Religious Exemption

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Religious Exemption

Religious exemptions are laws and policies that have been put in place to allow individuals not to comply with state laws that may be contradicting their religious beliefs. Individuals, churches, or organizations are expected to seek exemption from these laws by following the required protocol to acquire an exemption letter. However, other favorable policies are created to supplement the ones they have been exempted from. For instance, an individual may not want to take the Covid-19 vaccine due to their religious beliefs, underlying medical conditions, or even personal autonomy but instead will need to strictly follow the guidelines of prevention of the spread of covid. Religious differences can be a point of division in a country and if other people’s religious beliefs are not respected then there will be no peace among the people. Therefore, exempting people from the state laws that may seem to be burdening their religious beliefs is one way of promoting peace in a country.

Religious exemptions or any other kind of exemptions will always come at a cost. If the state is helping you get rid of a burden on your religious faith or belief then you should also be willing to commit to a different burden that does not affect your religious stand. The Covid-19 vaccine has brought the biggest challenge upon the ministry of health whereby everyone is supposed to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the virus, but many people have had the issue of wanting to be exempted from taking that vaccine-based on their health or religious beliefs. These are genuine concerns that an individual may be suffering from a health condition that does not allow them to take the vaccine. Religious beliefs also have to be taken into consideration if the vaccine does not align with their beliefs, for instance, how or the products used for its manufacture. As much as many options have been put down to deal with both the religious beliefs and underlying health conditions, the personal autonomy of an individual is still at play and should be respected.

Therefore, democracy is put to test here and the government and law enforcers have to be keen when handling these issues. The consequences of being exempted from taking the vaccine may include being restricted from public places such as restaurants, always putting on masks around people even indoors, and maybe even not taking up some job positions. This will be a fair point of intersection between state laws and religious beliefs if at all it is worth it. Before covid-19 happened, religious exemptions were in existence and people whose beliefs were burdened by the state laws were exempted. For instance, the flu season happened three years ago. The health workers who could not take the vaccination were asked to use face masks throughout their time of duty and use PPEs effectively to avoid contracting or spreading the flu. It was also the responsibility of the individual to report in case they experience any symptoms of the flu. The covid virus cannot be an exception; the same precautions can be taken for people who do not want to get vaccinated because of their beliefs, health conditions, or personal autonomy.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, allows an individual or organization to seek or request an exemption if the laws contradict with their religious beliefs that they sincerely hold. I would like to be exempted from getting the covid vaccination because of my underlying health condition and trying to cheat my immunity for the moment without knowing the long-term effects does not sit well with me. Also, my religious belief does not allow me to take the vaccine especially with the fact that it has been manufactured from experimenting on fetal cells. Lastly, my autonomy is a clear point that my right to make a moral judgment about my health and decline what I do not need. Therefore, I request that you respectfully accept my exemption for I will take extra precautions in ensuring the prevention of spreading covid-19 even in my line of duty as a health worker.