Keith Marshall/Facebook
September 24, 2021, 7:06 am
A pastor in Washington state shared his opinion on the idea of Christians citing “religious exemption” to avoid mask and vaccine mandates, and people are applauding him for it.
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Pastor Keith Marshall wrote an opinion piece for the local paper in his small town of Enumclaw, Washington, titled “What does your religion exempt you from?”
“Recently I was asked if Christians should be able to claim Religious Exemption when public health is in jeopardy,” Marshall said, before asking himself the question: “What does my faith in Jesus Christ exempt me from?”
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Citing scriptures to back up each of his conclusions, he determined that his faith exempts him from “putting my wants above the needs of others,” “claiming my freedom in Christ as liberty to act without responsibility,” and “refusing to protect the most vulnerable in our midst.”
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others,” he wrote, quoting Philippians 2:3-4.
Pastor Marshall was very clear in his op-ed that he understands people may use political or personal reasons to claim exemption from getting vaccinated or wearing a mask, but says that using the Christian religion to do so is wrong.
“By invoking the name of Jesus to claim exemption, you are using the Lord’s name in vain and therefore sinning,” he wrote, after coming to the conclusion that following Jesus actually requires one to adhere to COVID safety precautions in order “to safeguard my life…and care for my neighbor.”
Many folks on Twitter agreed with Pastor Marshall’s stance, feeling that it’s far more in line with the New Testament than what anti-vaxxers scream about.
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A Canadian pastor created his own “article” to refute Marshall’s stance, but ultimately missed the point entirely.
He focused on shaming Marshall, making claims that are not backed by science, and failed to grasp that Marshall only condemned the idea that people are using religion itself as an exemption. Many of his claims regurgitate what we’ve all read on questionable Facebook posts or heard in anti-vaxxer rants, and don’t seem to have any basis in Biblical teachings — which is the entirety of what Marshall was addressing to begin with.
Since the original article exploded all over social media, rather than staying confined to his small community, Pastor Marshall says he has been receiving death threats for his views. And that says just about everything anyone needs to know about the type of people who would claim “religious exemption” to get out of personal responsibility in a pandemic.
*First Published: September 24, 2021, 7:06 am
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