How Do Religious Exemptions Work
Although many major religious denominations and institutions have voiced public support of vaccines against COVID-19, requests for religious exceptions have recently surged. Before you accept that letter from your employees online pastor, its important to know the facts.
What does this mean? This means that religious exemptions must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Employers and private businesses reserve the right to create policies and procedures that factor in the regulations above while also protecting the health and safety of other employees and customers. Consequently, employers reserve the right to ask further questions about an employees beliefs that are sincerely held in order to evaluate the origin of beliefs. This process should be well documented and handled by one person or a team of people in order to maintain consistency.
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Exemption Request Examples Of Buddhists
You dont need to be of the Christian faith to file a religious exemption. You could be Muslim, Jewish, or any other religion. Here are two examples from the Buddhist perspective.
Date:
Hello As a Buddhist and follower of Gautama Buddha, my sincerely held beliefs are an all-encompassing part of who I am. My religious beliefs have been protected by both the US Constitution as well as this states constitution which guarantees them to be free from any discrimination or assault because they come with me on lifes journey due diligence: protecting what matters most in this world just like it should always get priority over everything else!
Federal law protects American citizens right to practice their faith without fear that we will face punishment if others do not agree nor may anyone interfere with our ability peacefully assemble around shared values such has prayer circles. I pray that you will grant me an exemption.
Sincerely,
Date:
Under TITLE VII OF THE U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT PROHIBITS RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION, the law requires accommodations to be offered for religious exemptions and as such is a concern of. As a Buddhist, The Tripitaka doctrine says our bodies should not fall victim/sacrifice. Accommodating someone elses belief system which is not in line with my beliefs.
I cannot take this for any reason. I have prayed and reflected on this matter for many weeks.
Thank you.
How To Seek A Religious Exemption For The Covid Vaccine Mandate
Businesses with 100 employees or more will now be required to develop vaccine and testing policies to comply with a mandate issued by President Joe Biden‘s administration.
The Department of Labor said on Thursday that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will issue an emergency temporary standard on Friday that will mandate that the affected businesses develop a policy within 30 days.
Businesses that do not comply by January 4 will face a fine of up to $14,000 per violation, while the mandate is expected to affect more than 80 million people in the United States.
Biden’s mandate will require that employees of businesses with at least 100 workers either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing beginning on January 4.
However, people will be able to apply for a religious exemption from any employers’ vaccine mandate under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Title VII forbids employment discrimination based on religion and grants employees and job applicants the right to request an exemption, also known as a religious or reasonable accommodation, from an employer’s requirement if that requirement conflicts with a person’s sincerely held religious beliefs.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explains the right to request a religious exemption under Title VII on its website and specifically discusses the vaccine mandate.
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Understanding The Religious Exemption Process
Going through the process of submitting a religious exemption as an employee or accepting requests as an employe can seem complex. Heres the process that you can expect. Make sure to keep documentation of all these steps for your own records.
Step 1: Find out where to submit the religious exemption. These can be submitted by email or PDF document using the examples provided above. Usually this request will be submitted to someone in HR, but ask your manager who to contact.
- In some instances, an employer will request that you complete a religious exemption form. This is typical among large employers. We suggest following whatever protocol is outlined by your employer.
Step 2: Wait for approval or denial of the religious exemption. A reasonable time to wait for a decision is 5 business days. This is the time period when a company will determine if a request is made based on sincerely held religious beliefs.
- In some cases an employer may conduct a limited inquiry to better understand your religious beliefs. It is the employers right to conduct a limited inquiry and ask followup questions about an employees beliefs.
Step 3: Determine Reasonable Accommodation. If the religious exemption is approved then youll need to work out a reasonable accommodation. Heres the definition of reasonable accommodation according to the U.S. Department of Labor:
Why Some Christians Oppose Vaccinations
The Christian arguments for opposing COVID-19 vaccinations are generally twofold:
First is the connection between vaccines and abortion. The vaccines do not contain fetal cells, but at various stages of vaccine development and manufacturing, some of the vaccines used fetal tissue, some of which were derived from an aborted fetus. This is a sensitive and complicated issue, and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has a thorough description of it here.
Second, Biblical verses are believed to be relevant to vaccinations, such as 1 Corinthians 6:19: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”
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What You Need To Know Before Filing A Religious Exemption
Whether youre an employee or an employer, heres the most important thing to remember about religious exemptions. These exemption requests must be about the employees religious beliefs, not any other topic.
One reason religious exemptions are rejected is they cite data thats not religious in nature. This could include scientific data, politics, or health reasons. None of these reasons have anything to do with an employees deeply-held religious belief system so they dont apply. If an employee mentions anything outside the scope of religion in the request, they are at risk of the request being denied. This is a religious exemption, not a political exemption.
One other important note is that you dont need to be part of a major religion to qualify for a religious exemption. In fact, even atheists are protected by this right.
Symbol of Faith among Christians.
Letter For Religious Exemption For Vaccine Mandate
Well, writing this letter wasnt in my preparation for being a pastor. This is my first one. Im posting it to help encourage the discussion around these things. I know that some disagree with doing these at all, seeing that the Charter rights of a Canadian have more standing. But, we arent necessarily in the environment that logical thinking prevails. So, heres a letter that I wrote recently, that was attached to the paperwork of a person thats attended Calvary for many years. They submitted it to their employer, and we havent heard anything back yet. Ive removed some of the references to attempt to preserve the identity of the person.
To Whom it May Concern,
John Doe is a regularly participating person in good standing with our church. He has stated very clearly, and unequivocally his convictions pertaining to the vaccines available in Canada for Covid-19. I can also verify that we have had several discussions about the vaccines, health, his responsibilities to God, his family and society. In addition, its important to note that he has demonstrated consistently the kind of qualities that we expect from a mature member of society, namely high moral character in his personal and professional life. No one is perfect, but he has the reputation of someone that deeply desires to know the truth and live in a right and proper manner before God, his family and his community.
Sincerely yours,
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A Few Recent Court Cases
In Bridges v. Hous. Methodist Hosp., a hospital mandated vaccinations or employees would be terminated. Although not specifically discussed in the case, the mandate apparently did not have a religious exemption. The plaintiffs were acting pro se and brought a wrongful termination action, not a claim under Title VII or the ADA, which the court dismissed and rejected. There are several cases involving students, some of which honor the requirement for a religious exemption. In Dahl v. Bd. Of Trustees of Wester Mich. Univ., the court granted an injunction against the requirement for WMU student athletes to be vaccinated, finding at least at the preliminary stage, that WMU was prohibited from mandating vaccinations, but could require plaintiffs to submit to weekly or more frequent testing and could require wearing of face coverings. In Magliulo v. Edward Via College, a medical school required students to receive vaccinations, but then changed its policy a few times to allow for a religious exemption. The court enjoined the schools mandating vaccination as a condition of enrollment, based on large part because of Louisiana state laws allowing for religious exemptions. We can expect more legal challenges to vaccine mandates, so hopefully guidance from the courts will continue to develop to assist employers.
Religious Exemption To Current Vaccines For Immunization Against Covid
Here is my letter requesting a religious exemption. It is quite detailed and I hope and pray that many of you will find it informative. It comes to seven pages printed and has 49 footnotes. Please check the footnotes for detailed information and authoritative sourcesPeter P. Lackey, Jr.
To whom it may concern,
In addition to being an engineer, I am a licensed minister of Gods Word. I teach on Christian theology, Christian Ethics, and many other topics of religious significance at my church, other Christian churches, and Christian professional organizations around the Washington DC area. In fact, starting next month I am teaching a seven-week course on Christian Ethics to a group of Christian professionals. As a Christian, I view all of life foundationally through a biblical lens forming a Christian worldview. My Christianity isnt a sidebar, a small piece of life for an hour a week, but a foundation my life is built on and through which I view every single area of life. The significance of this is, as a teacher of Gods Word, I carry the added burden of being judged more strictly by God for what I teach and exemplify in my life regarding both biblical restrictions and personal convictions in matters of conscience .
Figure-1: The Biblical view of Faith & ReasonFigure-2: Biblical View of Human Bridge Between Body Soul/Spirit
Table-1: Christian and Humanist Approaches To Biomedical Issues
Why My Accommodation is Reasonable and Will Not Create Undue Hardship To The Company
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Hawaii Tells Visitors To Stay Away
With Hawaii Lt. Gov Josh Green, left, in the background, Hawaii Gov. David Ige speaks at a press conference at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Honolulu.
Can you imagine a governor of a state whose entire economy relies on tourism telling tourists to stay away? Thats what happened in Hawaii, where Gov. David Ige said, Its not a good time to travel to the islands. The visitors who choose to come to the island will not have the typical kind of holiday that they expect to get when they visit Hawaii.
The mayor of Honolulu announced new restrictions:
#Covid19 cases are up dramatically, and our healthcare workers are being pushed beyond their limits. Beginning August 25, we will be suspending all large gatherings for 4 weeks. This includes trade shows, conventions, concerts and other live events.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi
Starting Aug. 25, indoor gatherings of more than 10 people and outdoor gatherings of more than 25 in Oahu are prohibited. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports:
Requesting A Medical Exemption
Any requested medical exemption will be allowed if it meets the following guidelines and there is no local or statewide occurrence of disease such that the exemption would cause undue risk to the community.
- An MSDH Medical Exemption Request must be completed and signed by the child’s pediatrician, family physician, or internist who is duly licensed in Mississippi.
- Medical exemption requests completed and signed by a tertiary care physician outside of the state will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
- The same pediatrician, family physician, internist, or tertiary care physician must indicate on Form 139 the medical condition of the child seeking exemption and indicate the exemption status for each of the listed vaccines.
- Form 139 must be submitted to the Mississippi State Department of Health Epidemiologist or Deputy State Epidemiologist.
- The State Epidemiologist or Deputy State Epidemiologist will mail a copy of the Certificate of Medical Exemption to the parent and the pediatrician, family practitioner, internist, or tertiary care physician who submitted the Medical Exemption Request. The original Certificate of Medical Exemption will be housed at MSDH.
- Data regarding medical exemptions will be maintained in the Immunization area of the MSDH website. See the report at the end of this page.
The exemption expiration date will be based on the circumstances for the exemption, and will be no less than one school year unless otherwise indicated on the request.
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What Qualifies As A Medical Exemption
Even though few employees may actually qualify for medical exemptions from the vaccine, these individuals are protected by the ADA or American Disabilities Act in workplaces with more than 15 employees.
Many medical experts have emphasized that vaccines are safe, even for patients with chronic conditions, but that doesnt mean your employee may not require a special accommodation.
Currently, the most common medical exemptions are for those who are allergic to COVID-19 vaccine ingredients or have had a severe allergic reaction to the first shot .
While the EEOC allows employers to require COVID-19 vaccines, If a particular employee cannot meet such a safety-related qualification standard because of a disability, the employer may not require compliance for that employee unless it can demonstrate that the individual would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of the employee or others in the workplace.
Additionally, an employee with a disability who does not get vaccinated for COVID-19 must let the employer know that he or she needs an exemption from the requirement or a change at work. This is known as a reasonable accommodation.
To plan for the possibility of COVID-19 vaccination exemptions related to disability, employers should consider creating a policy and a procedure for review of whether the vaccination exemption would pose a direct threat to the workplace.
Implications For Public Universities
At present, the Supreme Court has not yet ruled that public universities requiring vaccines have to give a religious exemption. The Supreme Court has been tightening protection of religious freedom, but the guiding principle is still Employment Division v. Smith, which does not require a religious exemption from a generally applicable, neutral-on-its-face law. Universities may want to consider, on this background, not offering a religious exemption. Yes, there is a risk the Supreme Court will strike down such a rule. But, given the context that its highly likely most exemption requests are from people without religious objections, and that many are selling services to help game exemptions the Supreme Court may consider that universities are justified in not offering such an exemption.
If universities do offer religious exemptions, they may want to consider the need for careful enforcement, including examining, in detail, the advice of anti-vaccine activists, keeping a list of those openly working to game religious exemptions and looking for their involvement, and potentially interviewing individuals whose exemption requests raise red flags. They also can require a detailed exemption letter, and, in cases that raise questions, require independent corroboration though they cannot limit that corroboration to organized religion. At the least, universities should plan how to reduce misuse of religious exemption, to avoid having exemptors undermine campus safety.
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Those Plastic Barriers May Not Be Keeping You Safe
Carpenters John Mackie, of Canton, Mass., left, and Doug Hathaway, of Holliston, Mass., right, apply trim to a newly installed plastic barrier in an office area, at Boston University, in Boston, on May 20, 2020.
Just as we did a year ago when COVID-19 cases were increasing and it seemed we should do more, businesses are erecting plastic barriers between customers or between customers and workers. Evidence is emerging that such barriers may be good theater, but do not help much to keep people safe from the virus. The New York Times found:
Research suggests that in some instances, a barrier protecting a clerk behind a checkout counter may redirect the germs to another worker or customer. Rows of clear plastic shields, like those you might find in a nail salon or classroom, can also impede normal air flow and ventilation.
Under normal conditions in stores, classrooms and offices, exhaled breath particles disperse, carried by air currents and, depending on the ventilation system, are replaced by fresh air roughly every 15 to 30 minutes. But erecting plastic barriers can change air flow in a room, disrupt normal ventilation and create dead zones, where viral aerosol particles can build up and become highly concentrated.
Well be back tomorrow with a new edition of Covering COVID-19. Are you subscribed? to get it delivered right to your inbox.