January 13, 2020. An historic day. Thousands gathered at the New Jersey state capital for the largest and longest protest in Statehouse history. What would draw such a large crowd from dawn to dusk on a cold winter day to peacefully but powerfully communicate to their legislators?
Religious freedom.
New Jersey’s bill, S2173, threatened their free exercise of religion by attempting to remove their right to use a religious vaccine exemption.
Some read that and wonder why one would need a religious exemption from vaccines. Some have read or heard that religious exemptions are typically used by parents who do not want to be inconvenienced by having to take their child to the doctor to be vaccinated. They wonder if a religious exemption is just an easy excuse for parents not to do their job.
The actions of the thousands standing outside the Capital speak volumes and tell us a different story. Their actions do not fit the stereotypes. The thousands of people in the picture above chose to be inconvenienced and put their lives on hold, taking time during the middle of their week, missing work and other obligations. These are parents who care, parents who have very often taken significant time to understand vaccine ingredients, their potential impact on the body, and their faith. These are parents of integrity who want their actions to reflect their internal faith beliefs.
The crowd at Trenton represented diverse religious and political views. Christians, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, and many other faiths hold different and sometimes contradictory views. Yet in the area of vaccines they are linking arms, fighting to protect their common interest – practicing their religion without violating their conscience and faith. What do they consider a threat to their conscience? Being forced to use vaccines that contain ingredients they find objectionable, such as aborted fetal cells and fetal bovine serum, etc.
New Jerseyans are not alone in their fight for religious freedom. California, Maine, Mississippi, New York, and West Virginia only allow medical exemptions. Religious freedom has already been lost in 5 states. Other states are also fighting to keep their religious rights, including Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, and Washington. Still others have legislators considering introducing similar bills to remove religious vaccine exemptions.
Why the push to remove religious exemptions?
Elimination of religious exemptions is THE top priority of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
During their annual leadership meeting in March 2019, the AAP discussed the most pressing issues facing American children. Their conclusion was not what one might expect. Their top priority was not childhood cancer (the 2nd leading cause of death in children) or the rising rates of autoimmune diseases (such as juvenile diabetes, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, or celiac disease).
Of all the deeply concerning medical issues plaguing the sickest generation of American children, the AAP’s top priority from that meeting was the elimination of religious vaccine exemptions.
The AAP published its resolutions in an article, which initially was entitled, “Elimination of religious vaccine exemptions ranked top priority at Annual Leadership Forum.” The title was later changed to replace “religious vaccine exemptions” with the phrase “non-medical exemptions.”
The AAP’s priority of removing all religious and personal exemptions is being attempted or realized in many states already. If proposed legislation has not come to your state yet, it will.
Find more information through the resources below.
- Abortion, the human fetal cell industry, and vaccines white paper
- Father Michael Copenhagen’s testimony to the legislators in Trenton, NJ (47:49 -51:43)
- Jewish Rabbi’s testimony to the legislators in Trenton, NJ (1:40:28-1:45:15)
