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.
I am not an employment lawyer so take this for what it is (a non-expert’s opinion and not legal advice at all), but I agree with everything you and your prominent lawyer friend said. Some employers even have forms that essentially just require you to affirm that you have a religious belief that prevents you from complying with the requirement.
I won’t be going into detail like you plan to do, but if you choose to do so, you should be fine as long as you accurately convey your religious beliefs (again, whether spiritual, moral, and/or ethical).
Good luck to all. And don’t forget to find others of like mind and like courage at your workplace if at all possible. It doesn’t matter whether their religious views are your views; it only matters that they’ll stand up for their sincere and deeply held spiritual, ethical, and/or moral beliefs alongside you when the time comes.