A sample letter for American workers who have already had COVID.By Elliot Resnick
October 22, 2021
To whom it may concern,
I would like to comply with the vaccination requirement, but I am unable to for religious reasons. Let me draw your attention to two facts:
1) Never in the history of vaccination campaigns have people who have already recovered from a targeted disease been asked to vaccinate themselves against it. The reason is obvious: A vaccine is designed to fool the body into thinking it is being attacked by a disease so that it can build a robust defense against it. If the actual disease, however, has already attacked the body, there’s no reason to fool it.
2) A recent scientific study found that vaccinated people are up to 13 times more likely to get COVID-19 than are people who already had COVID-19 and have recovered from it.
The Judeo-Christian tradition calls on man to use the unique divine gift with which he’s been blessed—his mind—to conduct his life. If I shut off my brain, if I ignore clear scientific data that the COVID-19 vaccine is unnecessary for me, I would be rejecting God’s gift. I would be spitting in His face. I’m sure you can understand why I am unable to do that.
Ignoring scientific evidence is problematic for me for an additional reason: In ancient times, human beings believed the world was governed by a plethora of capricious gods who needed to be appeased if one’s crops were to grow or one’s children survive illness. Human beings were helpless playthings in the hands of the gods, and thus they offered sacrifices—both animal and human—to mollify their mercurial superiors. Belief in the God of the Bible liberated man’s spirit. One god—rational and just—created the universe, and all of nature obeys His benevolent will.
Modern science rests on this very premise. As the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead writes, “[T]here can be no living science unless there is a widespread instinctive conviction in the existence of an Order Of Things. And, in particular, of an Order Of Nature.” Similarly, philosopher Loren Eisley argues that modern science rests on the assumption that it is “dealing with a rational universe controlled by a Creator.”
Thus, if I ignore scientific data—if I irrationally receive the COVID-19 vaccine despite having recovered from the disease—I would effectively be adopting the pre-biblical view of the ancient pagans who engaged in superstitious practices to ward off danger. I would be committing a form of idolatry.
Finally, I would note that according to our founding fathers, “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” This country isn’t yet run by tyrants, but the current vaccination campaign bears unmistakable totalitarian undertones. “Get the vaccine or lose your job.” That’s the message of the government. You can be a healthy 30-year-old who already had COVID, but the government doesn’t care. It wants everyone vaccinated—facts be damned.
I believe resisting such authoritarian orders is a religious imperative. As a Bible adherent, I worship one God and one God only. Only He can demand absolute obedience from me. Only He can ask me to walk with Him blindly, against all reason. No one else can. And if someone tries to, he is usurping God’s role and asking me to worship someone other than Him. I apologize, but I can’t do that.
Based on all the above, I respectfully request and firmly insist on a religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. To take the vaccine would require me to act contrary to both reason and piety, reject modern science, and irrationally submit to a mortal power. All three are religious crimes.
Sincerely,