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LDS leaders tell church staff that there is no vaccine exemption in the religion
- Thread starter Syriel
- Start date
I'm always surprised to hear that they're okay with vaccinations, but I guess Mormons being for it is less surprising than Jehovah's Witnesses (who haven't been anti-vaxx since the 1950s).
Not that it really matters. If someone wants to have a religious exemption to a vaccine it's a short trip to pull one from their ass.
Not that it really matters. If someone wants to have a religious exemption to a vaccine it's a short trip to pull one from their ass.
Even if they do overarching with the religion itself it really doesnt work. unless you have an edict like the jehovah witnesses and no blood transfusions yeah prob aint gonna be accepted even if someone sues they cant even use the Bible lol.
Considering that most of these churches don't have long standing, sincere opposition to vaccines (generally a requirement for receiving an exemption), good luck to their members in trying to convince their employers that Covid vaccines are somehow different than all the other vaccines which they've probably already received in the past.
Mormon members are, by and large, loyal only to their church and none others.
Only 15% according to wikipedia, making them the second largest group. They also have a wide variety of sub-denominations, ranging from fundamental to mainline.
Religious Landscape Study
Explore the geographic distribution and demographics of America's major religious groups.
www.pewforum.org
It looks like Baptists make up ~15 spread out among several groups.. As far as the highest for a single denomination in America it is the Catholic Church still.
I know Catholic Dioceses have been sending out letters to members telling them there will be no exemptions offered as the Pope has deemed the vaccine a moral necessity for the common good of all. They are still leaving an out thought saying you must decide based on your conscious. So anti-vax will anti-vax
The Southern Baptist Association (SBA) is the biggest Protestant denomination in the US. They veer conservative in both creeds and politics. For example, women cannot be pastors in the SBA.
But there are other baptists outside that one. Christianity is complex lol. Baptist just means they believe in adult baptism unlike Catholics and Presbyterians, who practice infant baptism.
You can see some non-denominational evangelical churches handing out exemption forms and such but even then it's very likely that they are not providing their congregation any institutional or doctrinal support they can point to, just something like 'guidance for your personal beliefs'. That is to say, super squish and something that will keep them out of trouble.
Institutional denominations aren't touching this, it's too close to politics/worldly matters and would yoke the public perception of the faith along those hard worldly boundaries.
Institutional denominations aren't touching this, it's too close to politics/worldly matters and would yoke the public perception of the faith along those hard worldly boundaries.
The LDS Church, for all its flaws, has a civic-mindedness that a lot of American churches lack. This is a good example of it.
I always felt like the LDS church is still run by true believers (however horrible and twisted many of those beliefs are) in contrast to many American evangelical churches which are all about the rightwing grift now and have been for decades.
Active LDS member here: our faith is definitely unique in that a fundamental, foundational belief is the idea of continual, personal revelation. That God can and does speak directly to individuals. There is a fine line though, when that 'revelation' runs counter to established doctrine, principles, or official church policies. We are supposed to reject those 'revelations' as either internal bias/hopes, or outright deception by Satan.
"All faithful members are entitled to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for themselves, their families, and for those over whom they are appointed and ordained to preside. But anything at discord with that which comes from God through the head of the Church is not to be received as authoritative or reliable. In secular as well as spiritual affairs, Saints may receive Divine guidance and revelation affecting themselves, but this does not convey authority to direct others, and is not to be accepted when contrary to Church covenants, doctrine or discipline, or to known facts, demonstrated truths, or good common sense." - Harold B. Lee, October General Conference, 1972.
I teach teen kids for the church, and I stressed this quote this year to them. Vaccines have been labelled a literal Godsend by our Prophet. They are supported by verifiable science and facts. As such, there is no room for 'personal revelation' from God telling you they aren't safe and should be rejected.
"All faithful members are entitled to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for themselves, their families, and for those over whom they are appointed and ordained to preside. But anything at discord with that which comes from God through the head of the Church is not to be received as authoritative or reliable. In secular as well as spiritual affairs, Saints may receive Divine guidance and revelation affecting themselves, but this does not convey authority to direct others, and is not to be accepted when contrary to Church covenants, doctrine or discipline, or to known facts, demonstrated truths, or good common sense." - Harold B. Lee, October General Conference, 1972.
I teach teen kids for the church, and I stressed this quote this year to them. Vaccines have been labelled a literal Godsend by our Prophet. They are supported by verifiable science and facts. As such, there is no room for 'personal revelation' from God telling you they aren't safe and should be rejected.
They did so just last month: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-message-covid-19-august-2021
This letter was read aloud in every congregation across the world last month.
Utah is a mess because far too many church members are willfully ignoring their own religious leaders; instead following bad advice from conservative grifters and bullshit disinformation spread on social media. I don't live in Utah, but I have family there and more than a handful of them have fallen down that COVID denying social media rabbit hole. It's so disappointing to see.
How am Iiving in a world where I actually say out loud. The LDS are talking sense.
Fucking hell America.
Fucking hell America.
THIS.
The top level Mormon leadership has been really good on Covid response from the beginning. They shut down church meetings pretty much immediately and when they started to allow them again, stressed masks and social distancing. They were publicly vaccinated quickly once the vaccine was available and have encouraged people repeatedly to also do it.
There's a lot that I take issue with the LDS church on currently, but their Covid response isn't one of those things. The problem is a LOT of people who claimed that they would go die if the church leadership told them to are now saying things like, "Well, I disagree with this decision, the church shouldn't be so political," and other nonsense.
It's really tragic, IMO. I was raised Mormon and while my stance with them now is... complicated, it's really hard to see a lot of people I grew up respecting devolve into absolute madness.
There were many reports of it not being read in many congregations.
That said, the mormon leadership does appear to at least be taking a stance and slowly starting to push it. Which has also lead to an increase of individuals saying the mormon prophet "is not a true prophet" by hard-core deniers :D
Ha, yeah.
Plus there's not a unified evangelical leadership, so there's nobody who can overrule the crazies.
I thought Mormons loved it when the church gets political and directs their congregations to take action. I guess that's only applies when they want to use their influence to make the world a harder place for marginalized people. Funny how that works. 🤷
Sorry, but as a queer person raised in this church and had to escape their biological family because of its dangerous teachings when it comes to LGBTQ+ anything, it is extremely difficult to muster empathy and cheer here. I guess I'm glad they're urging "staff" to get vaxxed, but the poster above is right. They should be telling everyone to get it. Any LDS people pretending that it's too "political" have a real short memory.
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Anti-vaxxers aren't being selfish though. They're not being cheap or greedy. They're just massively, viciously ignorant; and constantly victimized by liars in positions of political or social power.
It's not selfish to believe covid is a hoax, or to believe that vaccines cause monsterism. It's not selfish to be brainwashed by the real fucking villains out there.
And this message was given just 2 weeks ago: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/08/23/byu-teachers-are-expected/
The vast majority of Americans are Christian, and a majority of those are Protestant, but Protestantism (and Christianity writ large) are extremely granular. The largest Protestant denomination is Baptist, which is further subdivided into multiple smaller denominations. The largest denomination overall, however, is Catholic, by far.
Religious Landscape Study
Explore the geographic distribution and demographics of America's major religious groups.
It looks like Baptists make up ~15 spread out among several groups.. As far as the highest for a single denomination in America it is the Catholic Church still.
which said take it back in December of last year.
Seconded this entire paragraph lol. I used the same quite and premise lol. There are a few antivaxxers in my ward and i definitely wanted to underline that there's no room in the church for "personal revelation that contradicts the word of God"
I've lived in Utah my whole life, many of those years as a Mormon (past tense). The personal revelation aspect of the church, and when the prophet is "speaking as a man" -- well... That breeds a culture of "my feelings are personal revelation, therefore it overrides all." Doesn't matter what the prophet says or does, because he's "speaking as a man" whenever it's convenient for members.
If the church gives a slight slap on the wrist approach to handling, and the "lead by example" approach, it's not going to convince the bulk of Utah County Anti-Vaxxers. It's going to take a legit policy requirement that you must be vaccinated for a temple recommend, or some other very heavy-handed approach.
If the church is capable of telling people that coffee or the wrong underwear disqualifies you from the temple, then they sure as shit can tell people to get vaccinated.
If the church gives a slight slap on the wrist approach to handling, and the "lead by example" approach, it's not going to convince the bulk of Utah County Anti-Vaxxers. It's going to take a legit policy requirement that you must be vaccinated for a temple recommend, or some other very heavy-handed approach.
If the church is capable of telling people that coffee or the wrong underwear disqualifies you from the temple, then they sure as shit can tell people to get vaccinated.
As someone who has lived in Utah for 30 years of my life, ranging from Southern Utah, Utah County to Salt Lake City, I know they've issued these statements. You're giving discount to a reactionary church that breeds and incubates reactionary anti-vax shitheads. Yes, the church has issued statement after statement on COVID, but it has had little to no material effect on how seriously Utahns act in response. There has been a big anti-vax wing within smaller cities and rural communities in Utah for a long time, way before COVID. These communities are nearly exclusively Mormon. Church leadership has prioritized for years the "dangers" of porn, trans people and same-sex attraction while they have ignored the radical growth of anti-vaxxers within the church.
The LDS Church is the most powerful entity in Utah. They've created this mess, and they should not be absolved by simply putting out statements and saying they'll follow the law.
If LDS church leadership wants my respect, temple recommends should require vaccinations.
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Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Like it's been said, vaccine mandate is good for business, and the LDS Church is a business first and foremost.
Ex-LDS here.
Like it's been said, vaccine mandate is good for business, and the LDS Church is a business first and foremost.
Ex-LDS here.