About "Religious" Exemptions and the Workplance

[Ibi Libertas in Veritate]

I've seen a lot of misunderstanding about what constitutes a "religious" exemption for the purposes of a work-related vaccine mandate. I finally registered after years of just browsing and reading to share this. Please review this information and help educate others!

A religious exemption extends to a deeply held and sincere spiritual, ethical, or moral belief. That means that a strong spiritual belief, whether from within an organized and recognized religion or one that is formed without an organized and recognized religion can qualify. Additionally, moral or ethical beliefs qualify if held and believed with the strength of what one would traditionally hold a spiritual belief.

Don't take my word for it. Read this overview:

https://www.fisherphillips.com/news-insights/religious-objections-to-mandated-covid-19-vaccines-considerations-for-employers.html

And don't take their word for it either. Read the Title VII COVID vaccine religious exemption discussion directly from the EEOC:

https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-covid-19-and-ada-rehabilitation-act-and-other-eeo-laws

And then look at the relevant portion of the CFR:

https://www.govregs.com/regulations/title29_chapterXIV_part1605_section1605.1

Please also realize that this isn't a guaranteed protection from being fired, because the religious exemption only requires an accommodation on the part of the employer. For people who have to be around others, it may be possible that the safety concern of having an unvaccinated person in close proximity to others makes prevents an appropriate accommodation. However, if you have an office job that you've been remotely performing with success, then I would think it is hard for an employer to say there is no way to accommodate you.

In any case, always remember that the lone stick breaks easily but the bundle is resilient and sturdy. Share this information and become part of a bundle if possible. An employer might not think twice about the legal risk of squashing a single person's rights, but companies are usually much more wary about exposure to the claims of many.

Good luck, and please don't forget to help inform others!

[dhuls]

Welcome to Free Republic.

[Robert DeLong]

Good information. Thanks from coming out of the shadows finally. 🙂

Now, get involve in the effort to save this great country. 🙂

[Ibi Libertas in Veritate]

Thank you! I’m a long time browser, but I’m not usually one to register and comment on a forum. But the anguish I’ve seen from those facing mandates and the general lack of understanding just how broad the scope of a religious exemption is have conspired to get me to join.

I will stand up when it’s my turn, whether as a stick or a bundle, and I want to help others make an informed choice for themselves.

Thanks again for the warm welcome.

[PMAS]

*Bookmarked

[RideForever]

Or press for a either a medical exemption or Acceptance of Liability for CoVID Policy at the workplace. Medical objection should be based on natural immunity grounds, and can be proved with a t-cell CoVID antibodies test that detect long term immunity memory.

[RebelTXRose]

Hubbie has a deadline next Wed for CLAIMING his exemption - religious exemption.

Should the employer then want him to be tested weekly (he is permanent remote), is that not then discrimination based upon his religion?

Has anyone gone this far?

[Responsibility2nd]

Welcome to this site. I’m going to go out on a guess with my rusty Latin.

There is truth in freedom.

Now I’m going to look it up.

[RebelTXRose]

l8r

[Responsibility2nd]

Hah! I was right.

[NewJerseyJoe]

P4L

[exnavy]

Excuse please, you make the assumption that vaxxed people are somehow safer to be near than unvaxxed. Not so. Chicken pox, had it as a child. no need of a vaxx. My adult son got the chicken pox vaxx as an adult, he has limited time until booster is required. I am not a lawyer, and i do not like the holiday inn.

[Auntie Mame]

Thanks for signing up and posting this great information. After having my baby vaccinated twice, 3 mos and 6 mos, and seeing what it did to her (I didn’t learn my lesson the first time), I used the religious exemption for the rest of her school years to keep her from being vaccinated. Many states have now removed this exemption for childhood vaccinations.

I looked all through my filing cabinet trying to find the form I used for her and no luck. This is great info and much appreciated.

[Uncle Miltie]

TRUE.

I read an article quoting case law.

I want my superior G-d Given Immune System to fight and learn from this virus in the wild.

No human engineered hijacking of my cell’s internal functions, thanks!

[Uncle Miltie]

TRUE.

I read an article quoting case law.

I want my superior G-d Given Immune System to fight and learn from this virus in the wild.

No human engineered hijacking of my cell’s internal functions, thanks!

[Uncle Miltie]

TRUE.

I read an article quoting case law.

I want my superior G-d Given Immune System to fight and learn from this virus in the wild.

No human engineered hijacking of my cell’s internal functions, thanks!

[Kevmo]

Good to know. Since you have knowledge in this arena, it will be helpful for you to find religious exemption sources that turn us individual sticks into bundles.

In the meantime it might make sense to update your analogy because the stick —> bundle analogy has become poisoned when fascism took it as an emblem.

The original symbol of fascism in Italy under Benito Mussolini was the fasces. This is an ancient Imperial Roman symbol of power carried by lictors in front of magistrates; a bundle of sticks featuring an axe, indicating the power over life and death.

Fascist symbolism - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascist_symbolism#:~:text=The%20original%20symbol%20of%20fascism%20in%20Italy%20under%20Benito%20Mussolini,power%20over%20life%20and%20death.

I suggest using Ecclesiastes 4:12, the Bible tells us that “though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

[scouter]

I want to confirm everything you said. My brother is a prominent labor lawyer in this state, and he confirms everything you said. Several colleagues of mine and I had him represent us with my employer, who is at the forefront of these mandates.

He pointed out that the exemption is for your personal religious belief, NOT the belief of your minister, or your priest, or your bishop, or the pope, or the Dalai Lama, or any other religious authority.

So imy opinion is that in your objection, it is best not to identify ANY specific religion. It only gives them an opening to challenge the sincerity of your belief, even if doing so ignores the fact I mentioned above. However, the law is clear that it applies to your religious practice, even if it is not strictly required of your religion. In other words, it doesn’t mean they have to accommodate the minimum practice of your faith. They have to accommodate the heroic practice of your faith.

It’s also important not to come across as an anti-vaxxer, or to bring other issues into the request, such as their EUA status, the Nuremberg code, or anything else that would give them ammunition to label you as a conspiracy theorist, even if you are one. Stay focused on the matter at hand, which is to get the exemption so you can stay employed and support your family.

With all of that in mind, and along with what Libertas in Veritate said in his original post, here’s the text of my religious exemption request that was approved within a few hours with absolutely no fuss. Feel free to copy and paste into your request, or to use it as a starting point for your own.

MY REQUEST:

I am requesting a religious exception from receiving any of the three vaccines currently authorized under the EUA because they were all developed and/or tested using cell lines derived from aborted human fetuses or embryos. This directly contradicts my deeply held belief in the God-given sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. I firmly believe that abortion is a grave sin, and that using cell lines derived from an aborted human fetus or embryo to develop or test any vaccine or other medication, or for any other purpose, is also a grave sin. By receiving any one of these vaccines I would be approving of the use of these cell lines and approving of the abortion from which they are derived, which I simply cannot do, as a matter of conscience.

I would consider receiving a COVID vaccine that was not developed or tested in any way with cell lines derived from aborted human fetuses or embryos when one becomes available.

[oldtech]

Hang together or you will surely hang separately?

[Ibi Libertas in Veritate]

The truth is that it’s the assumption of the system from within which one would be applying for a religious exemption. Your assumptions and my assumptions are irrelevant when it comes to anticipating how the system will react to a religious exemption request and how best to position oneself to overcome that response if at all possible.

For most of us, the first order goal is to retain employment. Second and third order goals may be to find better employment and to fight off the vast governmental encroachment that we’re seeing, but for many, the immediacy of a pay check comes first. And my aim here is to help explain what the EEOC says, which in this case is very helpful.