I have considered this deeply and at length and have come to the firm conviction that subjecting myself to a vaccine that I do not have satisfactory faith in would be a violation of God’s intentions for my life.”Ĭluett could not be reached for comment for this story. God has given me control over my body to live according to his plan. “These vaccinations are in direct conflict with my sincerely held religious beliefs. Judge Denise Casper, an Obama appointee, found that the schools do not evaluate religious exemption requests “in a way that burdens some religions but not others” or in a way that violates Cluett’s right to exercise her religious beliefs - which, it turns out, aren’t specifically Catholic.Īt one point, on June 23, Cluett described her objection to the coronavirus vaccination this way: 27, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit of the two students. While recognizing the possibility of abuse through frivolous applications, the burden of proof ought to rest with the state, while the benefit of the doubt ought to be afforded to the individual.” “America has a long legal tradition of reasonable accommodation for conscientious objection. “It is not up to a government entity to validate the sectarian legitimacy of a citizen’s sincerely held religious beliefs based on some denominational check list of approved creedal positions,” Doyle told the Register by email. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, said various federal and state court decisions make it clear that a government official has no business trying to act as an authority on religion. A spokesman for the university could not be reached for comment.Ĭ.J. The spokesman referred questions to the university. The 1981 Indiana case has not come up in the UMass Boston case.Ī spokesman for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office declined to comment, both on the UMass Boston case and on Tribe’s constitutional argument. While the compulsion may be indirect, the infringement upon free exercise is nonetheless substantial.” “A person may not be compelled to choose between the exercise of a First Amendment right and participation in an otherwise available public program,” the court said, adding later, “Where the state conditions receipt of an important benefit upon conduct proscribed by a religious faith, or where it denies such a benefit because of conduct mandated by religious belief, thereby putting substantial pressure on an adherent to modify his behavior and to violate his beliefs, a burden upon religion exists. “Courts are not arbiters of scriptural interpretation.” Conference of Catholic Bishops - including one that says “inoculation with the new COVID-19 vaccines in these circumstances can be morally justified” - to conclude that Catholics have no religious basis for rejecting the vaccine. On July 26, De Veau by email denied an appeal from Cluett. My process for reviewing appeals is to engage in an interactive process to discuss the student’s specific circumstances and determine if the exemption is based on a sincerely held religious belief,” De Veau wrote Aug. If students send further replies after receiving my response, I engage in phone or email conversations with them. “When reviewing students’ appeals, I engage in a holistic process: I review the student’s request, research the faith tradition on which they are basing their request, and respond to the students based on my research. The other plaintiff, Cora Cluett, a rising senior at UMass Boston, said getting the vaccine would violate her religious beliefs.ĭe Veau described his approach to handling religious-exemption appeals in a declaration for the court. One student, Hunter Harris, a rising junior at UMass Lowell, sued because he doesn’t have confidence in the vaccines. Otherwise, the students can take online classes, which have a more limited selection than regular classes. To try to limit spread, all five schools are requiring all students who come to campus to get vaccinated for the coronavirus unless they receive a medical exemption or a religious exemption. District Court in Boston seeking access to their campuses without having to get vaccinated for the coronavirus. In late July, two students in the state-run University of Massachusetts system - which has five schools that operate somewhat independently - filed a lawsuit in U.S. The methods of Shawn De Veau, interim vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston, have drawn criticism from some expressing concerns about a government official determining what a religion does and does not teach. BOSTON - A public university official in Massachusetts has been turning down all requests from Catholic students for a religious exemption from the school’s coronavirus vaccine requirement, based on his research into Catholic teachings.
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