But since you brought it up, I have a friend who refuses to take a certain BP med since his friend starting showing signs of dementia shortly after starting it. Fax: (615) 242-0065, 505 Second St., N.E. As Christians, we have a vested interest in ensuring that it is not. But a lot of the religious exemption claims I hear about don't have any real support in the Bible, or any other religious work. Saying that people and their positions are cowardly, moronic, etc is nothing but repeated use of ad hominem statements. We witness this most acutely on the cross. This makes policing religious exemptions to vaccination hard - and rightly so. 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 . Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. Now, to the religious justificationsthemselves. Amy Littlefield is a freelance investigative reporter focused on the intersection of religion and health care. In Isaiah 6:2 it tells us about a vision of heaven: "Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he . As an ordained pastor of (Name of Church), I am writing to affirm (name of individual) sincerely held religious objection to any voluntary or mandatory Covid-19 . This class of drugs impact dopamine and seratonin. *** *** Religious Exemption Letter (Template) *** The second argument. 7) The Bible has a clear warning against taking anything that might alter your mind, make you hallucinate, or dream strange visions. Views reflected in this article may not reflect those of their current or previous employers. The ABCs Religion and Ethics portal is home to religious reporting & analysis, ethical discussion & philosophical discovery, and inspiring stories of faith and belief. It means that a simple data point was overlooked, surely not intentionally, but even unintentionally it left an impression that isnt true. So, he is not referring to you as an individual at all. Now we come to religious exemptions for vaccines. More, 901 Commerce Street, Suite 550 And in Washington state, some 3,800 state workers are have requested religious exemptions to Gov. The biggest class of drugs that are an exemplar of this is the CNS class (or Central Nervous System). Bible verses about anxiety and fear 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. What have your pastors said? The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet Tuesday to discuss a joint resolution to finally affirm the amendment. As has been already mentioned, we ingest all sorts of unhealthy foods and beverages without blinking an eye. It is worth repeating that there is no reason to think that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine involves bodily sacrifice. It read, inpart: Accordingly I believe, pursuant to my Christian faith, that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Freedom of religion plays an important role in our society, but it is always in danger of being abused and misused. Maybe you do have objective religious groundswhat are they? Here are nine things you should know about revival and the history of revivals in America. Therefore it is not an equal protection clauseissue. Rather, the drivers for evangelical resistance are nonreligious and are rooted in deep-seated suspicion of government and vulnerability tomisinformation. I believe in and follow God and the principles laid out in His Word and I have a deeply held belief that vaccines violate them. I know that people are concerned about what they put into the body. In particular, he commands them not to engage the services of prostitutes, and in general to shun fornication (6:18). Seeking a religious exemption should very clearly rest on apparent and applicable religious beliefs. 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. The mandated vaccine, with its numerous additives and its mechanism for altering my body, is the equivalent of a prohibited unclean food that causes harm to my conscience. If anyone destroys Gods temple, God will destroy that person (3:16-17). To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good itis! 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. As Jesus explains, it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth. He goes on to explain that out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. HEK293 cells are only used in testing to confirm antibodies are produced when the cells are exposed to thevaccine. An example would be drugs around depression. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. [5], This objection says very little. Injecting something intramuscularly is significant safer than ingesting a medicine. He blogs as the Eccentric Fundamentalist. If I were to go against the moving of the Holy Spirit, I would be sinning and jeopardizing my relationship with God and violating my conscience.[4]. 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.. Just last month, Bishop Robert McElory issued a letter to San Diego priests asking them to decline any requests for religious exemptions to vaccines. One could therefore see this litigation campaign as a form of COVID opportunism, using the pandemic as an opening to secure long-sought changes to religious liberty doctrine that will remain in effect even after the virus has subsided.. I totally agree with this. People came out with huge numbers, great stories of impending disaster, and the like, much of which turned out to be distorted and exaggerated and some of which was known at the time to be exaggerated anddistorted. 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. this is just stupid FoxNews stuff where they call anyone who enters who is not a citizen an illegalimmigrant. God bless you all. This noise is going to grow and increase. Christianity is not a subjective religion with scripture that shape-shifts according to taste, like an Etch-a-Sketch. There would have been no reason for them to specifically try to obtain the cells from an elective abortion. I have never seen an interpreter who has argued that 1 Cor. All that remained was for the spoils from the culture war, among them tax exemption for churches, to be divvied among the victors, who would decide whether to be magnanimous or punitive to the. [2] Back to the New York Times articlenote that this woman fronts her remarks with a discussion of freedom. Also, notice that she apparently didnt consult her faith community about the veracity of her religious objection. People with religious exemptions are not just looking for excuses, people get these exemptions because . A church in California that has a history of defying pandemic lockdown orders is offering religious exemption letters for people opposed to being vaccinated against COVID-19. But religious freedom is distorted and in the long run can be imperiled when it is stretched to cover claims of individual liberty that do not have a religious basis. The entire family is now vaccinated against the coronavirus, but they worry that Jonah wont be fully protected until everyone around him gets vaccinated as well. 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. This objection has a strong siren song, but is harder to justify than it seems. 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Religious Exemptions and the COVID Vaccine, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/us/covid-vaccine-religion-exemption.html?smid=url-share, http://ladoj.ag.state.la.us/Article/10941, https://healthfreedomidaho.org/sample-letter-for-religious-vaccine-exemption/, https://lc.org/Site%20Images/Resources/Memo-SampleCOVID-ReligiousExemptionRequests-07262021.pdf, A violation of the equal protection clause, https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-08-10/white-evang, https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-evangelicals-resist-covid-19-vaccine, Some vaccines are no longer connected to aborted fetalcells, The cells used today are in some cases 15,000 generations away from the aborted cellsthemselves, Practically every major anti-abortion groups have not raised concerns with the current vaccines and all provide recommendations to take thevaccine, I religiously object to stop, drop, and roll because falling on the ground harms my body and my body is a temple of the HolySpirit, I religiously object to wearing a seatbelt because the belt chafes my skin and my body is a temple of the HolySpirit. https://www.frc.org/updatearticle/20210916/vaccine-mandate, Of course, the great irony, Brnovich pointed out, is that even if Biden had that authority, its a violation of the equal protection clause, because hes not forcing illegal immigrants to get vaccinated. Tandon v. Newsom didnt center on a traditionally hot-button issue like abortion or LGBTQ rights; it focused on COVID-19. In fact, the 22% refusal rate was among the highest of any demographic group the foundation measured. Reasons for refusal are wide-ranging, with some based on credible concerns and others being much more subjective. 6:19-20 is talking about the Corinthians collectively as the temple. 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. I know that isnt popular, even in the church, but its nonethelesstrue. Could there be a point that vaccines are a gift of God? Because their body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (6:19). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of federally protected classes, including religion, and provides that applicable employers must provide a religious accommodation to an employee who holds a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance against a workplace requirement. Unvaccinated employees may have any number of personal responses to a policy of vaccine mandates. The issue of food sacrificed to an idol does not actually affect one's interactive relationship with the Lord. We dont know chemically how they impact a human, but we can see behavorially that they have an impact. It explains in great detail why they are opposed to the vaccine. 2 Retrieved from http://ladoj.ag.state.la.us/Article/10941. of that Friend On whom for heaven my hopes depend! If so, then other Christians can rightfully disagree and dismiss her reasoning as fallacious. You must think carefully, very carefully, about why you object to the vaccine. Religious freedom is a core value in the United States. I had to do a lot of reading to understand mRNA and I still think I barely understand it. Please think very carefully before answering this question. "For me . It might not be convincing to you or me and we can certainly have that discussion. Therefore, we can claim and live in all the promises of the Bible which he, by the power of the Holy Spirit, inspired men to write (II Timothy 3:16,17). . Here is an example of how every interpreter that I have ever looked at handles thepassage: What? At the end of the 20 century you had this Lancet article published by Andrew . As a well-known news anchor once said, thats kind of a big deal. You dont want to do that. I would never sign off on someones religiousconvictions. People misuse Gods name for all sorts of sins. J&J is a different story, because it does use a cell line which originated from an elective abortion - and it even uses them in production of the vaccine. This is a violation of the Third Commandment. 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. If a man cheats on his wife, can he cite 2 Timothy 1:12 (I am not ashamed ) and declare he has nothing to apologize for? When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 15. To stop meeting or singing would be to disobey God. But producing high-quality, independent work is not cost-free , If you found the piece above useful, informative, or inspiring, please consider supporting, To donate by check, phone, bitcoin, or other method, see our, Bernie Sanders Reintroduces PRO Act as Labor Activity Is on the Rise, Nebraska Democrat Vows to Filibuster All Bills Until Anti-Trans Bill Is Defeated, Immigrants Win Unprecedented Settlement Over Violent ICE Workplace Raid, The Nuclear War in Ukraine May Not Be the One We Expect, Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism. While sin has allowed creation to kick back, man still has the ultimately ability and responsibility to subdue it. If it seems far-fetched to think a religious entity would claim an exemption from a law that has nothing to do with religious beliefs, remember that religious corporations and institutions have, in recent years, won broad new powers to do everything from underfund their employee pension plans, to refuse to recognize adjunct faculty unions. 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