Before You File That Religious Exemption

COVID-19 Vaccine Protest at Wake Forest Baptist Medical (2021 Aug) Anthony Crider

As cities, counties, states, schools, and businesses begin to implement vaccine mandates in response to rising Covid-19 cases,1,2,3 I have heard many Christians discuss their legal right to file a religious exemption for the vaccines. This article is a response to those who have decided or are considering that option. 

Before I go any further, please understand, this article is not to criticize, rather, I hope that this provokes thought and conversation. Many people have legitimate reasons for not receiving the vaccine; I’m not trying to make someone take the vaccine. The only goal of this article is to ask people to stop and think before they decide to file a religious exemption. If someone were to read this and consider my points, yet still decide to file, I will not argue with them, but I do request they please consider the following two questions.

Are we masking political or personal positions as religious convictions?
My main concern in regards to the invoking of religious exemption is that, for some, this is not truly a matter of religious conviction. Many seem to have approached the Covid-19 vaccine topic like many treat the Scriptures for other matters that they are passionate about: they start with a position and then search the Scriptures for a proof text to support their stance. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has encountered this, either from the pulpit or a Facebook friend (and with 100% transparency, I've done it too). It seems that many Christians had already decided that they were against the vaccine (perhaps even for good and legitimate reasons) and then, like we often do, searched the Scripture to defend their reasoning against it. We must not degrade religious liberty by masking political or personal positions as religious convictions. I’d go so far as to argue that this is akin to taking the Lord’s name in vain, something the 10 Commandments forbid (Ex. 20:7; Deut. 5:1). In addition, doing this depreciates actual matters of conscience and makes defending true instances of religious exemption even harder. Followers of Christ, must give Bible the respect it deserves by not using it as a political/personal club.  

Is this position consistent with the rest of my life?
Many Christians rightfully have a conviction against Covid vaccines because the vaccines used some form of aborted stem cells in either development or testing.4 This is a valid concern and conviction. While none of the vaccines contain fetal cells, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines both used fetal cell lines in their testing and the J&J vaccine used them in both production and testing.4 For many Christians, this creates an open and shut case. These all used aborted babies—that alone makes it a clear issue of conscience, “we will not use these treatments because we value the dignity of every human life.” Many churches and denominations, including some Catholics 5,6, have even produced letters that make this very point.7 At the same time, the Vatican8 and Christian denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC9) have advised that receiving vaccines derived from these cell lines, while not ideal, is “morally permissible.”9 Although no church governing body or denomination has formally taken a position against the vaccines, the issue of personal conscience may therefore be reason enough for an individual to file for religious exemption.

However, in my study of these vaccines, I found a more distressing fact, one I believe we must all consider: Nearly all modern medicine and even many foods were developed or tested using fetal cell lines.10 Everyday-medicines including Tylenol, Advil, Benadryl, Tums, Pepto Bismol, Albuterol, and more were all tested on a fetal cell line known as HEK-29310— and these are just the drugs found in my medicine cabinet! To follow the logic of those who claim conscience for the Covid vaccines, one must also claim conscience and not use any of these drugs either. Consistency demands so. If one’s objection to — one’s religious exemption from— the vaccine is based on the fact that the vaccines were tested on aborted babies, consistency demands that person object to the use of nearly the whole of modern medicine as well. On that note, some Christians have objected to the vaccines because other drugs such as Regeneron, Remdesivir, and Hydroxychloroquine have been touted as alternative treatments to Covid-19. While I have not researched those enough to know their efficacy, the data is clear that all three of these drugs were also tested using the HEK-293 cell line.11, 12,13,14 If fetal cell lines are a Christian’s hang up, then they must reject these treatments with them.

I’ll be honest, I did not know that so much of modern medicine is built on the foundation of aborted babies. This is information that I am still processing and grieving. I do know that science has made advancements and because of those advancements, science doesn’t need MORE abortions to get more stem cells. This should be something that we all celebrate. I hope that we can move away from using HEK-293 in the future. Advancements are being made that require no fetal cells at all, and this ought to be one of the goals of the pro-life cause. It’s not practical to reject all medicine that uses fetal cell lines, but let’s push research to find more ethical ways to conduct their research. 

So, to the Christian thinking of filing a religious exemption, ask: “Do I really have a conviction about this, or am I masking my personal or political positions as religious conviction?” and “Is my position on this consistent with the rest of my life?” Religious liberty is something that ought not be taken lightly, and because of that, Christians ought to be careful when exercising that right as in religious exemptions. When used flippantly, this only degrades those rights. Religious exemptions should not be wielded around wildly with pride and belligerence but with reverence and humble resistance.