There is no Christian objection to the COVID vaccines

The persistence of COVID-19 in the United States of America is largely attributable to the unusually low vaccination rate of adults, in comparison to other developed countries. This is ironic, given that the USA created and produces the four leading vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Many causes have been cited, from distrust of government and institutions, to rejection of scientific knowledge, to political polarization, to the fact that over 95% of infections produce only mild illness and some people have already recovered. 

But an unusually large number of Americans have claimed a religious objection to receiving any of these vaccines. While such objectors have typically been granted exemptions, historically they rarely amounted to more than a few percent of the population; thus the consequence was negligible and the precise reasons for such objections were largely unexplored. Now that religious exemptions to vaccination are being widely claimed, and often by those who never previously rejected vaccination, the substance of these claims deserves examination.

Nothing in all of the Bible forbids vaccination. There is not one major Christian denomination that requires its member to reject any of the COVID vaccines. Not one significant strand of Christian theology and ethics - Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Baptist, African-American, or Pentecostal - teaches vaccine rejection. 

It is true that some vaccines were developed from stem cells that were originally derived from fetal issue that was probably obtained from an abortion in the late 1960s. But no unborn children, at any stage of gestation, are killed in the creation, testing, or manufacture of any vaccine. Not one vaccine contains the DNA of a one-tiny human who would now be in his or her 50s. 

In 2003, the Vatican appointed a working group to examine the bioethics of vaccines derived from fetal stem cells. Given the Roman Catholic Church's consistent opposition to abortion, predating white evangelical involvement in the pro-life movement, if any church were to officially reject such vaccines it would be theirs. Yet the group concluded that not only was it morally permissible to receive these vaccines, it was possibly immoral to reject them due to the harm that rubella poses to current unborn children.

In contrast, no fetal tissue was used in the creation or production of the mRNA vaccines (though some of the same stem cells may have been used in laboratory-scale testing of vaccine candidates). And note that many of those rejecting the COVID vaccines received the fetal-tissue-derived vaccines without protest.

There is no Christian objection to receiving any of the COVID vaccines. Rather, there are Christians who refuse the vaccines for various reasons which they know are not compelling, and thus use Jesus to justify their refusal. This use is dangerous.

It is dangerous to the cause of religious freedom, because when one of first freedoms is used as an excuse for behavior that is not remotely religious it cheapens the value of this freedom in the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans and creates doubt in the courts as to whether this freedom is too widely construed. If we are serious about protecting our religious freedom, we must not carelessly invoke it whenever we encounter a law, rule, or practice that we simply do not like. The more this objection is misused, the more actual threats to freedom of worship and conscience will be dismissed as mere personal preference.

It is even more dangerous to the health of our churches and our souls. The Bible is not a tool to be used for our own selfish ends, but a life-giving word that sits in authority over us. We are in dire need of moral guidance from our churches, but we cannot trust such guidance if it is simply partisan talking points propped up with proof-texted verses and religious slogans. The seven sons of Sceva (Acts 19:13-17) attempted to use Jesus for their own ends, and the results weren't pretty. I do not claim to be Jesus' spokesperson, so perhaps it bothers him less than it bothers me, but I do know that not one human being enjoys being used and I suspect that the Lord of all creation appreciates it even less.

If you don't want the vaccine, come up with a valid reason. Or, refuse it and nobly accept the consequences of sticking to your personal principles (whatever they may be). But don't use religious freedom or Jesus to justify not doing something that you simply don't want to do.