr. Julie Ponesse, a veteran ethics professor at a university in Canada, was placed on leave after she delivered a very brief virtual lecture in which she outlined the real-life ethical dilemma she faced when her employer mandated her vaccination against COVID-19.

The Huron University College educator shared the remarks with her first-year students, explaining to them the “universally accepted ethics of coercing people into medical procedures.”

“My employer has just mandated that I must get a vaccine for COVID-19,” Ponesse explained. “If I want to keep working at my job as a professor, I have to take this vaccine. Here’s my conundrum. My school employs me to be an authority on the subject of ethics. I hold a Ph.D. in ethics and ancient philosophy and I’m here to tell you it’s ethically wrong to coerce someone to take a vaccine.”

“If this happens to you, you don’t have to do it,” the professor continued. “If you don’t want a COVID vaccine, don’t take one — end of discussion. It’s your own business. But that’s not the approach of the University of Western Ontario, which has suddenly required that I be vaccinated immediately, or not report for work. I am facing imminent dismissal after 20 years on the job.”

While she’s taken “plenty of vaccines” over the course of her life, Ponesse argued the inoculations currently available against COVID-19 are, in her view, experimental in nature, may pose unforeseen risks, and have not yet sufficiently proven to be effective against contracting or unintentionally spreading the virus.

Furthermore, Ponesse suggested she does not work in a “high-risk environment” as an academician, adding her job is to “teach how to think critically; to ask questions that might expose a false argument.”

“This is my first and, potentially, my last lesson of the year,” she told her students. “In the spirit of Socrates, who was executed for asking questions, this lesson will consist of only one question: When a person has done the same job to the satisfaction of her employer for 20 years, is it right or is it wrong to suddenly demand that they submit to an unnecessary medical procedure in order to keep their job?”

She concluded her lecture by stating, “I already know the answer.”

After an unnamed person also on the call lauded Ponesse for her “amazing” words, the professor broke down in tears.

Ponesse emailed the head of her department last week to tell him she will not receive a COVID-19 vaccination, wear a mask while teaching, or submit to weekly testing.

Within half an hour, the professor told the National Post, she received a response from the dean of her school, informing her that she “would be dismissed and put on temporary paid leave.”

The Post disputed the claims Ponesse made during her brief “lesson” to her students. The outlet noted that health authorities in Canada — as well as in many other countries — “approved the vaccines for emergency use after confirming their safety and efficacy,” noting that “preliminary studies have found that the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines are about 90 percent effective against COVID-19 and the vast majority of cases are now among the unvaccinated.”

In late August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the Pfizer inoculation.

YouTube, it should be noted, removed footage of Ponesse’s video from its platform, stating it violated the site’s “community guidelines.” The video has since been uploaded to the video-sharing platform Rumble.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

Latest

  • Entertainment

    ‘You Simply Changed My Life’: Steve Harvey Pens Heartfelt Love Letter to Wife Citing ‘God’s Grace’ and His Journey Overcoming Homelessness

  • Faith

    URGENT PRAYER: Wife of Pastor Detained in China Has a Plea for the Global Church: ‘May the Lord Be Glorified…’

  • Culture

    ‘Honor Them For Their Great Sacrifice’: Chris Pratt Praises Men and Women in Uniform After WWII Veterans Surprise Him at Hollywood Premiere

  • News

    As Pro-Lifers Cheer End of Roe, Democrats Lament SCOTUS Overturning ‘Right’ to Kill the Unborn: ‘One of the Darkest Days Our Country Has Ever Seen’

  • News

    ROE NO MORE: Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade: States Can Ban Abortion


Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?