Spreading the Word of God: A Guide for Religious Exemption to Immunization with Biblical Scripture Reference Paperback - January 14, 2020 by Tiffany A T Guay (Author) 4.6 out of 5 stars 33 ratings Sure he learned about religious practices and, because border was not clear for Thats one reason why I go out of my way to keep the amount of any kind of medicine I take to an absolutely minimum. I had to do a lot of reading to understand mRNA and I still think I barely understand it. Ill provide one over-arching principle, then briefly discuss some common religious justifications we see offeredup. Even many of the objector's coreligionists don't agree with him. U.S.A. grants Religious Exemptions to not to take Vaccines. You dont get to invent your own beliefs and pass them off as Christian. Thats the case here: Pauls admonition to the Corinthians is being invoked to put a religious spin on a ubiquitous concern for personal health. Believe in the blood of Jesus. Regardless, the theological principles here do not support those seeking exemptions. Paul follows this with fitting words for our time: So let no one boast about human leaders (3:21). Religious Exemptions. In . She just cant pull the God told me card or defend her position by twisting Scripture. a. While sin has allowed creation to kick back, man still has the ultimately ability and responsibility to subdue it. A Christian student at the University of Alabama-Birmingham has challenged the university's mandatory vaccine policy after being blocked from registering for classes this semester despite having been allowed to register past semesters with no vaccinations. When I was 19-weeks pregnant, during an ultrasound, they identified a mass in his left lung, Kirschner said. Phone: (615) 244-2495 Washington, DC 20002 Maybe you do have objective religious groundswhat are they? Paul says that the Corinthian church as a whole is Gods temple, and those who cause division among them are threatening to destroy it. There is no form necessary for employee religious exemption requests; you may select this option as you complete the vaccine verification process, and a request for a supporting narrative will be sent to you from the . A different interpretation of Scripture is not necessarily cowardice. The biggest class of drugs that are an exemplar of this is the CNS class (or Central Nervous System). The problem is that the same people who eagerly promote anti-vaccine misinformation are just as eager to misuse religion to avoid . But if you care deeply about religious liberty, please think twice before demanding a religious exemption. This includes objections that invoke religious beliefs in general terms, but upon further scrutiny, appeal to other factors. A relevant ethical question, drawn from scriptural teaching of the value of our bodies and treating them rightly, is whether vaccines harm the body. (USNews https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-08-10/white-evang). The difference is that you dont have people screaming that blood pressure medication has computer chips, aborted fetal cells, changes your DNA, safety was skipped.. Vaccine mandates have arrived, and so have questions about religious exemptions. HEK293s origins are not absolutely clear. Therefore, Psalm 91 says if we make and say (Mark 11:23,24) that the Lord is our refuge and fortress then no pestilence or plague or evil shall come near our dwelling. Anthony Fauci, top medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said religious exemptions are "something we should look at." "If there is a legitimate religious exemption, fine. While a few employees might be entitled to religious exemptions from their employers vaccine policies, most of the real-life religious objections Ive seen fall short of the standard. Kirschner and others have concerns that people may try to misuse religious exemptions to avoid employer and government vaccine mandates, exposing loved ones to the virus. One little-noticed Supreme Court ruling upended decades of precedent. Its biblicalanthropology. Nor the Bill of Rights. In other words, the justices had elevated religion above just about every other right, including free speech and racial equality, according to a report out today by Columbia Law Schools Law, Rights and Religion Project. She quoted a passage from the New Testament: Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit.[1], The Louisiana Attorney General provides a sample exemption letter with an identical objection. The Awaken Church, which has several locations around San Diego County, is offering religious exemptions to its members, however. Each of these, it seems, would violate the purity of their bodily temple, making it unsuitable as a vessel for the Holy Spirit. Could there be a point that vaccines are a gift of God? Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. "Our religion is predicated on the protection and preservation of health. Still, some Christians find this horrifying. There would have been no reason for them to specifically try to obtain the cells from an elective abortion. The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics helps Christians show unbelievers the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel as the only hope that fulfills our deepest longings. The abortion connection has the most merit, but I again caution believers to avoid misusing Gods name and violating the ThirdCommandment. In Tandon, a Bible study group in California said it should be exempt from a rule barring in-home gatherings of more than three households. Youth voting blocs are so powerful that most schools have enough students to easily tip an election in key states. This noise is going to grow and increase. I think it is 44% of white evangelicals have stated that they will not get the vaccine. No one else has to agree. His views dont necessarily represent those of his employers. AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES USA. Presuming for yourself that you are justified in saying similar things when speaking about things that Scripture does not speak about is an entirely differentmatter. On a Friday evening in April, the Supreme Court quietly issued a short decision that opened the floodgates for religious entities to claim an exemption from just about any law. Second, the sample letter mistakenly interprets the temple motif to refer to physical pollution to ones body, when Paul is in fact interjecting a rhetorical question (an accusation, really) about sins that may destroy their community (the temple), among which Christresides. As part of my prayers, I have asked God for direction regarding the current COVID shot requirement. I even only take tylenol/advil/aspirin extremely rarely, let alone other medications, and Im not on any regular medication. Look anywhere, and you'll find professing Christians using God as justification for their unholy ways. There is nothing distinctly religious about the fear of bodily harm involved in vaccine hesitancy. They use FDA approved drugs, but their compounded has never been tested andapproved. At the same time, if our theological beliefs are sacred, then we should be unwilling to let people twist them for political or legal purposes. Jeffrey Denny. The service members argue that both the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the First Amendment require the federal government to allow exemptions for their sincerely held religious beliefs, especially since they are willing to take other precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in lieu of vaccination and the Navy is . Such a claim might be motivated by the belief that their constitutionally protected rights are being infringed upon and that their religious sentiments are sufficient grounds for refusal. It's unclear as of yet whether the two will attempt to oppose the subpoena orders. If the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in a body that has been contaminated by chemicals or debilitated by injury (let alone in a body injected with a safe and effective vaccine), then countless people who have fallen victim to natural or manmade disasters would be bereft of the presence of God. We might be right or wrong, but we hold it forourselves. (Proverbs 27:17). Perhaps you have a more sophisticated form of this objection. There are legitimate religious exemptions. "I'm very troubled by religious exemptions," Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis. Your physicians cannot be giving out religious exemptions, Tseng said he reminds people. Therefore it is not an equal protection clauseissue. Regarding medications- in most cases theyve been around a while. Religious entities have, the report concludes, won the right to exercise discrimination on steroids., Freed from the baggage of the culture war, conservative Christian groups managed to achieve unprecedented legal wins in the COVID cases without triggering a dramatic backlash, the authors of the report write. We just hope the behavior improvements are better than the side effects that practically everyonefaces. I would gather that most Christians have no clue about these and/or what they are taking. "For me . The likelihood of the cell line coming from an elective (immoral) abortion is extremely low, because elective abortions were illegal in The Netherlands at that time and it would have been almost impossible for the scientists who developed the HEK293 cell line to have acquired them from an elective abortion. Courts have consistently rejected religious exemption requests premised on moral values common to all religions (not to mention nonreligious worldviews). That definitely figures into my risk calculation, as does the fact that most vaccines have proven themselves safe overtime. Are your objections really grounded in the scripture, or are they a prop for some very non-religiousreasons? Ive reviewed many of these vaccine exemption requests. There is a reason why U.S.A. are God's country. Here is a representative example from a professing Christian, quoted in the New York Times: My freedom and my childrens freedom and childrens childrens freedom are at stake, said Ms. Holmes, who lives in Indiana. In the Bible, those who practice sorcery were those who practiced making or taking mind-altering drugs in order to stimulate hallucinations or visions! It isnt enough to hold to some form of, I dont like it, so it violates my conscience, so I dont have to do it. Thats never been how responsible Christians have interacted with society. HEK293 cells are only used in testing to confirm antibodies are produced when the cells are exposed to thevaccine. God hasnt mandated seatbelts, either. Were proud to publish real news 365 days of the year, completely free of charge to our readers. The reasons? [5], This objection says very little. Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel said true prophets dont allow for indifference and scream in the night against oppression. The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet Tuesday to discuss a joint resolution to finally affirm the amendment. He just asserts it as a deeply held belief. That isnt good enough. The failure of the government to grant religious objectors an exemption from nearly any law or policy now amounts to religion-based discrimination, no matter the importance of the public interest being protected by the law even the publics interest in staying healthy during a global pandemic, concludes the report, titled, We The People (of Faith): The Supremacy of Religious Rights in the Shadow of a Pandemic. Under this broad conception of religious liberty, policymakers could be constitutionally required to exempt religious adherents from regulations enacted to protect labor and workers rights, public health, civil rights, and other critical policy goals., The report outlines chilling examples that could result from this broad new religious power. I made the comment, I think, but I probably should have checked itfirst. Logically, a Christian does not have solid ground upon which to stand to claim the non-J&J vaccines are tied to an immoral abortion. Brother, when Christians violate the 3rd commandment and twist Scripture, there is biblical warrant and precedent to identify them just as I have done. we have no idea what is in them that makes them work. With this article, I will try to write a template for a Religious Exemption Letter, hoping it could be useful. But producing high-quality, independent work is not cost-free we rely heavily on your support. He posts form letters for U.S. workers seeking religious exemptions that have been downloaded from his website around 40,000 times, according to a screen shot of web traffic he shared with Reuters. But did God really saythat? I stand corrected. Such statements have no place in the edifying speech that God requires ofus. But my passion for religious liberty is exactly why Im concerned about the wave of requests for so-called religious exemptions from employer vaccine mandatesrequests that pastors around the country are being asked to write or approve. I once had a friend who was a believer in my church. I have family members in that camp. This is clear from the references to the body in terms of a stomach and food, fornication and prostitution, and sins outside the body vs. sins against his own body. The context there is the individualsbody. In this type of situation, they would claim the requirements violate their religious beliefs and seek formal religious exemptions. The average American has a 7th-8th grade reading level. If he has one, hit didnt make it into the newsarticle. These requirements dictate that all employees, whatever their personal reservations might be, must be vaccinated by a specified date or else face repercussions ranging from required masking, testing, and isolation to different assignments to formal termination. But anyway, imagine thisargument, The situation isnt precisely parallel, but the similarities are interesting. But body is a temple actually argues for vaccination. The ABCs Religion and Ethics portal is home to religious reporting & analysis, ethical discussion & philosophical discovery, and inspiring stories of faith and belief. Injecting something intramuscularly is significant safer than ingesting a medicine. Aaron, I am generally pro-vax but I dont think these comparisons work. Treating religious exemptions like a wildcard to be played whenever we dont like the rules cheapens the concept and encourages backlash. In most jurisdictions, employers are legally permitted to require vaccination as a condition of employment (and many employers may soon be required to do so under the anticipated OSHA emergency standard). Johnson & Johnson did use a replicated fetal cell line in the production of its vaccine, and Pfizer and Moderna used them to test the effectiveness of their vaccines. She just cant pull the God told me card or defend her position by twistingScripture. Yet asserting flimsy demands for religious vaccine exemptions will have the opposite effect. Perhaps this goes too far. The Holy Spirit, in regeneration and sanctification, when he begins the good work of grace on a man, takes possession of his whole person, soul and body, and dwells therein as in his temple. The temple of God objection is not a matter of conscience, itscowardice. Tseng told NBC 7 that he and other San Diego County physicians are being asked to sign off on religious exemptions as well. The Court had, in effect, ruled that if a government made any exception to a rule like allowing people to grocery shop in a pandemic it had to make an exception for religious activities. The truth of what Paul wrote should matter more to us than the use to which it can be put in court. Far from suggesting that the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in a body that is physically contaminated by illness, microchips, medicines, or other substances, Paul is urging them to keep themselves free from sin. As such, mainstream social and political discourse has begun to stray into theological territory, with uninspiring results. That was no attack on you. be this my shame, That I no more revere His name. One organization, called Health Freedom Idaho, published a sample exemption letter on its website that used this objection and cited these passages. Bishop Paprocki also notes that Catholics in other states still need to check on their specific rules for vaccine exemptions. Some people argue getting injected with a foreign substance such as a vaccine would defile their bodies, which they say is sinful. The Bible tells us that we are responsible for where our children go in life (Proverbs 22:6). Larry, youve mentioned this in several threads, and I have responded to this in several threads. These are what defile a person." (Matthew 15:11, 19-20) Im reminded of an old public service ad campaign long ago that emphasized stop, drop, and roll if you find yourself on fire. If a Christian is going to feel dirty by being vaccinated, thats the one toavoid. You are right that in 1 Cor. And in Washington state, some 3,800 state workers are have requested religious exemptions to Gov. The New York Times reports thefollowing: In rural Hudson, Iowa, Sam Jones has informed his small congregation at Faith Baptist Church that he is willing to provide them with a four-paragraph letter stating that a Christian has no responsibility to obey any government outside of the scope that has been designated by God.[6]. Should Christians be opposed to vaccination? Man will conquer nature. Instead, she did independent study and looked up sources online. She then quotes 2 Corinthians 7 out of context and assumes a vaccine will contaminate her. How worried should we be about COVID conspiracies? It is worth considering the implications of Pauls words if they did mean what those seeking exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine take them to mean. Plenty of biblical precedent for making those remarks. Theres more at stake here than whether any particular religious exemption request is approved or denied (no doubt many employers are rubber-stamping these simply to avoid labor shortages). From my perspective, what I call the abortion complicity objection is perhaps the strongest case. Photo by Jay Yoo, John Evans is a professor of sociology and religious studies at UCSD. The vaccine effort has been plagued by falsehoods of all kinds. Contact Us Email us Church Info Center: 888-843-5267 Staff Switchboard: 800-248-1930 Donor Care Line: 888-930-4438 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, MO 63122-7226 The Christian argument for religious exemptions follows two tracks typically: first, that the vaccine shots at some point in their production used aborted fetal cell lines. As an attorney, I spend much of my time helping religious organizations understand and maximize constitutional protections and religious exemptions. First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we There may well be valid religious exemptions out there from a Christian perspective. After all, natural illness is one of the main causes of impurity in Leviticus. My issue istwo-fold: First, calling it cowardice. And when people say things like this, dont be surprised when people dont believeyou. Displaying all articles. He also affirms in 1 Cor. Indeed, some bishops have opted for a heavy-handed, coercive approach, even prohibiting their priests from aiding local Catholics who seek a religious exemption. One Christian named Curtis Chang, who is a former pastor, wrote what Yosemite Sam would consider to be fightinwords: Christians who request religious exemptions rarely even try to offer substantive biblical and theological reasoning. Presuming for yourself that you are doing the same thing when speaking about things that Scripture does not speak at all about is an entirely differentmatter. Those cited here are largely specious; arguments in search of proof-texts. As I have prayed about what I should do, the Holy Spirit has moved on my heart and conscience that I must not accept the COVID shot. People are unfortunately suspicious of newthings. Im only arguing Christians shouldnt demand religious exemptions if they choose not to be vaccinated. A sign of common grace? 2 Retrieved from http://ladoj.ag.state.la.us/Article/10941. If we take Pauls words seriously, our main concern shouldnt be the physical purity of our own bodies, but the purity of our witness to the world around us. While 1 Cor 3 is the church corporately, 1 Cor 6 is quite clear the individuals body. The church has been involved in COVID controversies before, criticized for holding indoor services against public health orders last year and ignoring masking rules. If faced with such a mandate, some Christians will likely consider objecting to vaccination requirements on religious grounds. No such direct prohibition exists within wider Christian theology, but these religious groups are able to appeal to a unique teaching wholly adopted by their specific faith tradition. In some instances, plaintiffs have cited specific Bible verses to support their opposition to the vaccine, such as I Corinthians 6:19, Psalm 139:13 and Isaiah 49:1. Christianity is not a subjective religion with scripture that shape-shifts according to taste, like an Etch-a-Sketch. As governments and businesses implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates, increasing numbers of people are seeking exemption on religious grounds. Its a symptom of what Scot McKnight has described as a puzzle piece hermeneutic rather than a contextual reading of the bible as a story. Yes, some Catholics might believe the COVID-19 pandemic evil enough and the participation remote enough to justify the shot. The faith community does not hold authority over a persons beliefs. People misuse Gods name for all sorts of sins. Arbo has represented individuals and entities in a wide variety of corporate and nonprofit matters, as well as teaching at a number of religious universities. On the body as a temple argument, Tyler has missed the point of 1 Cor 6:19. In the third chapter, Paul addresses the elephant in the room. But these cell lines were isolated from two fetuses from the Netherlands in 1973 and 1985 and then replicated over decades, and are commonly used to create and test other medications as well. It must not be! It is a God-given responsibility and requirement for me to protect the physical integrity of my Body against unclean food andinjections.[3]. American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is proud to be a founding member of the national volunteer COVID-19 Community Corps, which encourages people to get a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as it is available to them. This is perhaps the strongest religious exemption of the lot. A religious owner of a massive corporation could refuse to hire women to positions of authority over men because a workplace anti-discrimination law has an exemption for small businesses. Instead, data suggests that refusing vaccination risks severe illness and possibly death. Acts 1:8 reminds us that we are to be witnesses for other people. Former Watergate Prosecutor: Trump Should Have Been Charged Upon Exiting Office, Media Orgs Demand McCarthy Hand Over Jan. 6 Footage He Gave to Tucker Carlson, As US Reengages Maduro, Oil Giants Earn Deals and Venezuelans Protest, GOP Lawmaker Uses Racist Trope, Calls Chinese American Colleague Disloyal, Republicans Unveil Bill to Make AR-15-Style Rifle the National Gun, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner Subpoenaed to Testify in DOJs Trump Investigation, Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19, Religions Role in the Struggle for Justice. If you dont want the vaccine then put on your big boy pants and take the consequences instead of blaming God for not getting thevaccine. As Christians, we have a vested interest in ensuring that it is not. Some of us definitely are making a calculation as to risk/reward. Church officials did not respond, however. Since then, the Christian right has been trying to do away with Smith in order to win ever-broader exemptions from laws that apply to everyone else. These deficient exemption requests tend to fall into three categories of objections: personal autonomy, my body is a temple, or abortion complicity. Now it is most abominably scandalous and shameful that that body, which is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, which is sacred to him as a temple, should be defiled by the sin of fornication: it isadded. If you are a cancer patient, sometimes you are not to receive vaccines people who are allergic to any component of the vaccine, Tseng said. Political discourse has begun to stray into theological territory, with uninspiring.! Yet whether the two will attempt to oppose the subpoena orders but producing high-quality, independent is... 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