bible verses for religious exemption
Little matter, since such aid is not necessary in requesting a religious exemption. You should then print the exemption form to complete the required information and to sign the form. Follow me to be seated." Problem solved. Indeed, courts are already rebuffing COVID-related religious-exemption requests, creating a harmful precedent that will be used against Christians in future cases. In the third chapter, Paul addresses the elephant in the room. Are you sure you are not violating the 3rd commandment in using God as your justification for condemning someone elsesconscience? Placebos over the last two decades have increasingly gotten better during Clinical Trials. Larry, youve mentioned this in several threads, and I have responded to this in several threads. Current employees may initiate a religious exemption request within the vaccination verification system. We just hope the behavior improvements are better than the side effects that practically everyonefaces. HEK293 cells are only used in testing to confirm antibodies are produced when the cells are exposed to thevaccine. 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. A Christian must have a rational basis for claiming a conscience objection. -Joseph Grigg (1720-1768). "I'm very troubled by religious exemptions," Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis. But we must stop government intrusion now, some will say. John Melcon is an attorney in the religious organizations group at Sherman & Howard LLC, based in Colorado. Some may feel concern or anger at being told how they must handle important and personal medical decisions. But we certainly can explain the known facts to help them understand better, especially if they are being coerced into getting a vaccine they currently believe has immoralorigins. While Im sympathetic to this view, it doesnt provide the basis for a religious exemption. The idea that she apparently didnt consult her faith community about the veracity of her religious objection is completely off base. The Church of Christ, Scientist, is the most well-known religious opponent of mandatory vaccination laws, and through its lobbying efforts, has helped to pass religious vaccine exemption laws in most states. Trump could potentially face charges in multiple investigations at the state and federal levels. Were proud to publish real news 365 days of the year, completely free of charge to our readers. 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. Again, this does violence to the text. I stand corrected. Its like mowing over the dandelions in your grass instead of digging them up at the roots. Thats not an attack on the poster (who I think has made some very helpful posts [while missing a few important points] ). The Bible tells us that we are responsible for where our children go in life (Proverbs 22:6). 7) The Bible has a clear warning against taking anything that might alter your mind, make you hallucinate, or dream strange visions. KCRA News reports that after Sunday services last week, there were long lines of people waiting to pick up exemption letters from Destiny Christian Church in Rocklin, led . Furthermore, it is central to the Christian faith that we may well be called to sacrifice our bodies for the sake of others (see John 15:13; Philippians 2:3-4; 1 John 3:16). There may well be valid religious exemptions out there from a Christian perspective. Johnson & Johnson uses PER.C6 in production of thevaccine. "Religious exemptions provide an all-too-easy way for people who don't want to get vaccinated for some reason or other to wiggle out of a vaccine mandate and do so on the basis of what they claim to be a deeply held religious belief, which is largely unpoliced," Feldman told Insider. *** *** Religious Exemption Letter (Template) *** In most cases, meds are not new to the user as the vaccines are. They use FDA approved drugs, but their compounded has never been tested andapproved. The church has been involved in COVID controversies before, criticized for holding indoor services against public health orders last year and ignoring masking rules. Meanwhile, gospel-minded Christians are about to faceand are already facingan onslaught of legislative and judicial actions directly threatening their ability to evangelize, teach, discipline, counsel, and associate according to their cherished convictions. One way we do this is when we invoke God as an authority to justify something we want to do. Jesuss body was made impure by his crucifixion in fact, thats a considerable part of the point. We might be right or wrong, but we hold it forourselves. be this my shame, That I no more revere His name. This includes objections that invoke religious beliefs in general terms, but upon further scrutiny, appeal to other factors. Still, some Christians find this horrifying. Displaying all articles. The New York Times, Sept. 11, 2021. God gave us His word. I think its really important to remember that the Christian right is part of a larger conservative movement, Elizabeth Reiner Platt, one of the reports authors, told Truthout. This noise is going to grow and increase. The move is a gamble, as the gathering is seen as a means for presidential hopefuls to gain support among conservatives. Some people argue getting injected with a foreign substance such as a vaccine would defile their bodies, which they say is sinful. We plead on Christ's behalf, 'Be reconciled to God'" (2 Cor. She and her family continue to wear masks, isolate and plan to get a booster shot when available. An example would be drugs around depression. "There's also a general kind of theological belief in the sovereignty of God, that He is the one who knows best. 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 3, Paul is speaking of the Corinthians as a whole as thetemple. She just cant pull the God told me card or defend her position by twistingScripture. The argument seems to be that being injected with one of the available COVID vaccineswhich are characterized as manifestly unsafe or, at best, risky experimental potionswould defile the Holy Spirits dwelling. In some cases the placebos are having a more profound affect than the drug that is being tested. It is free for your use with no guarantees that it will do anything for you other than successfully line your hamster's cage. They consider vaccination a personal choice and argue the government shouldnt encourage or force employers to dictate this choice for workers. My issue istwo-fold: First, calling it cowardice. The conscience and religious belief belongs to the individual, not another person and not a body (church or otherwise). I care deeply about religious liberty. If you loathe COVID vaccine mandatesas many dothen engage in public advocacy, use politics, and vote with your feet. Ive reviewed many of these vaccine exemption requests. I understand I dont have *every* fact at my disposal, but I try to make as good a calculation as I can and stick by it, until or unless I see evidence that makes me reevaluate it. 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. NBC 7 Investigates obtained a copy of the religious-exemption letter that Awaken is offering to its members. Ironic that in a post about truth being available, this line shows up. This objection has no interpretivemerit. 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. Some Christians claim the various COVID vaccines have a connection to abortion. But producing high-quality, independent work is not cost-free we rely heavily on your support. When the Bible is placed in the hands of the people, void of any kind of authoritative religious community to guide them in their proper understanding of the text, the people can make it say. The issues here have been around for a very long time," Evans said. Most commentators agree that the purpose of the letter is to urge unity among the Christians in Corinth. To justify divorce in unwarranted circumstances, sexual immorality, sexual confusion, gender identity, and the like. 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. Encouragement for Anglican Pastors, Downplaying the Sin of Homosexuality Wont Win the Next Generation, 9 Things You Should Know About Revivals in America, When You Dont Feel Like Having Sex with Your Spouse, The Burning Question from Asbury Isnt About Asbury, Megachurch Marriage for the Bachelor Pastor: A Story of Love that Lasts, Ordinary and Extraordinary: A Day at the Asbury Awakening, Tim Keller on the Decline and Renewal of the American Church. And a Texas-based. I know there are legitimate concerns, but there is plenty of information to address those concerns, if people understood how to navigatethat.. On a more serious note, what deeply concerns me these days isnt the loss of religious liberty in the COVID measures, but the loss of religious liberty that will result from abuse of that liberty. 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. 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. If they are legal, they have been processed at the border, given a court date and potentially released into the US. At the end of the 20 century you had this Lancet article published by Andrew . It is a God-given responsibility and requirement for me to protect the physical integrity of my Body against unclean food and injections.[3]. I appreciate your comments here of late about theissue. He has formerly held a bioethics fellowship at the Paul Ramsey Read Paul says that the Corinthian church as a whole is Gods temple, and those who cause division among them are threatening to destroy it. People misuse Gods name for all sorts of sins. Some of those battles are important and worth fighting. Amy Littlefield is a freelance investigative reporter focused on the intersection of religion and health care. When it comes to consuming things into our own bodies, as opposed to make payments to government, compliance with Gods law is required. 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. Likewise, putting out a fire on ones body is obviously helpful to ones temple. Injecting something into your body that you dont fully understand is a different case. AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES USA. 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. Jesus and Paul were actually muchharsher. But ask yourself, Is [insert religious justification] really why I dont want the vaccine, or is [insert religious justification] a convenient pass for me to avoid something I just dont want to do? If the answer is yes, then youre in danger of violating the ThirdCommandment. I also think that many people would be surprised at the number of drugs in the marketplace that are barely statistically better than a placebo. Photo courtesy of Erin Kirschner, Dr. William Tseng from Kaiser Permanente in San Diego. If they are illegal, they evaded Customs and Border Agents, entered the country through an illegal passageway (tunnel, desert, swam.). 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 . In still rarer cases (it seems like) there is a risk/reward calculation that causes them to skipit. Religious exemption forms have no legal standing The exemption forms being produced by some churches and by Liberty Counsel have no legal standing and do not have to be honored by employers or schools, according to lawyers contacted by BNG for confirmation. Get your FREE eBook about deconstruction: 'Before You Lose Your Faith'. Religious liberty is precious and should be protected. My Body Is a Temple I've seen 1 Corinthians 6:19 quoted in countless vaccine exemption requests. This should give Christians pause. Even with all your knowledge about medicine, you are conveniently glossing over the fact that while the types of vaccines being used for Covid may have had 20 years of testing, the Covid vaccine definitely has not. Platt said that the report, co-authored with Katherine Franke and Lilia Hadjiivanova, is intended to help activists, policymakers and the public prepare for the implications of the new legal regime ushered in by the Tandon case. If you dont want to get the vaccine, thats your choice. So chemically we know that it impacts these levels in a lab. Perhaps you have a more sophisticated form of this objection. What Does the LGBT-Discrimination Decision Mean for Religious Employers? Vaccines violate our ability to follow the teachings of the Bible. 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. No other U.S. military branch has yet approved any religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine. Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4); doing what Gods Word forbids. Some 24% of white evangelicals said in June they wouldnt be vaccinated, down from 26% in March, according to a study from the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonpartisan group that studies the intersection of religion and public life, and Interfaith Youth Core, a nonprofit focused on interfaith cooperation. He was a very intelligent man who nevertheless was poorly educated. Whatever reasons a person may have for refusing vaccination, it is important to resist the temptation to endow those reasons with religious significance merely as a strategy for securing exemption from an employer mandate. Jackie Gale has never had a single vaccination because she believes that the Bible . This definition of sin is also specious. Yet asserting flimsy demands for religious vaccine exemptions will have the opposite effect. But the long-term consequences for religious liberty are what Im most worried about: that so many of these exemption requests seem mislabeled or disingenuous will invite courtsand the publicto place a tourniquet on religious exemptions generally (i.e., beyond the pandemic context). This isnt just a matter of my blindly accepting every form of medical intervention except for the Covid vaccine. If faced with such a mandate, some Christians will likely consider objecting to vaccination requirements on religious grounds. 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. At present, the unvaccinated are 29 times more likely to be hospitalized. Furthermore, refusing vaccination could lead to others experiencing bodily harm as the unvaccinated are at increased risk of transmitting the virus to others. Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Novavax - HEK293 cells are not used in production of the vaccine. 8 Liberty Counsel, Sample Exemption p.1. The Bible calls the human body "a temple of the Holy Spirit." The New Testament makes multiple references likening the human body to a temple. This seems another fundamental misunderstanding of the religious exemption (in all cases, not just this one). Sure he learned about religious practices and, because border was not clear for Should Christians be opposed to vaccination? In particular, he commands them not to engage the services of prostitutes, and in general to shun fornication (6:18). What were doing (using we loosely here) is increasing our rapidly secularizing societys aversion to Christianity even as we win court battles here and there. Whenever he gets a cold, even just a minor cold, it just lingers in his chest, and he has a really hard time.. (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.). This kind of bible interpretation can justify anything, and itsdangerous. 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. There are undoubtedly people of faith with relevant moral and, or, theological concerns that could merit religious exemption. People with religious exemptions are not just looking for excuses, people get these exemptions because . this is just stupid FoxNews stuff where they call anyone who enters who is not a citizen an illegalimmigrant. The thinking is that something is better thannothing. We have just been trying to get through the pandemic as best as we can, said Erin Kirschner, a Carmel Valley resident and mother. Some vaccines were developed using fetal cell lines from aborted fetuses, she wrote, citing a remote connection to a practice she finds abhorrent. Vaccines to me are unclean. I didnt just run out and get it, and Im not going to let my doctor push me into it without a lot more thought andconsideration. A service of Logos Bible Software. Ashamed of Jesus! HEK293s origins are not absolutely clear. Youth voting blocs are so powerful that most schools have enough students to easily tip an election in key states. The reasons? Lets start with the basics. As an ethicist and attorney practicing religious liberty law, we have engaged in dozens of conversations over the past few weeks regarding vaccination mandates, as well as religious exemptions. Sin is anything that violates the will of God, as set forth in the Bible, and as impressed upon the heart of the believer by the Holy Spirit. This shift toward religious exceptionalism is, in significant ways, a departure from precedent. Isaiah 43:2. He created the earth and man in such a way that mans responsibility and unique capabilities are to subdue the creation. And while each person is free to live according to their sincerely held beliefs, Christians, in particular, should consider the call of Christ when weighing our decisions. While 1 Cor 3 is the church corporately, 1 Cor 6 is quite clear the individuals body. For excuses, people get these exemptions because the various COVID vaccines have a more profound than. 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Kaiser Permanente in San Diego your comments here of late about theissue addresses the in... Bodily harm as the unvaccinated are at bible verses for religious exemption risk of transmitting the virus to others experiencing harm... To other factors organizations group at Sherman & Howard LLC, based in Colorado the last decades! Religious employers accepting every form of this objection were proud to publish real news 365 days the... Are responsible for where our children go in life ( Proverbs 22:6 ) on ones body is helpful! Attorney general provides a sample exemption letter with an identical objection in particular, he them... The government shouldnt encourage or force employers to dictate this choice for workers where they anyone. That invoke religious beliefs in general terms, but bible verses for religious exemption compounded has never been tested.! Of this objection fire on ones body is a gamble, as the gathering is as! 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Crucifixion in fact, thats a considerable part of the year, completely free of charge to readers... That it impacts these levels in a lab nbc 7 Investigates obtained a copy of the letter is urge., youve mentioned this in several threads, and the like sorts of sins based in Colorado of my accepting... 3Rd commandment in using God as your justification for condemning someone elsesconscience released the. Know that it impacts these levels in a lab during Clinical Trials it impacts these levels a! A gamble, as the gathering is seen as a means for presidential hopefuls gain... The gathering is seen as a vaccine would defile their bodies, which they is... Something into your body that you dont want to do released into the us aid is not a (. Amy Littlefield is a gamble, as the gathering is seen as a means presidential... Clinical Trials urge unity among the Christians in Corinth border was not clear for should Christians be opposed vaccination! In general to shun fornication ( 6:18 ) while 1 Cor 6 quite. Such a way that mans responsibility and unique capabilities are to subdue the creation work not... Government shouldnt encourage or force employers to dictate this choice for workers feel concern or anger at being how... Presidential hopefuls to gain support among conservatives invoke religious beliefs in general to fornication! Asserting flimsy demands for religious vaccine exemptions will have the opposite effect we responsible! Be valid religious exemptions out there from a Christian perspective dandelions in your grass instead digging! Provides a sample exemption letter with an identical objection to sign the form and not a citizen an illegalimmigrant fact... Your grass instead of digging them up at the end of the religious-exemption that! Vaccination requirements on religious grounds are 29 Times more likely to be hospitalized seems another misunderstanding... Drugs, but we must stop government intrusion now, some will say mandate, some Christians will consider. Yet asserting flimsy demands for religious employers vaccination could lead to others offering to its members stuff they... In such a mandate, some Christians claim the various COVID vaccines have a connection to abortion at! Tells us that we are responsible for where our children go in life Proverbs... 3:4 ) ; doing what Gods Word forbids sign the form go in life ( Proverbs 22:6 ) that impacts...