Religious Exemption
Nobody likes getting shots. There’s an inherent fear about sticking long needles through your skin and injecting something foreign into your body. Yet, over the past several months millions of people have voluntarily received a vaccine for COVID. It wasn’t until move recently where it stopped being voluntary for certain groups of people. The word mandate just rubs people the wrong way to begin with, but when it’s about something that has been as politically divisive and hotly debated as this vaccine it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some people are looking for a way to get around the mandate.
What has caught me by surprise is the number of people that are now trying to claim religious exemption from the shot. Because this is such a sensitive and passionate subject for some, I have to put in a disclaimer here. This is not about whether a vaccine mandate is ethical, the politics behind the shots, or anything other than the logical conclusions of being a Christian and receiving any vaccine or modern medicine.
The starting point for most religious exceptions to the shot are from the use of aborted fetal cells in the development of the vaccine. This is, of course, part of a much larger conversation, but in general the church has been historically opposed to abortion. People argue that the use of cells that were obtained in a way that departs from church doctrine is sufficient enough to exclude them from the shot. This is a reasonable conclusion. Where things become less reasonable is when you consider that this isn’t the first or only vaccine to contain these cells. Hepatitis A, Rabies, Rubella, and Chicken pox vaccines also use these cells.
We also have to talk about where these cells originated from. All fetal cells used for vaccine research are from two abortions preformed legally back in the 1960’s. Scientists continue to develop and grow these cells in laboratories, which means that the cells used in todays vaccines are several generations removed from the original cells. In other words, we are now over 50 years removed from the actual origin of these cells.
At this point, the argument becomes whether or not all vaccines or medical practices that have roots in areas that go against the church are permissible or should be avoided. There isn’t a single mainline denomination that has officially objected vaccines. Even the Catholic Church, which is vocal about its objections to abortion, took a stand back in 2017 and said that the lack of vaccinations represents a serious health risk. It’s for these reasons that very few religious exemptions are granted, because there really isn’t much to go on. If you have been consistent in refusing modern medical treatment in favor of miraculous healing and have refused every shot or vaccine because of the origins all for religious convictions, then you have a solid argument for a religious exemption.
The other piece of all of this, beyond the medical realm, is the continuity through the rest of their personal lives. I’m reminded a little of Samson from the Old Testament. He had a legitimate religious objection to cutting his hair. However, he slept around, was an alcoholic, and in just about every other way lived a life that did not reflect any kind of religious leaning. That’s why he’s a bit of an anti-hero of the Bible and not exactly the model we want to follow. His story illustrates that even with some deeply held religious convictions, if our whole lives don’t reflect those values we are really missing the mark.
So while there is a small basis for religious exemption from vaccines, it’s really from a viewpoint to which few Christians actually ascribe. Without the full conviction and followthrough in all areas, what this push for religious exemption has become is more of a political scapegoat that hurts the church. I’m aware that this might be a very unpopular statement. However, I’m also confident that this statement wouldn’t be controversial at all three years ago. Our doctrine on the issue hasn’t changed, and we need to be carefully and prayerfully intentional about allowing current events to change our theology.