Churches Can Make Moral Arguments
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought widespread isolation and hardship, including to people of faith who’ve paused in-person gatherings to protect themselves and their communities. The eagerness to return to regular schedules and the ethical obligation to safeguard people’s health combine to form powerful pro-vaccination arguments for church worker and members.
Interestingly, the Vatican recently mandated that employees who reject the vaccine “without proven health reasons” face penalties that may include “the interruption of the working relationship.” In an opinion piece in America Magazine, Dr. Charles Binkley, a bioethics director, and David Kemp, a legal professor, say churches are justified in mandating vaccines for staff members as well as worshipers. They point to the moral responsibility of protecting life as well as the goals of staying open and allowing everyone to participate in worship.
“Mandating that churchgoers receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” write Binkley and Kemp, “is the most reasonable way to simultaneously realize respect for the sanctity of human life (born and unborn), express love of neighbor, promote the common good, and allow the grace of God to flow to God’s people through the sacraments.” They advise religious organizations to avoid the temptation to seek exemptions via a state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Church Leaders Can Set Examples
Medical experts are trying to use facts and education to combat vaccine hesitancy and “anti-vaxxer” pushback. They’re also urging church leaders to serve as examples by rolling up their sleeves. This is especially true in communities of color, which have been hit disproportionately hard by COVID-19 infections and deaths.
Kentucky recently added clergy to its list of essential workers for vaccine-eligibility purposes. Churches throughout the country are helping local residents sign up for hard-to-find immunization appointments.
Pastors also can chip in by combatting misinformation. In a Washington Post piece this week, Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, debunk “bizarre claims” and conspiracy theories, address fetal-tissue concerns, and note the “remarkably transparent” vaccine-development process.
Vaccines are a cause for rejoicing, write Moore and Kim, because they protect the larger community as well as each individual recipient. Getting the COVID-19 shots allows Christians to resume in-person gatherings and also expresses “our love for neighbor—especially the sick and elderly—by reducing the chance that we might inadvertently pass along a virus that could kill them.”
