{"id":799907,"date":"2021-09-21T20:58:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T00:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=799907"},"modified":"2021-09-21T20:58:56","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T00:58:56","slug":"vaccine-inquisitions-as-covid-vaccination-mandates-increase-religious-exemptions-come-under-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/vaccine-inquisitions-as-covid-vaccination-mandates-increase-religious-exemptions-come-under-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaccine Inquisitions? As COVID Vaccination Mandates Increase, Religious Exemptions Come Under Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvaccine-inquisitions-as-covid-vaccination-mandates-increase-religious-exemptions-come-under-fire%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=799907&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>Thousands of Americans are seeking religious exemptions to vaccine mandates. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><span class=\"field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden\">Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, U.S. employers are required to accommodate their employee\u2019s \u201csincerely held\u201d religious beliefs \u2014 including potential religious objections to a vaccine.&nbsp;<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cPublic institutions should not act like inquisitorial boards, quizzing people\u2019s religious beliefs and trying to find holes because somebody has a different view of things,\u201d said Roger Severino, former director of the Office of Civil Rights. \u201cIf separation of church and state means anything, it means that state institutions don\u2019t second guess to try to resolve religious truths.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Columbia University\u2019s Robert Klitzman shared a tragic story with CNN Saturday of a woman riddled with cancer who reportedly refused to undergo medical procedures, relied on the power of prayer, and ultimately died.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer religious belief contributed to her death, unfortunately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Klitzman, who directs Columbia\u2019s bioethics masters program, <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/18\/cnn-religious-covid-vaccine-exemptions\/\">stressed<\/a> that employees should not be able to easily obtain religious exemptions from President Joe Biden\u2019s vaccine mandates, pointing to the extreme beliefs of jihadists and noting, \u201cthere are limits in our society to how far religious beliefs can go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also suggested that the Biden administration should create \u201cguidelines\u201d to decide whether Americans\u2019 religious objections measure up. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/16\/joe-biden-vaccine-mandate-goes-too-far-poll\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: POLL: 48% Of Americans Say Biden\u2019s Vaccine Mandates Go Too Far)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe problem is a lot of religious exemptions that people are claiming\u2026are based on myths,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople saying, for instance, \u2018all vaccines are made using fetal cells, and I\u2019m pro-life.\u2019 That\u2019s simply not true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A Biden administration official told the Daily Caller News Foundation Tuesday afternoon that protecting religious Americans \u201cwill be part of the policy process,\u201d but did not further explain the remark. From the briefing room, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/press-briefings\/2021\/09\/09\/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-september-9-2021\/\">confirmed<\/a> that some individuals may receive religious exemptions from the Biden mandate.<\/p>\n<p>But pressure from activists and mandate-minded lawmakers suggests that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/wysk\/what-you-should-know-about-covid-19-and-ada-rehabilitation-act-and-other-eeo-laws\">religious objections<\/a> of Americans may face more serious inquisition in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much can we ask? How far can we push? Do we have to accommodate this? Those are the questions employers are trying to figure out,\u201d Society for Human Resource Management adviser Barbara Holland <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/09\/11\/us\/covid-vaccine-religion-exemption.html\">told the New York Times<\/a>. \u201cHow do I tease out who\u2019s not telling the truth?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters in early September that she was unaware \u201cof a sanctioned religious exemption from any organized religion,\u201d dismissing the idea that healthcare workers could be religiously exempt from the state\u2019s vaccine mandate. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/20\/vatican-pope-francis-covid-vaccine-passport-italy\/\">(RELATED: Pope Francis Orders COVID Passport For Vatican Visitors)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7286911\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"35\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7286911\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks to the media during her swearing in ceremony at the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York on August 24, 2021.&nbsp; (Photo by ANGELA WEISS\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201c<span class=\"m_-8520364800846946101DefaultParagraphFont\">To the extent that there\u2019s leadership of different religious organizations that have spoken, and they have, I\u2019m not aware of a sanctioned religious exemption from any organized religion,\u201d Hochul said. \u201cIn fact, they\u2019re encouraging the opposite. They\u2019re encouraging their members, everybody from the <span class=\"il\">Pope<\/span> on down, is encouraging people to get vaccinated. <\/span><span class=\"m_-8520364800846946101DefaultParagraphFont\">So people will say what they choose.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But neither the governor of New York nor or any employer has the authority to tell an individual what he or she believes, Ethics and Public Policy Center senior fellow Roger Severino told the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>Should an employer rebut the religious objection of a Catholic employee by noting that the pope had encouraged Catholics to get vaccinated, Severino told the DCNF, that would amount to religious discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor employers to say, \u2018you are wrong\u2019 about your own beliefs is a) arrogant and b) discriminatory because people are entitled to their own religious beliefs,\u201d Severino said. \u201cEven if they disagree with their own religious leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/joe-biden-health-religion-los-angeles-arkansas-3ba53f2f00e1ab7105d7d128f2b1e65d\">Many thousands of Americans<\/a> are seeking religious exemptions to vaccine mandates, citing reports that some of the vaccines were developed using aborted fetal cell lines. Objectors also cite concerns over the haste with which the vaccines were made, anxieties over the vaccines\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/27\/covid-vaccine-fertility-women-cdc\/\">effects<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/08\/cdc-exploratory-work-vaccines-menstrual-irregularities\/\">fertility<\/a>, and distaste for the authoritarian government mandates.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden\">Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, U.S. employers are required to accommodate their employee\u2019s \u201csincerely held\u201d religious beliefs \u2014 including potential religious objections to a vaccine.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPublic institutions should not act like inquisitorial boards, quizzing people\u2019s religious beliefs and trying to find holes because somebody has a different view of things,\u201d said Severino, who is the former director of the Office of Civil Rights at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).&nbsp; \u201cIf separation of church and state means anything, it means that state institutions don\u2019t second guess to try to resolve religious truths.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Workplace Religious Accommodations: What Are They?<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"im\">There is longstanding legal precedent for workplace religious accommodations to be taken as sincere, Religious Freedom &amp; Business Foundation President Brian Grim told the DCNF.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"im\">\u201c<\/span>They are viewed as personal religious convictions rather than ecclesiastical, in other words, matters of conscience rather than doctrine per se, given that there is wide variety in how people put to practice their faiths,\u201d Grim said. \u201cThe question then becomes whether the accommodation request puts an undue burden on the employer, who is also protected by law and responsible for the health and well-being of all employees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/laws\/guidance\/section-12-religious-discrimination#h_9546543277761610748655186\">warns that<\/a> \u201cwhether or not a religious belief is sincerely held by an applicant or employee is rarely at issue in many types of Title VII religious claims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor example,\u201d the guidance said, \u201cwith respect to an allegation of discriminatory discharge or harassment, it is the motivation of the discriminating official, not the actual beliefs of the individual alleging discrimination, that is relevant in determining if the discrimination that occurred was because of religion.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7286910\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"35\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7286910\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7286910 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-902550834-scaled-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-902550834-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-902550834-176x120.jpg 176w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-902550834-620x423.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-902550834-768x525.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-902550834-1536x1049.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-902550834-2048x1399.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7286910\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The early morning sun lights up the sky over the White House on January 8, 2018 in Washington, DC.&nbsp; (Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Neither the commission nor the courts should \u201cbe in the business of deciding whether a person holds religious beliefs for the \u2018proper\u2019 reasons,\u201d the guidance said, but they may examine whether the individual\u2019s motives or reasons for holding the belief. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/19\/archdiocese-philadelphia-priests-catholics-vaccines-exemptions\/\">(RELATED: Archdiocese Of Philadelphia Orders Priests Not To Give Catholics Vaccine Exemptions)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An individual would not be deemed insincere in his belief just because he is not scrupulous in his observance, the guidance notes, but an employee\u2019s credibility could be undermined by behaving \u201cin a manner markedly inconsistent with the professed belief,\u201d if the accommodation the individual is seeking would have a \u201cparticularly desirable benefit that is likely to be sought for secular reasons,\u201d if the timing of the religious objection is suspect, or the employer has other reasons to believe the \u201caccommodation is not sought for religious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>None of these factors are final, however: an individual may inconsistently practice his faith but still hold sincerely held beliefs, or an individual may have \u201cForgone his or her sincerely held religious practice\u201d out of fear of discrimination, according to the EEOC guidance.<\/p>\n<h3>How Far Can The Biden Administration Go?<\/h3>\n<p>Legal experts at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) are evaluating what the Biden administration mandates mean for religious employers and churches. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2020\/12\/21\/vatican-coronavirus-vaccines-morally-acceptable-abortion\/\">(RELATED: Vatican Declares Coronavirus Vaccines \u2018Morally Acceptable\u2019)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"m_-8419193262620798567xmsonormal\">\u201cShould these mandates encroach on the First Amendment freedoms and autonomy of religious institutions, ADF stands ready to challenge the administration in federal court,\u201d ADF President and CEO Michael Farris and General Counsel Kristen Waggoner said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Some have already taken the mandates to court.<\/p>\n<p>In early September, a group of 17 health professionals represented by the Thomas More Society sued New York and Hochul, accusing the state of violating Title VII and Constitutional rights through its vaccination mandate and by disavowing religious exemptions.<\/p>\n<p>The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/526685623\/Judge-Grants-Restraining-Order-To-Medical-Workers-Suing-Hochul-NY-Over-Religious-Objections\">granted a temporary restraining order<\/a> to the medical workers Sept. 14, barring the New York Department of Health \u201cfrom interfering in any way with the granting of religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"View New York Medical Workers Sue New York Over Religious Exemptions on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/525289570\/Health-Care-Worker-Lawsuit-Against-State#from_embed\">New York Medical Workers Su\u2026<\/a> by <a title=\"View Mary Margaret Olohan&#039;s profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/user\/506904746\/Mary-Margaret-Olohan#from_embed\">Mary Margaret Olohan<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hochul, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF, has until Sept. 22 to respond in court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat New York is attempting to do is slam shut an escape hatch from an unconstitutional vaccine mandate,\u201d Thomas More Society Special Counsel attorney Christopher Ferrara <a href=\"https:\/\/thomasmoresociety.org\/new-york-health-workers-ask-federal-court-for-relief-from-compulsory-covid-vaccines\/\">said in a Sept. 14 statement<\/a>. \u201cAnd they are doing this while knowing that many people have sincere religious objections to vaccines that were tested, developed, or produced with cell lines derived from aborted children.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Vaccines And Abortion-Derived Cell Lines<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lozierinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/12.02.20-warp-speed-vaccines.pdf\">Analysis by the Charlotte Lozier Institute<\/a> (CLI) released in December 2020 found that the AstraZeneca and Johnson &amp; Johnson use abortion-derived cell lines in development, production, and lab testing.<\/p>\n<p>Pfizer\/BioNTech, Moderna, Novavax, and Inovio use abortion-derived cells in some tests but do not use abortion-derived cells in other tests, the analysis found, but these four do not use abortion-derived cell lines in development or production of the vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>CLI Vice President Dr. David Prentice previously told the DCNF that when abortion-derived cell lines are used in the production of a vaccine, that means the cells are \u201cdirectly involved in making the final product, the vaccine that is injected in our arms.\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2020\/12\/03\/covid-vaccines-produced-tested-using-aborted-baby-cells-according-pro-life-institute\/\">(RELATED: Here\u2019s Which COVID Vaccines Are Produced, Tested Using Aborted Baby Cells, According To A Pro-Life Institute)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an essential element for the final vaccine,\u201d Prentice said. \u201cAlthough the connection is distant both in time and space, since the abortion occurred decades ago and the cells have been grown in the lab ever since, that connection to abortion remains and is of concern to many Americans. \u201d<\/p>\n<p>Laboratory testing using abortion-derived cell lines is potentially less morally problematic, since it is \u201canther step removed\u201d Prentice said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen an abortion-derived cell line is used in laboratory testing, that is not done within the production line,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a confirmatory test done on the final vaccine, to validate what the scientists believe they\u2019ve produced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thousands of Americans are seeking religious exemptions to vaccine mandates. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, U.S. employers are required to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-799907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}