[ad_1]
Smith’s pharmacy technician Wendy Flores administers a COVID-19 vaccine during an event at a church in Salt Lake City on March 20. While some hospitals and other employers are demanding that their employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine, some conservative church groups have pushed back, often claiming a religious exemption from the vaccine. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – While some hospitals and other employers are demanding that employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine, some conservative church groups have backed down, often calling for a religious exemption from the vaccine.
Religious leaders, like the Pope, have encouraged individuals to be vaccinated out of a religious belief in love for others.
There is no specific fundamental religious doctrine against vaccines in major American religions, as KSL.com previously reported, but many churches allow their practitioners to choose for themselves.
In a video response to health workers needing to be vaccinated, Pastor Greg Fairrington of Destiny Christian Church in Rocklin, Calif., Offered letters to his congregants who planned to seek a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine. He did not cite any specific religious doctrine. Instead, he said the church is not anti-vaccination, but “pro-freedom”.
On the other hand, religious leaders like Rev. Serene Jones, president of the New York-based Union Theological Seminary, and Bishop of San Diego Robert McElroy have issued statements specifically against religious exemptions for COVID vaccination. -19.
“Let me be blunt: there is simply no religious justification for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine or encouraging others to do so. Creating religious exemptions for COVID-19 simply allows conservative Christians to use faith as an excuse to maintain and spread their dangerousness. beliefs, ”said Reverend Jones.
After the Colorado Catholic Conference prepared a form suggesting that there is a basis in Catholic social teaching that justifies a religious exemption from the vaccine, Bishop McElroy wrote a letter to priests in his diocese asking them to “cautiously decline »Any request to sign the form. .
“My greatest concern is that signing this declaration pushes our priests into the impossible position of asserting that the teachings of the Catholic Church can lead individual Catholics… to refuse certain vaccines when these priests recognize that Catholic teaching proclaims exactly the opposite, “he wrote.
So what exactly are the requirements for religious exemptions, especially in Utah? Could religious beliefs against vaccination, based on personal revelations outside of official doctrine, benefit from a religious exemption? If so, would this request be admissible in court?
State religious exemptions
Utah does not have a specific definition of what constitutes a religious exemption, only that it must be a belief that is both sincere and religious.
“I can sincerely believe that I can walk across the street. Sincerity alone does not make it a religious belief. Whatever a religious exemption is designed to protect, it is not designed to protect unfaithful beliefs. sincere, ”said W. Cole Durham, a professor at BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School and founding director of the International Center for Legal and Religious Studies. It must also be a religious issue, not just apprehension about the vaccine.
“What’s going on with the vaccine situation is that people can have different types of fears about vaccines or different types of information, but that doesn’t necessarily qualify as a religious belief,” Durham said.
And even beliefs that meet both criteria are not automatically accepted. For example, he continued, if a modern-day Abraham sacrificed a modern-day Isaac in the middle of Salt Lake City, he would still face criminal charges, even if he claimed God told him to. to do. “Sincere religious belief does not automatically make you immune to the force of law,” Durham continued.
At the state level, he said, there must be a compelling reason to override sincere religious beliefs that cannot reasonably be achieved in any other way. In the previous example, it would be the preservation of life. In the case of COVID-19 vaccinations, the interest in public health and the protection of people from possible illness, hospitalization and death could be strong enough to bypass a religious exemption.
“You don’t automatically win,” Durham said.
Conscientious objection
Last week, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wrote a letter “urging” members to wear masks and get vaccinated. Some church members have indicated on social media that they believe the word “envy” allows for personal revelation on the matter. They say they refused the vaccine based on personal religious belief or personal revelation.
When personal religious beliefs lead to a position different from that of a traditional faith, it is possible to claim what is called “conscientious objection,” Durham said, but added it was “rare. and difficult to establish “.
Regarding the current situation with Latter-day Saint members and personal revelation on immunization, he said, going against what the church prophet urges without any scripture or doctrine to back you up could legally make it much more difficult to prove that you are a sincere believer, but this could be considered a conscientious objection.
“If there is all the evidence of sincerity and a religious connection, the person could make a conscientious claim. I’m still not sure they would automatically win when what you are doing not only puts you in danger, but especially with delta, you also put other people at risk, ”he said.
Employment and religious exemptions
Employers have more flexibility in determining qualification for religious exemptions. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are required to heed the sincere religious beliefs of employees, unless it causes “undue hardship” on “de minimis” or at a small level for the company.
The fact that unvaccinated people come to work could cause an epidemic in the office. This outbreak could potentially mean less work is done with employees on sick leave, opening a business to lawsuits, bringing COVID-19 home to employee families and a number of other issues, Durham said.
“A good employer will try to take religious beliefs into account, but they don’t have to if the risk is too high,” he said.
More stories that might interest you
[ad_2]
Source link