{"id":807663,"date":"2021-09-23T21:43:31","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T01:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=807663"},"modified":"2021-09-23T21:43:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T01:43:34","slug":"leaked-documents-show-coast-guards-plan-to-grill-service-members-over-religious-vaccine-exemption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/leaked-documents-show-coast-guards-plan-to-grill-service-members-over-religious-vaccine-exemption\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaked Documents Show Coast Guard\u2019s Plan To Grill Service Members Over Religious Vaccine Exemption"},"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\">28<\/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%2Fleaked-documents-show-coast-guards-plan-to-grill-service-members-over-religious-vaccine-exemption%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=807663&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--><div><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Guidance reportedly crafted by military attorneys urged Coast Guard chaplains to grill service members on their religious beliefs and practices, draft documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cNote any comments made by the member that make it appear they are using the religious exemption as a ruse to avoid the vaccine,\u201d the guidance said.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Ethics and Public Policy Center senior fellow Roger Severino told the DCNF Thursday that the guidance is \u201cone of the worst Establishment Clause violations\u201d he has seen in his lifetime.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Guidance reportedly crafted by military attorneys urged Coast Guard chaplains to grill service members on their religious beliefs in attempts to discover whether a service member\u2019s religious exemption is a \u201cruse,\u201d draft documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important to provide context in the memo discussing the member\u2019s belief,\u201d the draft documents said. \u201cIf they come to the meeting and begin by discussing concerns about safety, politics, etc., note that in the memo. Even if the member eventually states that it is a belief based on religion, note their first expression and how they moved from non-religious beliefs to religious ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNote any comments made by the member that make it appear they are using the religious exemption as a ruse to avoid the vaccine,\u201d the guidance continued. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/23\/catholic-vote-religious-exemptions-vaccine-mandate\/\">(RELATED: Catholic Vote President: Government Has \u2018No Authority\u2019 To Tell Americans \u2018What They Can Or Cannot Believe\u2019)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The legal religious liberty organization First Liberty Institute obtained the documents from Coast Guard chaplains who wish to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisal, First Liberty told the DCNF. General Counsel Mike Berry said that Coast Guard military attorneys produced the guidance and sent it to the chaplains.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAcross the entire DOD the services are requiring people who have a religious objection to the vaccine mandate, if they submit a request for a religious exemption, to undergo a series of what they\u2019re calling interviews with medical providers and chaplains,\u201d Berry said in a Thursday phone interview.<\/p>\n<p>The First Liberty general counsel compared the documents to a \u201cmodern day Spanish Inquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLegally, the only thing that\u2019s required of a service member is just that they show that they have a sincerely held religious belief and that whatever the government is doing places a substantial burden on that religious belief,\u201d Berry said. \u201cSo that\u2019s all they have to show. And then after that, the burden completely shifts to the government to overcome that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"View Chaplain Religious Accommodation Questions on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/527146953\/Chaplain-Religious-Accommodation-Questions#from_embed\">Chaplain Religious Accommod\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>\u201cThis is one of the worst Establishment Clause violations I have seen in my lifetime,\u201d Ethics and Public Policy Center senior fellow Roger Severino told the DCNF Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Severino, who served as the former director of the Office of Civil Rights at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said that government bureaucrats \u201chave no business being the arbiters of religious truth claims for any religion, let alone <i>all&nbsp;<\/i>religions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese junior varsity inquisitors make atrocious theologians and their anti-religious freedom agenda is as clear as it is arrogant,\u201d he added. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/21\/religious-exemption-objection-vaccine\/\">(RELATED: Vaccine Inquisitions? As COVID Vaccination Mandates Increase, Religious Exemptions Come Under Fire)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Under the draft guidance, chaplains are told to have members specifically describe how they \u201cconsistently keep the tenets of their faith\u201d in their daily life and to \u201cput the specific acts (or lack thereof) in the memo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsk whether the member is part of any particular religious faith,\u201d the draft said. \u201cIf yes, ask whether their religious leaders have spoken on the issue and have taken a position one way or the other on the vaccine. If the member is not sure, ask whether the member wants to explore that question or discuss it with their faith leaders prior to continuing to pursue their request.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The guidance also provides chaplains with \u201cTable 1,\u201d which contains a \u201csampling\u201d of religious leaders condoning COVID-19 vaccination: Judaism, Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Island, Evangelical Christianity, Hindu, Orthodox Christianity, and Mormonism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the member indicates he\/she is part of one of the following faiths, consult Table 1 and discuss with them the quotes from the religious leaders cited therein,\u201d the guidance said. \u201cAsk how their beliefs differ from those of the religious leaders. Note their response in the memo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Should a service member be Catholic, for example, the guidance suggests that the chaplain refer to the section \u201cCatholic Christianity\u201d on Table 1 and read a Vatican statement to the service member noting that it is \u201cmorally acceptable\u201d to receive the vaccine. &nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/18\/cnn-religious-covid-vaccine-exemptions\/\">(RELATED: CNN Expert Wants Biden Admin To Create \u2018Guidelines\u2019 To Weed Out Fake Religious Vaccine Exemptions)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If the service member is Muslim, the guidance suggests referring the service member to the \u201cIslam\u201d section of Table 1, which links to a March news report on 16 Minnesota imams getting vaccinated on camera \u201cto make their message loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cImam Hassan Ali Mohamud thought of a passage from the Qur\u2019an,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/sahanjournal.com\/coronavirus\/minnesota-imams-vaccination-event\/\">the Sahan Journal report said<\/a>. \u201cSaving one person\u2019s life is equal to saving all of humanity, according to the often cited passage. Which means it\u2019s fairly easy to argue that receiving the vaccine is a religious duty, Hassan said.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"View Draft Guidance Table 1 on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/527147701\/Draft-Guidance-Table-1#from_embed\">Draft Guidance Table 1<\/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>If a service member is not from an organized religion, the guidance instructs the chaplain to have that member explain \u201cthe underlying tenants and core beliefs of their faith, and how they practice that faith in their day-to-day life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The guidance instructs chaplains to continue to push for more information about the service member\u2019s faith: if the service member worships with others, whether those who the service member worships with have been vaccinated, whether the service member wants to discuss vaccinations with his fellow vaccinated worshippers, how long the service member has practiced their religion, whether the service member has explored their faith enough, and more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsk what makes this refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19 such an important part of their religion or their religious beliefs,\u201d the guidance said. \u201cIf the member starts to speak about safety, political, or ethical concerns, as opposed to religious concerns, note that in the memo. Ask how long they have held their current religious beliefs or been part of their current religious faith.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/joe-biden-health-religion-los-angeles-arkansas-3ba53f2f00e1ab7105d7d128f2b1e65d\">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. The guidance specifically mentions this hesitancy, telling chaplains to ask members \u201cif they have done research on the fetal cell development,\u201d and provides a list of questions about the development of the vaccines and fetal cell lines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf seeking exemption based on use of stem or fetal cells, ask whether the member has taken any other medicine that were developed and tested using fetal cells,\u201d the guidance said. \u201cIf yes, ask what kind. If no, ask if they have ever taken Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Benadryl, or Claritin, all of which were developed using fetal cells.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsk whether they are also going to be refraining from any of these medications and from all products whose development involved fetal cells at some point,\u201d the guidance continued. \u201cNote response in memo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The guidance specifically references members who may be seeing an exemption by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1%20Corinthians%206%3A19-20&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quoting the Bible passage<\/a>, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: \u201c<span id=\"en-NIV-28487\" class=\"text 1Cor-6-19\">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;<\/span><span id=\"en-NIV-28488\" class=\"text 1Cor-6-20\"><sup class=\"versenum\">&nbsp;<\/sup>you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If a service member references this passage, chaplains should ask \u201cwhat steps they take to ensure that other foreign substances are not introduced into the body,\u201d the guidance said.<\/p>\n<p>The guidance continued: \u201cFor those members with visible tattoos, ask how they reconcile that act with their beliefs. Ask whether their religion supports altruism and protection of others, or making sacrifices to help others. If yes, ask whether they have considered that this act could be viewed as protecting others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/laws\/guidance\/section-12-religious-discrimination#h_9546543277761610748655186\">warns that<\/a>&nbsp;\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<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.&nbsp;<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<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>Guidance reportedly crafted by military attorneys urged Coast Guard chaplains to grill service members on their religious beliefs and practices, draft documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show. &#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-807663","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\/807663","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=807663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807663\/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=807663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}