Online pastors, form letters: The cottage industry helping workers avoid vaccine mandates

[Demovictory9]

The request arrived at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in early September.

Written on letterhead with a gold seal, it warned the city agency that forcing an employee to wear a mask, get tested or be vaccinated against COVID-19 would be an “affront to a Christian” and a violation of federal laws that ban religious discrimination.

The document looked and sounded official. It was signed by the pastor of True Hope Ministry in San Clemente.

It can be purchased online for $195 as part of a vaccine exemption “concierge program.”

That letter, and others like it, have become go-to tools for California employees seeking exemptions from workplace vaccine mandates. They raise questions about what constitutes a deeply held religious belief, how those beliefs should be expressed and what employers can do about a request that may not be sincere.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-02-06/requests-religious-exemptions-covid-19-vaccine-letters

[Orrex]

1. "Religious mandates" can go fuck themselves

Anyone who contracts covid after refusing vaccination under claims of "religious freedom" should be denied any care at state-subsidized facilities and should lose any access to state reimbursement of costs.

[COL Mustard]

2. What's that old saying about a fool and his money?

Clearly there are ways to separate them that I never thought of. Time to get creative!

[Orrex]

7. I have many times considered doing "psychic readings"

The grift is not a difficult one to master, and there's a bottomless ocean of cash waiting out there for the self-proclaimed "psychic."

The only thing stopping me is my distaste for stealing from my fellow human beings.

[Missn-Hitch]

3. Exactly. Refer them to their church for healing.

[keithbvadu2]

8. Hee-yal

[Initech]

6. It's equal parts power grab and cash grab.

[rockfordfile]

4. Corruption

[Initech]

5. $200 for a form that says you don't have to take a free shot.

Seriously, PT Barnum was 100 years ahead of his time.

[keithbvadu2]

9. Hospital staff must swear off Tylenol, Tums to get religious vaccine exemption

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/09/hospital-staff-must-swear-off-tylenol-tums-to-get-religious-vaccine-exemption/

Hospital staff must swear off Tylenol, Tums to get religious vaccine exemption

Hospital CEO aims to educate staff on the full scope of what they're claiming.

The list includes Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, aspirin, Tums, Lipitor, Senokot, Motrin, ibuprofen, Maalox, Ex-Lax, Benadryl, Sudafed, albuterol, Preparation H, MMR vaccine, Claritin, Zoloft, Prilosec OTC, and azithromycin.

Conway Regional Health System letter

Link to tweet