U.S. pastors, advocacy groups mobilize against COVID-19 vaccine mandates

By Tom Hals

Oct 14 (Reuters) - From the outside, First Harvest Ministries in Waveland, Mississippi, could almost be mistaken for a storage shed were it not for the steeple.

From the modest building however, Shane Vaughn, the Pentecostal church's pastor, has helped spearhead an online movement promoting personal faith as a way around workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

He posts form letters for U.S. workers seeking religious exemptions that have been downloaded from his website around 40,000 times, according to a screen shot of web traffic he shared with Reuters.

Tom Hals
Thu, October 14, 2021, 5:00 AM
By Tom Hals

Oct 14 (Reuters) - From the outside, First Harvest Ministries in Waveland, Mississippi, could almost be mistaken for a storage shed were it not for the steeple.

From the modest building however, Shane Vaughn, the Pentecostal church's pastor, has helped spearhead an online movement promoting personal faith as a way around workplace COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

He posts form letters for U.S. workers seeking religious exemptions that have been downloaded from his website around 40,000 times, according to a screen shot of web traffic he shared with Reuters.

"This is the only way out," said Vaughn, 48, of the letters, which he makes available for free, that mix Biblical scripture with warnings to employers of legal fallout if they are disregarded.

As the Biden administration prepares a federal vaccine mandate and more states and companies impose them to help accelerate the pandemic's end, letter-writing efforts by religious leaders are being reinforced by legal advocacy groups such as Liberty Counsel.

The organization said it has sent more than 100 letters to companies including United Airlines Holdings Inc and Tyson Foods Inc vowing litigation if they improperly reject religious exemption requests.

United spokeswoman Leslie Scott said the airline received the letter but it had no impact on the company's actions. Tyson did not comment on the letter.

United said about 2,000 of its 67,000 U.S. employees have requested religious or medical exemptions. Tyson said only a "small percentage" of its more than 100,000 employees had requested religious or medical accommodations ahead of its Nov. 1 deadline.

U.S. employers are required by law to make reasonable job changes to accommodate a person's religious beliefs, although they can seek information to determine if the beliefs are religious in nature https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-employers-get-religion-with-vaccine-mandates-2021-08-12 and "sincerely held."

Many employers want regulators to provide guidance for scrutinizing exemption requests to help protect them from lawsuits alleging they were wrongly denied, said Roger King, of the HR Policy Association, a forum for large companies.

While few organized religions oppose vaccines, according research by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, U.S. law defines religion very broadly to include unfamiliar belief systems with few adherents.

'DEALING WITH THEM ON A MASS BASIS'

Employment lawyers said form letters taken off the internet might suggest a person's beliefs are not sincere, but it would be difficult for an employer to determine that. Employers could be on stronger legal ground to reject exemption requests that are based on verifiable false statements about the vaccines, the lawyers said.

"Religious exemption requests have over years been much more rare and now we're dealing with them on a mass basis," said Kimberly Harding, an employment lawyer at Nixon Peabody, which advises companies.

Temple University Health System in Philadelphia, which employs 10,700 people, has already received 180 religious exemption requests, a significant increase from what it usually gets for its annual flu shot requirement, said John Lasky, the system's chief human resources officer.

Some of the exemption request forms included letter attachments that used similar phrasing, which Lasky said might indicate coaching, although he said they were not a determining factor in whether a request was granted.

What mattered was whether the person could articulate how their beliefs prevented them from getting the COVID-19 vaccine, such as if they "tied it to eternal damnation," Lasky said.

In at least one case, an employer reversed its decision to deny a religious exemption after receiving a letter from Liberty Counsel.

Lehigh Valley Health Network in Pennsylvania told a nursing student on Sept. 7 it was rejecting her request because it was based on a "factually incorrect" link between vaccines and aborted fetal cells, according to correspondence disclosed by Liberty Counsel that redacted the student's name.

A week later, Liberty Counsel sent a seven-page letter to Lehigh citing health officials in North Dakota and Louisiana who said there was a link between the vaccines and fetal cells. The group demanded Lehigh either approve the student's request or face "prompt litigation."

It approved the request the next day. Lehigh did not respond to requests for comment.

A Vaughn letter turned up in one of the few successful lawsuits against a vaccine mandate. Western Michigan University granted an exemption to a student athlete who used his letter but was still barred from school sports until the court intervened.

Harry Mihet, an attorney with Liberty Counsel, said the Christian group receives thousands of messages weekly from individuals claiming they had an exemption request denied for improper reasons. Those include that the person's denomination endorsed the shots or that the Pope was vaccinated, neither of which have bearing on an individual's beliefs.

"I think these employers run the risk of being tied up in litigation until kingdom come," Mihet said.

Vaughn, who served a three-year prison sentence for fraud and had a stint running an auto dealership, said he now spends 80% of his day helping people with employer requests for more information, such as describing how an employee's beliefs conflict with a hospital's vaccine policy.

Vaughn is encouraged by companies pushing back on his exemption letters. "They are making it more difficult and adding layers to the process," he said. "It's proof it works."

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Bill Berkrot)

Short clips of CDC director senate hearing as to what percentage of CDC employees are vaccinated and some other topics such as lack of research by the CDC on natural immunity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QabAtYBnqro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGOTYtDD6lc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC4ftId-CHY

Lots of red flags here. Observe the body language (nervousness, stuttering, etc.) and failure to directly answer direct questions. This is now coming after Fauci's recent fallout with the gain of function lies and cruel experiments on puppies.

Yes - it’s not only been proven of little if any use in providing effectual protection but it also has displayed horrific effects for, as yet, untold masses.
What’s more is the attempt to mandate or force through coercion, the worlds populace to partake of it through deceptive means is openly demonic.

I personally know multiple people who have not only gotten very sick from the virus after full vaccination, being hospitalized and vented but others who have died as a direct result of the vaccine. Recently a healthy 30 yr old former athlete and father died from a heart attack shortly after receiving 2nd dose from my hometown just 8 miles down the road, leaving behind a family. He was required to be vaccinated to maintain his employment.

This whole event, including but not limited to the vaccine mandates, is demonic in its origin. If that isn’t clear yet, it will be and in the meantime I will not deny what i plainly see and will as the scriptures command ,...continue to expose the darkness 🙏🏻

Sanctumdynam asked, I'm assuming this was directed to me" Are you against the vaccine?"

Mr. Bill

//Recently a healthy 30 yr old former athlete and father died from a heart attack shortly after receiving 2nd dose from my hometown just 8 miles down the road, leaving behind a family. He was required to be vaccinated to maintain his employment.//

Was this covered in your local news media? If so can you post a link?

Of course 99.999% of the people who have received the vaccine(s) have not died.

I can look and see but it would be unlikely that our local paper would state such as they were bought out years ago by a corporate media conglomerate and with advertising dollars at stake it’s not in their best interest to say such.

However I could provide you with his obituary though that too will be unlikely to cite that as the cause-

Though our local paper has also been silent on the other vaccination related injuries even of the local physicians who have experienced them and are presently unable to function professionally-

This entire covid/vaccine scenario is coming across to me as a method to use people for either political or monetary advantage - people are being used as pawns. We are seeing this in Europe where the military is using women, children to force the hand of an neighboring nation. This poses a serious issue: will we allow ourselves to be the pawns that will move when the "powers that be" say "jump"? This troubles me.

Sandra

The problem with anecdotal evidence and the reason it is dangerous is that there is no way to truly know all the facts. In the case of the 30 year old former athlete, how do we truly know his prior medical status? How do we know his arteries were not clogged? Many people in their 30s keel over from heart attacks, quite apart from any Covid vaccine. The temptation is to link it to a vaccine but that is nothing more than a post hoc promoter hoc fallacy.

Anecdotally, I know hundreds of people who have had two vaccines and some a third with absolutely no issues other that the minor side effects. So in a decent sample size of a couple of hundred that I know of, 0% have died or even had a serious reaction. But you would respond to my anecdotal evidence that the sample size is not large enough, or that in truth they won’t all die now but rather will all die within a few years. I know some folks actually believe such blithering nonsense.

But the actual truth is that there have been millions and millions of people vaccinated and actual deaths truly attributable to the vaccine are beyond minuscule.

He was also an enlisted Army service member and was buried with honors.
It’s an interesting situation because his family came to notoriety not long ago as a result of his sisters celebrated albeit brief singing career. As a result of this, (aside from having been a great baseball player) local people are more aware of the family’s presence and so this is what makes this case a "known” fact for those who are from the same hometown. It’s a small town of a couple thousand. And it’s just tragic, here you have a 30yr old man, a soldier and athlete who was otherwise healthy yet died from a heart attack (in this sleep)?
I have to disagree that this is in anyway normal or common... so here is a current stat (and I’ll link the source below) of deaths per 10,000 from heart attack -
Among middle-aged people, i.e. those in the age group of 35 ”“ 44, the rate per 10,000 is below 7, while for those between 0 ”“ 34 years is 0.3 per 10,000

So you suggest my testimony regarding this is false or anecdotal yet you put forth in the same course, " Many people in their 30s keel over from heart attacks, quite apart from any Covid vaccine.” I’m not sure where you got that idea from but (for me) .3/10k is not what I could call "many” in clear conscience.

But I can and do, in clear conscience before the Lord, encourage them to seek Him and to take the issue before Him and obey whatever He says.🙏🏻

Edit to add link: https://healthhearty.com/heart-attack-statistics-by-age

Fletcher”” Who said you were lying? All you know is that he died. Was an autopsy done? If so what was the result? My point was that seemingly healthy people, even young people, can and do unfortunately die suddenly of various things, such as aneurysms, strokes, heart defects etc.

You are saying this person died because of the Covid vaccine. Perhaps other people are saying it. But saying it does not make it so. I am not saying it is impossible, but it takes more that saying it or believing it to make it true.

You would rarely say such a thing tho you will and do like to characterize things in ways that imply if not a lie, then at least to draw into question the information being relayed as being untrustworthy. You are well within bounds to do so, I’m not complaining that you are tho I would ask that you would simply own it and speak your peace without reservation- there is no need to dress it up as I assure you no offense will be taken :)

Again in regards to this particular case the only deviation from the norm was the vaccinations ... again heart attacks for 30yr old healthy men while sleeping is (in my understanding) a rare and concerning occurrence.
You are free to believe what you will but you will be required to account for what you believed as it’s the mold that shapes our lives.

Many people have had serious life altering effects from this vaccine and their stories are being censored by the same companies who receive advertising dollars from big pharma. So it’s not surprising when unsaved people act like unsaved people and act in their own self interest at the expense of others. It’s the way of the world, at best they are eating from the good side of the wrong tree 🤷🏽”â™‚️ so while you are free to trivialize their sufferings by dismissive reference there is a hope that the truth will be brought out into the light of day for all, whom will, to see 🙏🏻

Fletcher- when will the "truth” be accepted?

If in five years 99.9% of the people who received the vaccines are still living and healthy(assuming they haven’t died from car crashes or old age) will these conspiracy theories go away? I highly doubt it, because every cancer, every heart issue, every other disease will be attributed to Covid vaccines by certain folks who forget that people had these diseases for thousands of years before Covid vaccines, which sort of makes it a moot point to even discuss it.

And just to be clear I am not trying to sugar coat my questions about this 30 year old person who died. To state it plainly, if his family and others say he died from the Covid vaccine, where is the proof? The fact that he had the vaccine prior to his death proves nothing.

Of course you may be correct that the greatest conspiracy ever known if happening right in front of us. But is there not one brave investigative journalist in the world that can uncover it and expose it?

Unfortunately most of the journalists themselves are the ones that are spreading conspiracy theories/lies which then lead people to seek information in other places which further lead to conspiracy theories/guesswork.

A good example of this is the Russian/Trump collaboration which now turned out to be lies and arrests are being made. Who were the ones that were spreading this for nearly three years and caused untold damage? They knew this was a lie and they intentionally spread it. What kind of journalism is that?

I'm sure you are aware of the recent events that happened in Virginia and the resulting fallout. One noted politician brushed it off as "trumped up culture wars" and an entire school district tried to cover it up. The Biden administration labeled parents who questioned school boards as "domestic terrorists".

Covid/vaccine mandates is just another area where they are trying to do the same thing that they did in Virginia. Instead of being labeled "domestic terrorists" you just lose your job.

The majority of "journalists" are professional liars and a major source of conspiracy theories. That is a fact.

There may be some good journalists out there but they are being silenced. Look up project veritas (I think that is the correct name) and what happened to a journalist who was given Biden's daughter's journal. The journalist ended up not doing any reports on it and returned it the authorities. The FBI later raided his home and took all his data. Look it up.

If there is a virus that one should be concerned about it isn't covid-19. Its the mainstream media and the constant lies they spew out. I believe even Paul Washer recently labeled them as false prophets.

99.9% of the people who took the vaccine aren’t alive today much less in five years 🤷🏽”â™‚️

And for your anecdotal scenarios where you ask for proof...
An otherwise healthy 30yr old former athlete and soldier dies of a heart attack in his sleep with the only deviation from from his normal routine is getting vaccinated where he tragically died in the days/weeks following said vaccination from a condition that only affects 3 out of every 100,000 people from his demographic.... hmmmm 🤔
What possible redress could be had from a conclusive autopsy? The legal liability is waved and the media as well as healthcare are both in the debt of big pharma dollars from funding or advertising- besides he is dead and you would still not believe it would you? In fact if you’d put forth what your standard for "proof” is, I’m confident there’s multiple cases that will meet and qualify-

By the standard you put forth regarding vaccination injuries/deaths, one would be hard pressed to "prove” Jesus is the Christ!?
Just like with Jesus, it’s there to be seen yet many openly deny it not from a lack of evidence on the part of those making the claim but from a lack of faith in those whom deny it 🤷🏽”â™‚️

So to be clear, either the godless corporations, agencies and NGO’s around the world who are pushing this vaccine and subsequent mandates
truly do have your best interests at heart, (being in no way enticed by the record profit potential) and are in fact tirelessly working to provide a remedy by taxing their resources to the limit, even willing to violate the basic human rights of people in order to keep them safe from this disease (with 99.7% survival rate) advocating for the shutting down of small businesses, opening boarders and locking people in their homes, censoring any and all rebuttals which results in the greatest transfer of wealth in human history and the displacement of local cultures and economies as well as the support for godless ideologies including but not limited to CRT, transgender normalization, abortion, etc...all under the guise of healthcare, tolerance and progress-
or....
This is being done intentionally, coordinated and preplanned by these same entities 🤷🏽”â™‚️
brother you are free to believe what you will but it sounds like you have more faith in the integrity of these entities provisions than in the provisions offered by God the Father, namely - Christ.
Not once have you (on SI) advocated for prayer, organized or otherwise to address the "crisis” but have in fact openly believed and advocated for trust of these unbelieving, unregenerate people and groups even to the extent of arguing with and belittling the faith of your brethren to this end ....

As for the "biggest conspiracy in history” position,... it well may prove to be so and how do you suppose that a brave investigative journalist would get this story out to the greater population when censorship abounds and even Project Veritas reporters homes are currently (this week) being raided by FBI their beer the guise of obtaining Ashley Biden’s diary where she claims to have been molested/violated by family members ie: Joe ??

I’m honestly trying to give you the benefit of the doubt regarding your healthy skepticism but at some point brother it becomes willful ignorance 🤷🏽”â™‚️

Fletcher you wrote:

"99.9% of the people who took the vaccine aren’t alive today much less in five years 🤷🏽”â™‚️"

Your saying 99.9% of vaccinated people died?

Are seriously asking that??
What I am saying is statically irrefutable per VAERS reporting of vaccine deaths... the percentage of people who have died as a result of the vaccine is above .01% - And that’s with only 1% reporting !! Imagine if we had the other 99% accurately reported 🤔
So the statement that 99.9% percent who have received the vaccine will still be alive in five years isn’t even true today much less five years from now 🤷🏽”â™‚️

Tho here’s a stat for that you may be interested in... to my understanding there isn’t even an argument levied against it -
99.7% of people who get what is called Covid will survive and fully recover-

Edit to add:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/11/cardiologist-said-wont-cry-funeral-selfish-unvaccinated-people-suddenly-dies-sleep-2-weeks-3rd-covid-jab/

While I mostly agree with your position on this topic I'm seriously asking that because that is a whopper of a statement. I'm not following the math you did in your last post and I'm assuming that you are saying that 99.9% of vaccinated people have died.

Last time I checked close to 50% of the U.S. was vaccinated. Its probably close to 60% or more now. The U.S. total population is around 330 million. If you have 50% vaccinated then that would be around 165 million who are vaccinated. If even 10% of 165 million died from vaccinations it would be noticed by everyone. If 99.9% died then that would be almost 165 million deaths. Lets just say that would be catastrophic to say the least.

Yes you are correct that would be noticeable but I didn’t suggest anything of the like... rather I’m simply stating the obvious, which is that more than .01% of those whom received the vaccinations have died already which would clearly and undeniably disprove the (anecdotal) claim from brother Todd that 99.9% have survived and would still be alive 5yrs from now-

A prime example is the link I added to my previous post -

Here’s another link of a current deliberation between elected officials and health officials that you may find informative-

https://theexpose.uk/2021/11/12/who-chief-tedros-confirms-covid-vaccine-useless-and-should-not-be-given-to-kids/