Religious exemption: How to
Below you will find how to get started with your religious exemption from Dan Watkins, our lawyer. Please start here before messaging for assistance. If your request gets denied, email me and we will proceed from there.
From Dan Watkins:
Hello
Attached you will find sample language for your request for religious accommodation for Covid- 19 vaccine. Keep in mind that the statement you submit is your personal statement on your sincerely held religious beliefs. This statement is written from a Christian perspective with the Bible as the foundation for these sincerely held religious beliefs. If you have sincerely held religious beliefs deriving from another religion such as Judaism or Islam, please contact me and we will work on drafting a request that best fits your beliefs. This letter intentionally leaves out scientific arguments, constitutional arguments, political points, medical points, etc. as it is meant to be a statement on your sincerely held religious beliefs, only. The other points can be made later as needed. How to prepare the statement to send to Employer: Please make sure to type your full name in the first line of the attachment and other the signature line at the end of the statement. Closely read the proposed language in the Word version, modifying the language to fit your beliefs. Sign and date the Request. Scan and save the request and send the scanned copy to your employer. You do not want to submit the document in Word. Then, please send me a quick email letting me know the day you emailed it in. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you hear anything back from management after submitting your request.
Sample Exemption form that you can copy and paste into word:
Request for Religious Accommodation for Covid-19 Vaccine
I, [type your full name here], hereby request to be exempted from the vaccination policy which states that I must become fully vaccinated with a Covid-19 vaccine or receive an exemption to the vaccine, or my employment will be terminated. I am a Christian and my exemption request is based on my sincerely held religious beliefs. I request an accommodation to the vaccination requirement that does not include PCR nasal swab testing as this too violates my sincerely held religious beliefs.
Describe in detail the nature of your sincerely held belief, practice and/or observance that is the basis for your request for a religious accommodation.
I am Christian. I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. I believe the Bible to be the Word of God provided to all people as guidance on how to live to bring glory to God. 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” As a Christian, the Bible is foundational to my faith, and I try to live my life accordingly.
First, my faith teaches against abortion and that it amounts to the taking of a human life created by God. This sacred nature of life and the commands against taking life are discussed throughout the Bible. For example, the Scriptures reveal that God knows us even before we are conceived. See Jeremiah 1:4 – 5 (The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.). And God’s creative powers are effectively at work while we are yet in the womb. See Psalm 139:13 – 16 (For you created my inmost being you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.). The Bible states murder, the taking of human life, is a sin in the Ten Commandments (“You shall not murder” [Exodus 20:13]). In Proverbs 6:16-17 it states, “There are six things the Lord hates…” one of them being, “…hands that shed innocent blood.” In addition, Jesus Himself said, “Even so it is not the will of your Father in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish (Matthew 18:14).” Aborted fetal cell lines were used in the research and testing of all three COVID vaccines. Receiving a vaccine in any connected to abortion would be complying with an action the Bible says the Lord hates.
Also, as I read the Bible, it directs Christians to abstain from contaminating their body with substances that may be threatening to their bodily health. In so doing, I am to avoid introducing unnecessary drugs and chemicals of all kinds into my body, such as the Covid-19 vaccine and nasal swabs containing ethylene oxide. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 states, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” In addition, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
How does the mandatory COVID vaccination plan conflict with your beliefs/practices/observances?
The COVID-19 vaccines were developed or tested using cell lines that were generated or derived from tissues of aborted fetuses. J&J used an aborted fetal cell line in manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine, while Moderna and Pfizer used aborted fetal cell lines in testing the efficacy of their vaccines. The use of the Covid-19 vaccines, which involved the use of aborted fetuses and their cells in the research, testing, and/or development of the vaccines, is morally unacceptable to me.
The Bible explicitly speaks of God’s intentional plan and purpose for every unborn life. This can be seen as the psalmist expresses, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together…Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139: 13, 15-16.) The Bible teaches that our “consciences bear witness” as to what God requires of His followers (Romans 2:15). Acts 24:16 exhorts believers to “take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.” I believe it would be a sin against God to accept a drug that was researched, tested, and/or developed with aborted fetal tissue. I do not believe that using fetal cells from an aborted fetus for the benefit of the greater good or my personal benefit can be reconciled. I will not knowingly participate in the process to use such a product that violates the right to life and dishonors the lives of the unborn. So, it is my sincerely held religious belief that, in being vaccinated with any of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines, I would be cooperating with and complicit in abortion and that such would constitute a sin against God and a violation of His Commandments.
Because of my deeply held Christian beliefs, I trust in God's perfect design of my body, and that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I believe the Covid-19 vaccine and the nasal swab test with ethylene-oxide to be an unneeded introduction of drugs / chemicals into my body. The vaccine contains numerous additives, and it is designed to alter my body. The swab tests with ethylene-oxide present a known carcinogenic to the body upon insertion. The EPA has concluded that ethylene oxide is carcinogenic to humans. Evidence in humans indicates that exposure to ethylene oxide increases the risk of lymphoid cancer and, for females, breast cancer. This is objection is similar to the objection others have to eating “unclean food”. For example, orthodox Jews do not eat non-kosher foods, and no one requires anyone in the United States to consume a substance contrary to their faith. Medical experts may assert that non-kosher foods and vaccines are completely healthy, but religious faith compels certain individuals to decline their consumption. Even if a non-kosher food were the best or most efficient way to obtain certain nutrients, a gain in efficiency would not justify an order to wholly override a person’s faith to compel her/him to consume unclean food. Without consuming non-kosher foods, orthodox Jews can still obtain all necessary nutrients without compromising her/his health and without compromising her faith. So too, certain individuals can decline the Covid-19 vaccine without compromising their health and without compromising their personal Christian faith. I am one of those certain individuals. Thus, my faith prohibits me from being vaccinated or being subjected to nasal swabs with ethylene oxide.
Is there any additional information regarding your belief/practice/observance that supports your request for religious accommodation?
The Bible says as Christians we are not to submit to any governing authority or policy that is not submissive to God’s word. (Book of Daniel, Esther 4:11-7:3, Acts 5:27-29 & 1 John 2:4) You are to have no other God’s before me. We are to keep God’s commands even in the face of policy that forbids it, (Daniel 6:7-10) and we are not to define ourselves with things of the culture that contradict our God (Daniel 1:8). I am not saying God is anti-medicine. I am saying God is anti-anything that contradicts his Word - the Word that I try to live by as a Christian.
My religious beliefs require me to reject abortion, to reject emphatically any attempt at personal benefit from the killing of an unborn child, and to keep my body clean as a temple to the Holy Spirit. I cannot sacrifice my religious beliefs simply to comply with the compelled vaccination policy. I have a responsibility to honor the Lord through my body and my choices, and that is why I am submitting this request for religious exemption.
For the reasons stated above, I am requesting a religious accommodation, under Title VII and the Fair Employment and Housing Act that will excuse me from having to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. I am requesting a religious accommodation, under Title VII and the Fair Employment and Housing Act that will excuse me from having to submit to any accommodation that involves swab test containing ethylene oxide. Lastly, I request that no adverse employment action be taken against me on account of my religious beliefs.
Thank you for your anticipated consideration.
Date: ________________ __________________________
[Type Your Full Name Here]
Language to use in objection to application questions:
Have you previously requested a religious accommodation for any other medical requirement at CHOC, such as the influenza vaccine? (Y/N) ____________
If not, please describe why not:
I decline to answer these questions as they have nothing to do with my sincerely held religious beliefs today related to the Covid-19 vaccine and nasal swab testing. My sincerely held religious beliefs are not static and my conduct in the past is not a measure of the sincerity of my religious beliefs on this issue.
Please include the name of the religion (if any), how long you have been practicing, and the ways in which you practiced.
With respect to the second part of this question, “the name of the religion (if any), how long you have been practicing, and the ways in which you practiced”, the name of my “religion” and time involved with various “religious practices” are not involved in the sincerely held religious beliefs regarding the Covid-19 vaccine and the nasal swab testing. The sincerely held religious beliefs involved here are set forth above and described more fully below.
