Religious Freedom - not to be infringed upon
Every freedom you give up for a (FALSE) sense of security puts us one step away from makes the United States an incredible place to live.
We've talked about the TSA - flying used to be fun. Now it is a source of endless frustration.
People who argue that there shouldn't be a religious exemption from vaccines have a few problems:
1. They presume to speak in the name of all peoples, all religions, and all religious beliefs. How arrogant!
2. They open the door to a slippery slope. You want to have an unlimited number of children (or a number that YOU prefer)? The state has determined that the more children you have the less well off the younger ones will be. So there is no religious exemption. The state will put a cap on the number of children you may have, and will offer vasectomies and hysterectomies, or oophorectomies.
3. You want to raise that child with Down's Syndrome? You want to care for the child the state deems of no value or merit to society? The state will say, we do not allow a religious exemption. You must let that child die.
4. You do not want an abortion. The state decides that it is not in your best interest to keep the child, or it's not in your best interest to even bring the child to term and give it up for adoption, because it will destroy your psyche. No religious exemption to protect the child from being aborted. The state decides.
5. Your aging parent is close to the end of life. Your belief is that Judaism says "Extend life as long as possible." The state says, "we need the machine, we need the bed, we are cutting off all care." My religion is against that! The state determines, no religious exemption.
6. You want to circumcise your child. Your belief is that Judaism commands and mandates circumcision of males at the age of 8 days. The state says, "we believe that circumcision is genital mutilation." Or "we believe this is a medical procedure only allowed when there is danger to the child. And only a doctor can perform it." My religion is against that! The state says, no religious exemptions.
Religion in America is a combination of organized religious beliefs and personal beliefs.
The claim that "a healthy person might be carrying an airborne disease and therefore has no business being around other people" is based in a fearmongering lie. Freedom means making my own choices and not deliberately harming others.
Life is full of risks, but they are risks that we choose for ourselves. Every time we step out of our homes, step into a car, step on a bus, on a plane, in a mall, in a movie theater, into a restaurant (to eat food not in-the-moment monitored for whether it will cause food poisoning), we are taking chances. These are all chances we take because we understand the risks and want the ease of travel, the ease of not-cooking at the risk of the tiny chance something could go wrong. Those who want to vaccinate should vaccinate - hopefully understanding the risk of what could go wrong. And those who don't want to vaccinate should be free to make that choice, without negative societal repercussions. Choosing to risk the illness (rare and uncommon as it is to find and get infected) is the freedom the Constitution allows, to assume the risk that's better for me, rather than assuming the risk you want me to have as you argue "that it is my responsibility to worry about you more than to worry about me."
Rabbi Akiva in the Talmud would certainly disagree. "Your own life comes first."
We've talked about the TSA - flying used to be fun. Now it is a source of endless frustration.
People who argue that there shouldn't be a religious exemption from vaccines have a few problems:
1. They presume to speak in the name of all peoples, all religions, and all religious beliefs. How arrogant!
2. They open the door to a slippery slope. You want to have an unlimited number of children (or a number that YOU prefer)? The state has determined that the more children you have the less well off the younger ones will be. So there is no religious exemption. The state will put a cap on the number of children you may have, and will offer vasectomies and hysterectomies, or oophorectomies.
3. You want to raise that child with Down's Syndrome? You want to care for the child the state deems of no value or merit to society? The state will say, we do not allow a religious exemption. You must let that child die.
4. You do not want an abortion. The state decides that it is not in your best interest to keep the child, or it's not in your best interest to even bring the child to term and give it up for adoption, because it will destroy your psyche. No religious exemption to protect the child from being aborted. The state decides.
5. Your aging parent is close to the end of life. Your belief is that Judaism says "Extend life as long as possible." The state says, "we need the machine, we need the bed, we are cutting off all care." My religion is against that! The state determines, no religious exemption.
6. You want to circumcise your child. Your belief is that Judaism commands and mandates circumcision of males at the age of 8 days. The state says, "we believe that circumcision is genital mutilation." Or "we believe this is a medical procedure only allowed when there is danger to the child. And only a doctor can perform it." My religion is against that! The state says, no religious exemptions.
Religion in America is a combination of organized religious beliefs and personal beliefs.
The claim that "a healthy person might be carrying an airborne disease and therefore has no business being around other people" is based in a fearmongering lie. Freedom means making my own choices and not deliberately harming others.
Life is full of risks, but they are risks that we choose for ourselves. Every time we step out of our homes, step into a car, step on a bus, on a plane, in a mall, in a movie theater, into a restaurant (to eat food not in-the-moment monitored for whether it will cause food poisoning), we are taking chances. These are all chances we take because we understand the risks and want the ease of travel, the ease of not-cooking at the risk of the tiny chance something could go wrong. Those who want to vaccinate should vaccinate - hopefully understanding the risk of what could go wrong. And those who don't want to vaccinate should be free to make that choice, without negative societal repercussions. Choosing to risk the illness (rare and uncommon as it is to find and get infected) is the freedom the Constitution allows, to assume the risk that's better for me, rather than assuming the risk you want me to have as you argue "that it is my responsibility to worry about you more than to worry about me."
Rabbi Akiva in the Talmud would certainly disagree. "Your own life comes first."
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