Sunday September 26, 2021
A small news item, tucked in the back pages of my newspaper, said that across the U.S. more and more people were citing “religious exemptions” to avoid -- well, to avoid almost anything they don’t like.
The current issue is COVID-19 vaccinations. In the past, the “religious exemption” has been used by employers to exclude abortion and family planning from health plans. To refuse to hire gays and lesbians. To reject same-sex marriages.
And so on.
According to Associated Press, “Religious objections, once used sparingly around the country… are becoming a much more widely used loophole…”
That “loophole,” says AP, “was enshrined in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which says that employers must make reasonable accommodations for employees who object to work requirements because of ‘sincerely held’ religious beliefs.”
It goes on, “A religious belief does not have to be recognized by an organized religion; it can be new, unusual, and seem illogical or unreasonable…”
I wonder if anyone cited Pastafarianism for a religious exemption.
Invented as satire
You haven’t heard of Pastafarianism? The name, obviously, is a play on Rastafarianism, a movement that originated in Jamaica about 90 years ago. It considered Haile Selassie, then the Emperor of Ethiopia, as Christ or God incarnate.
Aside from the similarity of its name, Pastafarianism has no connection with Rastfarianism, Pastafarianism was created by a graduate physics student, Bobby Henderson, in 2005. Henderson was protesting a decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution.
If “intelligent design” – the belief that an invisible God up in the sky laid out a detailed blueprint for life before time began – deserved to be taught in classrooms because it was a deeply held religious belief, and therefore equal to scientific research, Henderson demanded equal time in science classrooms for his "Flying Spaghetti Monster" in the sky.
Henderson told the Board of Education, “I don't have a problem with religion. What I have a problem with is religion posing as science.”
The Board, like Queen Victoria, was not amused.
Then, and now
Even so, Pastafarianism raises the question of what qualifies as a religion.
Is the Flying Spaghetti Monster of Pastafarianism any less credible than an angel named Moroni telling Joseph Smith where to dig some engraved gold plates out of a hillside? With Moroni’s help, Smith translated an unknown language into the Book of Mormon. His translation can’t be tested, though, because Smith returned the golden plates to Moroni. The angel hasn’t been heard from since.
Yet today, Mormonism – more correctly, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints – is the third largest established religion in the U.S., with about 17 million members worldwide.
It certainly qualifies for “religious exemptions.”
Or consider Mary Baker Eddy. In the 1800s, it was unthinkable for a mere woman to claim she understood the Bible better than men. But she declared she had found the secrets of healing in the Bible. She explicitly rejected drugs, hygiene, and medicine, because Jesus did not use these methods for healing:
But the church she founded has more followers than Joan of Arc did. Smithsonian Magazine named Eddy one of the "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time.”
I’m not implying that either Mormons or Christian Scientists use their religion to avoid obeying the law. My point is only that they are now eligible to claim a hypothetical “religious exemption,” but at one time, they wouldn’t have been.
No seal of approval
For that matter, would Jesus himself have qualified for a “religious exemption” during his lifetime?
I doubt it. The Christian gospels portray him as a maverick, an outsider. Crowds gathered to hear him. But none of the established branches of Judaism ever granted him a seal of approval.
The Roman governor of the region certainly didn’t offer Jesus an exemption for “sincerely held” religious beliefs.
These scattered examples suggest to me that the validity of a religious faith does not depend on its doctrines. Or on how “sincerely held” its members convictions are. Or even on getting an imprimatur from an existing religion.
Rather, they depend on time. If after sufficient time, the religion still has a significant body of followers, secular authorities will accept it.
The secular validates the religious.
Fifty years ago, a fellow journalist tried to have his home registered as a “house of worship,” and thus exempt from property taxes. Like Pastafarianism, his effort was designed to reveal a loophole in municipal tax laws.
If he had kept his spoof going for 50 years, secular authorities might well have considered his house church a legitimate religious expression today.
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Copyright © 2021 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved.
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Your turn
I sounded off about demonstrators harassing healthcare workers (and school teachers, later). Most of you, it would seem, supported my views. So many of your wrote that I have had to edit fairly ruthlessly.
First, the supporters.
A woman signed only as Colleen: “I love your editorial every week, but this one was remarkable! Thank you for saying what need to be said, and so eloquently.”
Penny Kirk: “Thank you, I work for Interior Health. I am tired of listening to the ill informed.”
W.W. Wilson: “My sentiments exactly.”
Ted Wilson: “We need to let Darwin’s theory of evolution do its thing. Just being somewhat intelligent isn’t enough. People need to be able to differentiate between good advice and bad.”
Penny Rankin: “I hope those who need to hear this, heed this message.”
Sue Moshier: “I’m a RN who worked for 40 years in Public Health and have felt SO ANGRY with those who will not acknowledge the benefits of this vaccine. I live in a 55 + community in Florida. Recently a couple moved in across the street. I was eager to meet them and possibly develop a friendship until I discovered that she herself was a RN who not only did not believe in masks but also refuses to take the vaccine. She ‘quit her job in ICU because they we’re making us wear masks!’”
Barbara Knechtel: “Amen.”
Clyde Harris: “Your message regarding demonstrators is well spoken. Brief, to the point, and leaving no one wondering where you stand. I am right there beside you all the way.”
John McTavish: “You usually hit the ball deep into centre. But this article, I think the ball is still soaring.”
Bob Rollwagen: “Surprised you took this long to identify the non-vaccine crowd as the idiots they are. They even make life hard for legitimate non-vaccine citizens. Front-line medical workers are not stupid; they give first attention to patients with real sickness over non vaccinated patients. This is common sense. I would make the same choice.
“The Federal Government should make assistance programs available only to vaccinated individuals. I am not sure that any citizen is free to ignore public health directives when human life of others is in question.”
Tom Watson: “I like your idea of a non-vaccination passport. People who believe they have a right not to be vaccinated should be reminded that freedom also carries responsibilities.”
Donna Mercer: “I absolutely agree with your stand and your explanation about the horrendous situation of anti-maskers. But on a different note, I have never ever felt the need to use my vehicle as a weapon even though I pass by anti-vaxxers on occasion. My only thought when I pass by is, ‘When did Scientific Research become the Enemy?’”
Oli Cosgrove: “I agree 100 percent. Only those with a valid health reason can be excused for avoiding vaccination. Other non-vaccers who tout a legal right to freedom of choice as their excuse, should note that that choice is valid only so long as it doesn’t harm others. They therefore do not have the right to refuse vaccination. I believe our provincial governments share the blame; vaccination should have been made mandatory with heavy fines for non-compliance. You don’t play around with people’s health.”
Frank Martens called the Freedom Café satire “A wonderful analogy! I agree with your view on anti-vaxxers. You might say they belong to a group of conspiracy theorists. I guess it depends on the conspiracy as to what you do or do not believe.”
(JT: Frank supports conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.)
Isabel Gibson: “If the cause is important enough to break the law, to prevent others from engaging in lawful activity/work, then we should be willing to accept the legal consequences of arrest, prosecution, and possible imprisonment. I grew up with civil disobedience in the political sphere. It seems we've lost the civil part of that.
“More broadly, I'm seeing positions hardening. On a recent visit to Alberta, I listened as some vaccinated folks ranted about the unvaccinated -- not for spreading the virus but for bumping vaccinated folks out of the queue for anything but emergency surgeries.
“Some folks want to deny medical care -- or anything beyond basic care -- to anyone with COVID-19 who has not been vaccinated.
“And yet . . . Alberta also saw a 31-year-old woman die of COVID-19 recently. Was she unvaccinated? Yes. She was also a single mother of two, with no sick leave.
“We should be able to do better than this.”
Other viewpoints
Steve Roney: “You seem to be promoting hatred against an identifiable group, rather than engaging in civil debate.”
Gary Willis challenged my tactics: “You label those who harass health-care workers as ‘ill-informed, ill-mannered, and ill-intentioned.’ Okay, that part I agree with. I see anti-vaxxers as enemies of democracy and due process.
“But your ‘Non-Vax Passport’ goes too far. It suggests that the non-vaxxers sign a contract denying them COVID treatment for ‘a disease they don’t believe exists.’ Perhaps you mean this ironically. Even so, a few readers may use your ideas as license to deny basic human rights to one category of citizens. In a civilized society, even villains have rights. We don’t execute murderers summarily, we try them with due process. Anti-vaxxers are, in my opinion, deluded and often toxic in motivation. But they are our fellow citizens.
“If I recall correctly, your Christian faith advocates that we love our enemies. Doesn’t that mean treating our enemies without malice?”
Margaret Masson: “How can you say the vaccine is a good thing when people are dying from it, getting blood clots, Anaphylaxis, heart problems, paralysis, miscarriages, Bell’s palsy -- and we still don't know what the long-term effects will be.
“Where did all these EXPERTS come from? Did you ever hear of Thalidomide? Those were experts too. So please don't say we are ignorant and ill informed. We might be a lot smarter than you.
“Keep up the good work, Mr. T. You're always good to get my blood boiling.”
John Benedictson: “Division of people in our Covid environment is Greatly enhanced when Freelance journalists such as yourself are allowed to Blatantly report your very limited & distorted personal knowledge of this Plannedemic. Your claim of Follow the Science can’t even be backed up by our Health Puppet Bonnie Henry. I hope you can take the time to Read this open letter from local Medical Professionals that may give you a better understanding of why our B.C. Government & Health Officials & Media & others are named in a Civil Suit filed Aug. 17 in the Supreme Court of B.C. for Violating Human Rights & Freedom of choice as well as Violating our Constitution. They will end up in Jail. Hopefully sooner than later.”
(JT: The capitalization is his.)
And a writer identified only as Frances: “You have been scammed by Carl Schwab's New World Order and the adherents of the UN’s World Economic Order. Please take the time to read this letter written by Okanagan Valley doctors who fear that signing their names will mean the termination of their ‘long-warned’ license.
“Can you not recognize fascism? If you are 85, surely your father told you what the Nazi’s did. You are in essence, suggesting the unvaccinated should wear yellow stars on their arms.”
(JT: Several people sent me copies of the 10-page letter to Dr. Henry. The purported letter gives no indication of how many doctors support it, let alone any names. I’m skeptical about any document that hides behind anonymity.)
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PROMOTION STUFF…
To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols. (This is to circumvent filters that think some of these links are spam.)
Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” is an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca. He set up my webpage, and he doesn’t charge enough.
I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom. She also runs beautiful pictures. Her Thanksgiving presentation on the old hymn, For the Beauty of the Earth, Is, well, beautiful -- https://www.traditionaliconoclast.com/2019/10/13/for/
Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom (NB that’s “watso” not “watson”)
ALVA WOOD ARCHIVE
The late Alva Wood’s collection of satiric and sometimes wildly funny columns about a mythical village’s misadventures now have an archive (don’t ask how this happened) on my website: http://quixotic.ca/Alva-Wood-Archive. Feel free to browse all 550 columns.