More than 12,000 military service members refusing the COVID-19 vaccine are seeking religious exemptions, and so far they're having zero success.
Head National Guard chaplain Col. Larry Bazer, deputy director of the chaplain office, left, and Chaplain Maj. A'Shellarien Lang, right, speak at the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va., Friday, Dec. 17, 2021.
Caught in the middle are chaplains, who must balance the desire to offer compassionate care and guidance to personnel with the need to explain a complicated process that may well be futile. They also must assess requests from those who may be using religion as an excuse to avoid a vaccine that, while credited with preventing needless deaths, has become politically charged.
In addition to discussions with chaplains to determine whether they have a “sincerely held belief,” troops must meet with commanders and medical personnel. The final decision is made higher up the chain of command and is also based on whether the person’s vaccine exemption will pose a risk to mission accomplishment, unit cohesion, theEven in the past, few troops have cleared those hurdles to get religious exemptions.
An Air Force reservist who requested a religious exemption said she's aware of none approved so far, and she is not optimistic. The reservist, who asked that her name be withheld for privacy reasons, said her chaplain was very straightforward, laying out the process and noting the lack of approvals.Sutter and Col.
“If in their heart and their mind, they say this is God’s will for my life, and if the answer is no, it’s going to shatter that faith because there’s no balance. There’s no room for God to say no,” she said. “When I create the space to say what if God says no, then that opens up another whole level of faith conversation.”
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