MINISTRY‘s Al Jourgensen has blasted people who are hesitant to roll up their sleeves and receive the COVID-19 vaccine, saying that their refusal to get the shot is putting all of our health at risk.
The 62-year-old Jourgensen addressed the hot-button issue in a new interview with the “RRBG Podcast”. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I went and saw Jim Jefferies last night, the comedian. And I’ve got a feeling that might be the last show that we might be seeing for a while.
“I mean, it’s just, like, ‘People. Really?’ Look, even if the government is microchipping us and we’re all gonna have alien DNA and all that, at least we’re all gonna go down together. But in the meanwhile, let’s not make each other sick. Just go get your damn vax. I’ve had mine for months. I’m even gonna get a booster before I go on tour. I wanna make sure that I don’t infect people and people don’t infect me. [It’s] not a hundred percent accurate, as nothing in this world or universe is, but just do it, please, so we can have our lives back, our entertainment back.”
Jourgensen went on to say that quarantine “worked out quite well” for him despite the fact that he was unable to tour. “I got to do three albums during quarantine here in my studio,” he said. “I’ve got a MINISTRY album coming out, I have another MINISTRY album that’s done except for the vocals, and I have a LARD record coming out. All through quarantine, because what else are you gonna do? So it actually worked out pretty well for me, and I never got [COVID-19]. I followed all the rules and did all the masks and all that. But people would just rather… It’s like a six-year-old tantrum. Like, ‘I’m gonna spite myself just to prove a point,’ or something. C’mon, man. We all live on this planet. Just go get vaccinated. Just do it. It’s no big deal. We’re all gonna fucking die. So, just do it. Let us go back to work.”
According to Jourgensen, one of the biggest problems is the fact that disinformation has been amplified on social media platforms during the coronavirus pandemic.
“What pisses me off is that mainstream media and social media give voice to these children having tantrums and put it on an equal scale with people who actually do science and know what they’re talking about,” he said. “Yet they have equal coverage, because it sells commercials for media and all that. So they give it equal weight. And there is no equal weight. You people are stupid; these people are not. Cover the people that aren’t stupid. Bingo.
“The angrier you get, the more headlines you get, but that doesn’t mean the more logic you have,” he added. “It’s just dumb. Society has just spiraled down into this dumb magic kingdom where up is down and green is blue. Whatever.”
MINISTRY will release its 15th studio album, “Moral Hygiene”, on October 1 via Nuclear Blast Records.
“Moral Hygiene” includes the previously released “Alert Level” that sounded the alarms about our collective dissonance towards the pandemic, climate change and the man formerly in the White House, bolstered by the song’s overarching question posed to listeners: “How concerned are you?” The new album also adds perspective to the countless lives that were tragically lost to the COVID-19 pandemic on the haunting track “Death Toll” while “Disinformation” describes the too frequent willingness to accept everything — even mistruths — as fact.
“Moral Hygiene” was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on “AmeriKKKant”) at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen‘s self-built home studio and creative lab. As with all MINISTRY albums, all songs are written and performed by Jourgensen. Additional contributions come from Morrison, Cesar Soto (MAN THE MUTE), John Bechdel (KILLING JOKE, FEAR FACTORY), Roy Mayorga (STONE SOUR, SOULFLY, NAUSEA), Paul D’Amour (TOOL, FEERSUM ENNJIN), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.), Jello Biafra (DEAD KENNEDYS) and sitar player Flash.