A second, detailed primer on drafting Religious Accommodation requests, including a complete sample letter from me, and answers to the new, improved government-standard ones that are popping up now.
Jeff: I am deeply moved by your response. I am inspired by your love for God and the depth of your convictions. Your rich, powerful writing glows with them. You continue to demonstrate an intelligence, commitment and passion which make you a precious gift from God to me. Thank you for your inspiration as a role model and for your enormous contribution to freedom in what is becoming a darker world. I feel satisfaction for the financial support I have pledged to your effort. There aren’t many things that provide such great ROI. :)
Those questions that are being used in an attempt to derail people’s religious objections are foul and intrusive! As if they had the right approve or disapprove a person’s personal convictions. What more will these people stoop to?
What an amazing coincidence! You've come along with this guidance at just the right time. What about including a FEW (some examples below) Bible verses into the response? Or does this just muddy the waters?? Sincere apologies for the length of this - and in all likelihood several typos. Snark on!
Knowledge, Wisdom and Discernment come from God
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Proverbs 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding
Proverbs 3:13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding
Ephesians 5:15-17 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is
Proverbs 4:7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get insight.
Proverbs 14:16 One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless
Proverbs 15:21 Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense,
but a man of understanding walks straight ahead
Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Proverbs 18:15 An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 27:12 The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
Psalms 119:56 Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in your commandments
As it pertains to the body:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
1 Corinthians 9:27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Psalms 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I would love to see a topic on the next steps, denied Religious Exemptions and how to legally proceed. As I am in this phase. I sent a request asking the reasons for my denial and for an appeals process. The written response back was that the reasons would not be made public and there is no appeals process. They are trying to use the terminology of “separation “ instead of firing. I will not sign anything. But what are our next steps? Seems like if you work in healthcare, airline, federal, have a union or military, these people are getting help. Private employers seem to be steamrolling over us. What do we do?
This is an outstanding read. I have already submitted my religious exemption request and am now awaiting The Verdict, but I was pleased to see that I had taken a similar approach in mine, which I had an attorney review prior to submission. I fully intend to file a religious discrimination suit against my employer should they deny my accommodation request.
Should you also add into the statement what accommodations you are seeking? My job is full time telework, and I am only seeking the opportunity to continue to work as I have been, from home. There is absolutely no way that they can show that keeping me at home working with zero contact with the public or coworkers is an undue burden.
I based my letter on this solid one from the Michigan GOP 13th district. Good stuff. Make sure you correct the typos and personalize, personalize, personalize.
good advice, thank you. The Questions are probably coming from the Safer Federal Worker Task Force, which posted some "sample" questions on October 4th. Lazy agencies will just copy and paste.
Thanks Jeff. This is very helpful and timely. I will review this and the linked articles many times before drafting my exemption.
I posted this question in the other article - how would you suggest someone go about doing the exemption on moral grounds, rather than religious? I was raised Christian but have not been practicing for many years now and will not succeed if I go that route. I liked what you wrote about the "Title VII’s protections also extend nonreligious beliefs if they are related to morality, ultimate ideas about life, purpose, and death. ".
"These articles convinced me that the drugs were safe and effective at reducing the chances of serious illness and death."
I'd be lying if I wrote that in my own words. How about alternate draft wording like:
"These articles have not convinced me that the vaccines are safe and effective relative to the risk of covid, but that is not the reason for my conscientious objection."
You cite the Pope, good. Why not also cite a Protestant vax pusher like Franklin Graham?
Since you state this letter is for the purpose of creating evidence I believe that including the line which says "[t]hese articles convinced me that the drugs were safe and effective at reducing the chances of serious illness and death," is wrong and could ultimately be used against the person writing such. It is the conviction of many that these injections are clearly NOT safe. Why is the use of force by depriving an individual of livelihood insufficient legal grounds?
My feeling on this is regardless of the fetal cell use or not, the MRNA vaccine is in fact software that programs the cell to perform a function it was not designed to do. God has his own programming language in rna and dna. Everything God created was done with His word. This gene therapy changes the Word of God and is blasphemous. It goes against God’s creation from the Beginning!
Jeff: I am deeply moved by your response. I am inspired by your love for God and the depth of your convictions. Your rich, powerful writing glows with them. You continue to demonstrate an intelligence, commitment and passion which make you a precious gift from God to me. Thank you for your inspiration as a role model and for your enormous contribution to freedom in what is becoming a darker world. I feel satisfaction for the financial support I have pledged to your effort. There aren’t many things that provide such great ROI. :)
Those questions that are being used in an attempt to derail people’s religious objections are foul and intrusive! As if they had the right approve or disapprove a person’s personal convictions. What more will these people stoop to?
Thank you…. Just thank you.
I came across this educational webinar which specifically addresses Title 7 and your religious rights. Really good stuff here.
https://www.thehealthyamerican.org/
What an amazing coincidence! You've come along with this guidance at just the right time. What about including a FEW (some examples below) Bible verses into the response? Or does this just muddy the waters?? Sincere apologies for the length of this - and in all likelihood several typos. Snark on!
Knowledge, Wisdom and Discernment come from God
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Proverbs 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding
Proverbs 3:13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding
Ephesians 5:15-17 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is
Proverbs 4:7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever you get, get insight.
Proverbs 14:16 One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless
Proverbs 15:21 Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense,
but a man of understanding walks straight ahead
Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Proverbs 18:15 An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 27:12 The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
Psalms 119:56 Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in your commandments
As it pertains to the body:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
1 Corinthians 9:27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Psalms 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Re: [Key Things to Know About COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC.gov]
(https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html?s_cid=10496:cdc%20vaccine:sem.ga:p:RG:GM:gen:PTN:FY21)
Everything after .html is tracking code.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html
goes to the same page without telling 'them' who told you to go there.
I would love to see a topic on the next steps, denied Religious Exemptions and how to legally proceed. As I am in this phase. I sent a request asking the reasons for my denial and for an appeals process. The written response back was that the reasons would not be made public and there is no appeals process. They are trying to use the terminology of “separation “ instead of firing. I will not sign anything. But what are our next steps? Seems like if you work in healthcare, airline, federal, have a union or military, these people are getting help. Private employers seem to be steamrolling over us. What do we do?
This will be helpful if you live in Florida. I would assume that each state has something similar.
Civil Rights Title XLIV
https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2021/Chapter760/All
This is an outstanding read. I have already submitted my religious exemption request and am now awaiting The Verdict, but I was pleased to see that I had taken a similar approach in mine, which I had an attorney review prior to submission. I fully intend to file a religious discrimination suit against my employer should they deny my accommodation request.
Should you also add into the statement what accommodations you are seeking? My job is full time telework, and I am only seeking the opportunity to continue to work as I have been, from home. There is absolutely no way that they can show that keeping me at home working with zero contact with the public or coworkers is an undue burden.
I based my letter on this solid one from the Michigan GOP 13th district. Good stuff. Make sure you correct the typos and personalize, personalize, personalize.
https://migop13.org/blog/2021/8/20/religious-exemption-form-letter-for-covid-jab
good advice, thank you. The Questions are probably coming from the Safer Federal Worker Task Force, which posted some "sample" questions on October 4th. Lazy agencies will just copy and paste.
Thank you for sharing this valuable information
Thank you Snark King! I’ll share with friends facing this Goliath. 💪🏻👏🏻
Thanks Jeff. This is very helpful and timely. I will review this and the linked articles many times before drafting my exemption.
I posted this question in the other article - how would you suggest someone go about doing the exemption on moral grounds, rather than religious? I was raised Christian but have not been practicing for many years now and will not succeed if I go that route. I liked what you wrote about the "Title VII’s protections also extend nonreligious beliefs if they are related to morality, ultimate ideas about life, purpose, and death. ".
Excellent, as always. A couple things...
"These articles convinced me that the drugs were safe and effective at reducing the chances of serious illness and death."
I'd be lying if I wrote that in my own words. How about alternate draft wording like:
"These articles have not convinced me that the vaccines are safe and effective relative to the risk of covid, but that is not the reason for my conscientious objection."
You cite the Pope, good. Why not also cite a Protestant vax pusher like Franklin Graham?
Since you state this letter is for the purpose of creating evidence I believe that including the line which says "[t]hese articles convinced me that the drugs were safe and effective at reducing the chances of serious illness and death," is wrong and could ultimately be used against the person writing such. It is the conviction of many that these injections are clearly NOT safe. Why is the use of force by depriving an individual of livelihood insufficient legal grounds?
My feeling on this is regardless of the fetal cell use or not, the MRNA vaccine is in fact software that programs the cell to perform a function it was not designed to do. God has his own programming language in rna and dna. Everything God created was done with His word. This gene therapy changes the Word of God and is blasphemous. It goes against God’s creation from the Beginning!