Michael Copenhagen is a member of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton and an anti-vaccine activist (thus directly contradicting the Catholic Church’s doctrine). He has even testified before Congress on behalf of anti-vaccine activists: “Applying a thorough moral analysis [right …], many Catholics and conscientious people see clear immediate forced cooperation in the intrinsic evils of theft, desecration, experimentation and trafficking of human remains obtained through violence to produce the product. And this is one of a number of complex moral issues, including STD vaccines, and those which constitute extraordinary means, defined as those where there is no moral obligation to receive them.” Yes, there are some standard anti-vaccine talking points, including the aborted fetal tissue myth as well as fake concerns about “forced vaccination” underlying that rant, but Copenhagen’s real concern is of course how having life-saving vaccines for illnesses that may be sexually contracted might remove a means he has to scare people from engaging in what he considers immoral behavior (sex). Moreover, politicians considering support vaccine requirements of any form are apparently bearing “for all time the full weight and moral responsibility for outlawing the full public practice of the Catholic Faith”.
Copenhagen was, unsurprisingly, a signatory to a 2020 letter to then-President Donald Trump from Shannon Kroner (President of something called Freedom of Religion – United Solutions), Kevin Barry, Renee Bessone, James A. Moody, JD; and Rev. Robert Schuller, designed to trick religious leaders into supporting their opposition to school vaccine mandates based on religion. Yes, vaccine mandates are religious persecution of anti-vaccine parents, and of course the letter-writers couldn’t resist regurgitating a range of antivaccine talking points, such as myths about what the vaccines contain – including (again) the myth of “human aborted fetal DNA” and “neurotoxins such as mercury and aluminum” – and a number of deranged but familiar conspiracy theories, such as the usual misunderstandings of the Nuremberg code, and some that remain relatively fringe even among anti-vaccine activists, such as the idea that tetanus vaccines are causing infertility and thereby genocide.
Diagnosis: In many ways a standard antivaccine conspiracy theorist and liar, but Copenhagen also has a serious following and carries some serious clout. Unlike other antivaccine leaders, he might actually be able to sway people not already converted to his brand of lunacy. Dangerous.