No one is really surprised that MSNBC is publishing a piece like this, right?
Covid vaccine religious exemptions should not exist. Here’s why.
The law defending religious exemptions for vaccine mandates doesn’t exist.
The law allows for vaccine requirements without religious exemptions. Not only that, but morality mandates it. Therefore, we should abolish religious exemptions for vaccine mandates. Religious objections to vaccines are not a license to kill.
The Constitution is not a roadblock for such vaccine mandates. We have a strong tradition of protecting the freedom of religion in our country, as we should. The First Amendment specifically guarantees that the government cannot prohibit “the free exercise†of religion. In plain English, that means every individual has the right to hold their own religious beliefs and to engage in actions or practices in support of those religious beliefs without government intrusion.
Except the First Amendment doesn’t exactly mean that. The freedom of belief is absolute, but the freedom to engage in actions in support of that belief is not — nor should it be.
OK, let’s apply that to Freedom of the Press. MSNBC and writer Jessica Levinson would be fine with Government restricting what they publish, right?
Why aren’t the protections afforded to individuals under the free exercise of religion absolute? Because that would actually harm the rule of law, public safety and general welfare. As far back as the late 19th century, the Supreme Court has acknowledged it would be absurd to allow people to opt out of many generally applicable laws by simply claiming their religious beliefs compelled contrary action. In 1879, the court correctly posited, “Suppose one believed that human sacrifices were a necessary part of religious worship; would it be seriously contended that the civil government under which he lived could not interfere to prevent a sacrifice?â€
It’s a cute attempt at making a point, but, there’s a vast difference between refusing to take the vaccine, apparently because it uses aborted fetal tissue (personally, I believe it is not a good argument, as discussed here, but, it’s not my authority to deny them their deeply held religious beliefs), and cutting someone’s beating heart out of their chest to sacrifice to the sky god.
So we know the government can sometimes impose regulations, even if those regulations burden actions taken in furtherance of religious beliefs. But when? The Supreme Court concluded in 1940, “Conduct remains subject to regulation for the protection of society.â€
Call me crazy (and I’m sure many will after this column) but the “protection of society†would surely seem to include obtaining a vaccine to protect oneself and others from a deadly virus. This is perhaps the quintessential example of the government having a compelling interest to enact a law, even if it arguably burdens the freedom of religion in some narrow cases.
Again, let’s apply this to the Press: how would MSNBC like the state of Texas to censor their broadcasts and website, in the name of “protection of society”? Remember, each state has its own Constitution, which protects freedom of religion and freedom of the press. Jessica would be fine with this, right?
It’s a very slippery slope, which is simply mean to do away with religious freedoms.
The constitutional protection for the free exercise of religion enshrined in the First Amendment isn’t the only law to consider when talking about vaccine mandates and religious exemptions. When it comes to the employer-employee relationship, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act also kicks in to protect employees from discrimination on the basis of religion. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission specifically provided that as long as an employer complies with Title VII, federal disability laws and “other EEO considerations,†federal equal employment opportunity laws allow employers to require “all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19.â€
The 1st Amendment is not a law. These people are nuts.
We know how to protect ourselves and each other. There is no reason nor any constitution to prevent us from doing so.
Yeah, there actually is.
Read: MSNBC: Religious Exemptions For Vaccine Mandates Shouldn’t Exist Or Something »