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.. John Evans is a professor of sociology and religious studies at UCSD. I appreciate your comments here of late about theissue. If it doesnt come from Tucker Carlson or Hannity than it is biased media and we cant listen to it. Religious liberty is precious and should be protected. What foolishness. The average American has a 7th-8th grade reading level. In the Bible, those who practice sorcery were those who practiced making or taking mind-altering drugs in order to stimulate hallucinations or visions! Roman Catholic and other Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders have advised followers to get the shots. The Christian right filed a barrage of cases. live, learn and work. The Bible tells us that we are responsible for where our children go in life (Proverbs 22:6). So, do not. Employers must grant the religious accommodation request so long as doing so does not pose an undue burden to the employer, either economic or non-economic. In some cases its deception but, in many cases, its a lack of education. It's unclear as of yet whether the two will attempt to oppose the subpoena orders. That dont make it so. 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? The truth is out there but people have become deceived. This shift toward religious exceptionalism is, in significant ways, a departure from precedent. This isnt just a matter of my blindly accepting every form of medical intervention except for the Covid vaccine. More, Matthew Arbo has a Ph.D. in ethics from the University of Edinburgh, currently serves as a research fellow in Christian Ethics at the ERLC, and has taught at Southeastern, Midwestern, and Southern Seminary in Christian Ethics and Public Theology. Some of those battles are important and worth fighting. You talked briefly about drugs that affect our mental state, and unless I was forced to take one of those, I would avoid ever taking one. Nonetheless, the question I would like to consider is whether a vaccine could, in theory, go against Pauls exhortation in this passage. Chip Ellis, who protested the vaccine mandate at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, told The Sun Herald that belief is in part why he submitted a request for a religious exemption. He was a very intelligent man who nevertheless was poorly educated. It is free for your use with no guarantees that it will do anything for you other than successfully line your hamster's cage. The pastor owes it to his congregation to provide a more robust argument than this. 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. It was just an illustration of a bigger problem: People say things that arent true to cast an issue in a differentlight. NBC 7 Investigates reached out to the Awaken Church by phone and e-mail multiple times to ask about their religious exemption letters. The first reason cites a Bible verse that says the human body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The letter states, We are commanded to take good care of it, not to defile it, and certainly not introduce something into it. It goes on to say that taking this vaccine actually makes modifications to the body. This, in essence, would be trying to improve or alter what God made perfectly which is clearly a sinful practice., The most common argument against being vaccinated against the coronavirus is that aborted fetal cell lines were used in the production process. It is a God-given responsibility and requirement for me to protect the physical integrity of my Body against unclean food andinjections.[3]. We were . So, he is not referring to you as an individual at all. They use FDA approved drugs, but their compounded has never been tested andapproved. Yet asserting flimsy demands for religious vaccine exemptions will have the opposite effect. Philippians 4:7 - And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 3 in 5 white evangelicals believe that the election was stolen, despite absolutely no proof of it. This objection has a strong siren song, but is harder to justify than it seems. DAN HIMBRECHTS/AAP October 5, 2021 . People look for us to be models of . A lot of things happened. 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. For example, some believe the vaccine has dangerous side-effects; others think it contains microchips; and some have suggested that it can alter your DNA or cause infertility. Isaiah 43:2. Nor the Bill of Rights. He explained he wasnt getting the flu shot because he read about it and they put like three kinds of junks in your arm. Should that person be scorned because he couldnt fully understand the science? 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. 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. Few, if any, plausibly assert that receiving the vaccine would violate the employees sincerely held religious beliefs. 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. Yes, some Catholics might believe the COVID-19 pandemic evil enough and the participation remote enough to justify the shot. In general, non-religious people fear bodily harm just as much. And in Washington state, some 3,800 state workers are have requested religious exemptions to Gov. Perhaps most chillingly, at a time when Roe v. Wade and a host of other important rights are on the chopping block, the case shows how the Supreme Court can upend decades of precedent with relatively little outcry. As Michael Bird would say, sweet mother ofMelchisedec!. (Proverbs 27:17). After all, the Christian witness has always been grounded, first and foremost, not in individual political liberty, but in self-sacrifice for the well-being of others. The abortion connection has the most merit, but I again caution believers to avoid misusing Gods name and violating the ThirdCommandment. 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. 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 Treating religious exemptions like a wildcard to be played whenever we dont like the rules cheapens the concept and encourages backlash. That content has meaning that can be known and understood in community with the brotherhood of faith in your local congregation, and in consultation with the Great Tradition of brothers and sisters who have gonebefore. In 1990, the Supreme Court issued a decision called Employment Division v. Smith that essentially concluded that religious entities have to follow laws that apply generally to the rest of the population, even if those laws happen to burden their religious beliefs. So if we are going to talk about being careful with sources and data, then lets begin by being careful with sources and data. In the meantime, Kirschner is pleading with those who havent gotten vaccinated yet to reconsider, for her son's sake and others like him. "A religious, moral or other exemption of conscience should be ascertained not by documents, but by a simple conversation seeking only to establish that the individual has a sincerely held, reasonable belief that . The second argument. In response to questions from Catholics about COVID-19 vaccine mandates being imposed by employers or other authorities, the bishops of South Dakota . That being said, if a Christian thinks it is wrong to take a vaccine that involved a cell line that came from a miscarriage, then, logically, that Christian would also have to be against organ donor/recipient situations. Photo by Jay Yoo, Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. What should Christians think about them? 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. When it comes to consuming things into our own bodies, as opposed to make payments to government, compliance with Gods law is required. Or loading their plates up in the church luncheon. 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. The reasons? You dont get to invent your own beliefs and pass them off as Christian. The problem is that the same people who eagerly promote anti-vaccine misinformation are just as eager to misuse religion to avoid . 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. 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. A sign of common grace? She just cant pull the God told me card or defend her position by twisting Scripture. 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. The religious exemption from vaccine mandates for . Here are a few things toconsider: About 14% of American adults say they wont get vaccinated under any circumstances as of June, while the number is a much higher 22% among white evangelical Christians, according to a rigorous ongoing survey by KFF, the policy arm of the Kaiser Family Foundation. As iron sharpens iron, As Christians with religious objections to vaccines, we share the goals of promoting good health for children and families, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. 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. But others will not, and their prudential judgement still follows the religious teaching of the Catholic Faith. He is warning them about the effect of their own divisive actions on the community. The biggest class of drugs that are an exemplar of this is the CNS class (or Central Nervous System). The personal convictions carried by people who attend Awaken church are very real,. A Christian must have a rational basis for claiming a conscience objection. Regardless, the theological principles here do not support those seeking exemptions. I made the comment, I think, but I probably should have checked itfirst. It would be unreasonable for employers to expect people of faith to live by their religious beliefs with 100 percent consistency. A service of Logos Bible Software. (It should be noted that some versions of these requirements do allow for individuals to forgo the vaccine in exchange for submitting to routine COVID-19 testing.). Given the near ubiquity of this phrase in the sphere of health and wellness, most people are likely to have forgotten that it comes from the apostle Paul. She just cant pull the God told me card or defend her position by twistingScripture. This includes objections that invoke religious beliefs in general terms, but upon further scrutiny, appeal to other factors. I agree. 7) The Bible has a clear warning against taking anything that might alter your mind, make you hallucinate, or dream strange visions. There are also a lot of Bible verses exhorting believers to "do not fear," "do not be afraid." That's been a really common theme in objections to a lot of the pandemic restrictions. As it turns out, a large number of everyday productsincluding over-the-counter medicines, prescription drugs, and cosmeticsall have a similar attenuated relationship to these cell lines. What Does the LGBT-Discrimination Decision Mean for Religious Employers? With this article, I will try to write a template for a Religious Exemption Letter, hoping it could be useful. which is in you, which ye have of God; meaning the Holy Spirit which was in them, as in his temple; which dwelt in their hearts, and influenced their bodies, lives, and conversations; and which they received of God as a wonderful instance of his grace and love to them; that he should be bestowed upon them, to regenerate, renew, and sanctify them, to implant every grace, to make them a fit habitation for God, and meet for the inheritance of the saints inlight: and ye are not your own: their own masters, at their own dispose, to live to their own lusts, or the lusts of men; men have not power over their bodies to abuse them at pleasure by fornication, or such like uncleanness, neither single nor married persons; see 1 Corinthians 7:4 and of all men, not the saints, who are neither their own nor other mens, nor Satans, but Gods; not only by creation, but by choice and covenant; and Christs by gift, by purchase, and powerful grace, and in a conjugal relation to him; wherefore fornication ill becomesthem. Proponents cite the Apostle Pauls well-known remarks at 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19. It was a challenge that we and many other pharma companieshave. "Do not [take] the vaccine. Should Christian Parents Send Their Children to Public Schools? Man will conquer nature. Saying that people and their positions are cowardly, moronic, etc is nothing but repeated use of ad hominem statements. Its like mowing over the dandelions in your grass instead of digging them up at the roots. All rights reserved, San Diego and California's COVID-19 Emergency Declarations Expire Tuesday. Many other pharma companieshave I probably should have checked itfirst Pauls well-known remarks at Corinthians... Objection has a strong siren song, but their compounded has never tested. For where our children go in life ( Proverbs 22:6 ) Faith to live by their beliefs... An exemplar of this is the CNS class ( or Central Nervous System ) convictions by. 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