Vaccination: A Voice for Personal Choice

Our Declaration of Independence states,

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Inalienable Rights
According to the Legal Dictionary, inalienable rights are “personal rights held by an individual which are not bestowed by law, custom, or belief, and which cannot be taken or given away, or transferred to another person.”  According to the U.S. Constitution, inalienable rights “cannot be taken away by legislation, as they are beyond the control of a government, being naturally given to every individual at birth, and that these rights are retained throughout life.”  

“The founding fathers intended the government of the new nation to have the sole charge of protecting the inalienable rights of its citizens, and made that clear as they stated:  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…  While there is not a specific list of rights that are considered inalienable in the Constitution, there are some rights that are generally accepted as natural rights of man.”  The list of inalienable rights from the Legal Dictionary is extensive, and the following are but a few:

•  To act in self-defense
•  To own private property
•  To work and enjoy the fruits of one’s labor
•  To move freely within the county or to another country
•  To worship or refrain from worshipping by a freely-chosen religion
•  To be secure in one’s home
•  To think freely

Today, our rights and freedoms as Americans are being threatened by both elected leaders and unelected bureaucrats who seem to be more and more out of touch with the intent of our Founding Fathers and of the long-held beliefs of their constituents.  Perhaps their wealth and financial security has led many politicians to disregard economic realities when they propose trillion-dollar legislation for “infrastructure” while further undermining our “economic infrastructure.”  Or, maybe it is their protection by walls and security personnel that causes them to disregard the importance of national borders and law enforcement.  Whatever the case, it has never been clearer that our freedoms are being threatened and will disappear entirely unless we present a well-reasoned defense of our faith, rights, and moral obligations.  [Read more about this concern in the article,  ” See HERE.]

Inalienable rights such as those listed above imply the freedom of the individual to choose within the limits of legal code.  One such “right to choose,” that regarding our personal health needs, has traditionally been granted to each adult individual based on recommendations of their physician or other medical experts. However, the development of vaccines as a strategy against the COVID-19 virus and its variants is being used to justify overriding our personal right-to-choose whether or not to be vaccinated based on our private doctor-patient relationship.  Vaccine mandates by certain employers are causing Americans to choose between being vaccinated or losing their source of income and related benefits of employment.

We should note that the concern of many Americans about COVID vaccines is not generally about whether or not the vaccine is a reasonable choice to protect one’s health.  Those who believe vaccination will protect them from the virus should be free to choose to be vaccinated; and then, not fear infection from either vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals.  The real concern and even fear on the part of many Americans is the loss of patient-doctor privacy and the freedom of each individual to choose what they allow into their bodies.

A Rationale for Exemption
If you are among those considering how to express your conviction about not being vaccinated, you should know that my friend, John, has composed a detailed statement in support of his appeal for an exemption.  He has made this statement available so others can use it as a resource, not word for word, but as a starting point to be modified to better express their own personal rationale which they can defend:

To whom it may concern,

I’m writing to inform you that I cannot take the COVID-19 vaccine due to my personal and sincerely held religious beliefs.  My faith in God is my most treasured possession.  Therefore, honoring Jesus Christ by being obedient to what I feel called to do regarding this vaccine is of utmost importance to me.  My religious belief, observance, and practice is that of a follower of Jesus Christ and I base my moral decisions on my understanding of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.  I have several sincerely held beliefs that prohibit me from ever taking this vaccine and I’ll list them below:

1 – I believe life is precious because it is a gift from God (For example: Genesis 2:7 & Gen 1:27). I don’t believe I can do anything that condones or benefits from the shedding of innocent blood.  God made it clear that shedding of blood is one of the things he hates (e.g. Proverbs 6: 16-19).  I also believe that every human being was knit together in the womb by God himself (Psalms 139:13-14). Therefore, I think abortion is murder; and therefore, I would never knowingly put anything in my body that was derived from aborted fetal cells. I also could not knowingly put anything in my body that was developed using aborted fetal cells or tissue in the testing process.  Over the years I have stopped using products that I later found out used fetal cell tissue in the development like Bayer Aspirin and Preparation-H. I feel that to knowingly use or ingest any product developed using the blood or tissue of a murdered human being would be to condone (or profit) of the killing itself.

2 – Since I believe that God fearfully and wonderfully made me and that he did not make a mistake (For example: Psalms 139:13-14). I don’t believe that I could take any product that deliberately changed or modified my DNA or RNA as that would be rejecting what God did when he created me. It would be telling my God that I need to take something to fix the code of my body and His creation.

3 – I also feel my body is a temple that God Himself started dwelling in the day I confessed my sin and asked Jesus to forgive me (For example: see John 3:16, Romans 10:9-13, Ezekiel 36:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, etc.). I am admonished in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 to glorify God in my body and treat His temple (my body) with respect by not intentionally doing anything to or with my body that would harm it.  As a practicing Christian who believes that my body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, I do not smoke cigarettes, smoke marijuana, take illegal drugs, commit adultery, or participate in any activity I deem immoral. This includes ingesting anything I believe to be harmful to my temple, including certain vaccines – particularly those that are widely reported to cause harmful side-effects, no matter how rare. To insist that I degrade my body – the Temple of the Holy Spirit – is an infringement upon my religious beliefs.

4 – Lastly, I believe that the Holy Spirit will convict me of things that would be a sin for me to do or what would be the will of my Father in heaven. (For example: John 16:8, Galatians 5:16-25, 1 Corinthians 2:11-16). I have spent much time in prayer about this vaccine and asked the Lord for wisdom and guidance. He has made it clear to me in my reading of Scripture and in my spirit as he speaks to me through the Holy Spirit that lives in me that I should not get this vaccine.

My right to not be coerced into denying my faith, beliefs, and convictions under God are fully protected rights. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1974 makes it clear that it is “illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex” and it further states that employers must “reasonably accommodate applicants' and employees' sincerely held religious practices”.  The US Constitution fully restricts the US Congress (this would extend to all agencies such as OSHA) from infringing on religious freedom at all when it clearly states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

I affirm that everything I attest to above is my personally and sincerely held religious conviction. All that I have expressed above is a true and legitimate conviction based on my understanding of the whole Bible and my personal communion with my God.  I, therefore, respectfully decline any COVID vaccine.

John Oscar Bellamy  III  ___________________

Signature of Pastor, as witness  ____________________

Care to Comment?
There is much confusion today regarding the COVID virus and vaccination.  We obviously don't have all the answers.  However, reasoned and civil dialog can be very helpful. Please feel free to use the "Comment" space below to insert your questions or add your comments. We'd like to hear from you.  Or, you can e-mail us at silviusj@gmail.com.