Anti-Vaxxers Seeking Religious Exemption Should Be Required to Demonstrate "Sincerely Held Religious Belief" Consistent with Biblical Teaching

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.  Exodus 20:7  NRSV

Sincere Christian faith is not meant to be used as a means of avoiding COVID vaccination mandates.  

Christian faith and practice is rooted in the Bible.  And while there are differences of opinion over its exact interpretation, and over whether or not to include a set of books called the "Apocrypha" with the other sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament canon widely accepted by Protestants, the Bible is the primary source of theology and doctrine for the vast majority of Christians. 

The more conservative branch of Protestant Christianity, known as "Evangelicals," generally believe that the Bible, in its original form, is fully and completely inspired by God and as such is without any human error in the text, making it infallible in content.  Any claim that their anti-vaccination stand is a "sincerely held religious belief" would have to be supported by a correctly, in-context interpretation of scripture.  Among all of the objections to getting a COVID-19 vaccination, I have yet to see one that meets that qualification.  

"We're Trusting In Jesus, Not Masks or Vaccines"

This is one of the most common arguments I've heard against getting vaccinated.  I question both the sincerely, and the consistency of such a statement.  If that's a "sincerely held" belief, then the person making that claim is saying that they never seek any kind of medical care at all for as long as they claim to have believed it.  They've never gone to a hospital or doctor or sought out any kind of medical care at all, not even taking an aspirin for a headache.  And they worship, and have church membership in a congregation that openly states it believes only in faith healing.  

One of the more common threads in this particular vein is the idea that taking steps to avoid infection is a demonstration of "weakness of spirit."  An oft-cited verse used by those taking this position is 2 Timothy 1:7, "for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.  The problem with that citation is that it is actually a sentence fragment, and using it to claim that precautions come from "a spirit of fear" is completely taking the whole concept out of context.  The sentence actually begins in the previous verse 6, where Paul reminds Timothy of his experience of the "laying on of hands," which was his ordination and introduction into the Christian ministry.  The term "cowardice", "fear" in some translations, has nothing to do with precautionary measures taken to avoid illness, it has to do with the fact that Timothy, knowing Paul was writing from prison where he had been arrested for his Christian ministry, was not fulfilling his calling because he was afraid of meeting the same fate.  

In fact, Paul actually gives Timothy some medical advice, No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments (I Timothy 5:23 NRSV).  

As far as having Biblical support for this position, I'm wondering where it is?  There are narratives in which Jesus miraculously healed the sick, and one reference in James 5:14-15 about calling the elders of the church to pray over the sick and anoint them with oil, but no prohibition of the use of medical assistance or an indication that to seek it out would nullify faith healing.   There are other passages where the Bible points out that God's sovereignty inspires wisdom and knowledge and that he answers prayer through those he has inspired.  There's no "sincerely held" Christian belief that attributes the massively beneficial amount of knowledge about how the human body works, and the progress of medicine that has enhanced the quality of human life immeasurably, to any other source but God's divine and sovereign wisdom.  

It's pretty clear, from multiple texts where healing occurs, that what Jesus did, and what happened in the early church was miraculous for the purpose of authenticating the ministry and presence of the Holy Spirit during the apostolic period of the church.  There's not even a hint that seeking out medical care nullifies the miraculous, since the Bible repeatedly emphasizes the application of miracles is related solely to God's sovereignty,  not to any human effort or lack thereof. 

This whole idea is theologically flawed.  It's obvious that millions upon millions of people have benefitted from being vaccinated.  On the other hand, some very prominent anti-vaxxer evangelists and ministers in the Evangelical tradition have died after contracting COVID-19.  Marcus Lamb, the Dallas-based evangelist who used his media network, Daystar, to make unfounded, inaccurate claims about the COVID epidemic and the vaccinations and to discourage his viewers from wearing masks and getting vaccinated, died in early December from a severe COVID infection.  

What happened as a result of that was complete avoidance in Evangelical circles of even talking about it.  The complete silence, and even refusal to discuss it in any context, among many Evangelical leaders not only demonstrates that they are unwilling to face a frank discussion about the subject, but also that the implications of his death from COVID--not the only death of a well-known Evangelical anti-vaxxer and mask denier by far--completely undermines everything they've said and claim to believe about the virus and vaccinations.  It exposes their faulty theology.  Lamb's anti-vaccination stance and inaccurate remarks about COVID in general made wrongful use of the name of the Lord.  

"We Don't Trust the Government" 

Let me try to wrap my mind around that logic for just a moment.  In order to avoid a demonstration of trust in the government, refusing to take a vaccination that it has authorized, but that it did not develop and does not produce, and perhaps dying as a result of that decision, is nothing more than an anti-government protest?  

There are three specific references in the New Testament, all related to the same concept of the sovereignty of God involved in healing, in which Christian obedience to the civil government is a demonstration of their obedience to the authority put in place by God.  The Apostle Paul clearly explains this in two of his epistles, Romans 13:1-7 and Titus 3:1.  Government authority, he says, "is God's servant for your good," and to "pay respect to whom respect is due."  This was the Roman government of whom he was speaking.  Judgement of an unjust government is left up to a sovereign God.  

Peter also speaks of respect and obedience to the governing authorities, not only as a matter of obedience, but as a testimony to the sincerity of their faith, their sincerely held religious belief, if you will.  "For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of foolish men." (V. 15) There is no appeal here to individual conscience.  Peter equates "doing right" for Christians with their obedience and respect of the governing authorities.  

The measure of the effectiveness of this practice can be found in three hundred years of church history following its establishment.  This same government turned on the church and began merciless persecution of its members.  There's no record of any rebellion or resistance.  Of course, fearing persecution and death, many Christians scattered, went underground and attempted to get off the radar screen.  Many succeeded, but others did not.  However, during this whole period of time, Christians kept their testimony intact.  Both Apostles had been prophetic in their position.  By the time the persecutions of the church ended during the reign of Constantine, Christianity was found in every part of the empire, churches were everywhere and while the empire itself split and then slowly dissolved, the Christian church became its most influential institution.  

The testimony of Christians is clearly at stake in this pandemic.  Evangelicals have singled themselves out as the primary opponents of vaccination mandates and mask mandates, without providing any Biblical support in a correct context.  Their opposition is rooted in their support and loyalty to the past President under whose administration the vaccines were developed in the first place, and who himself is now criticized for publicly acknowledging his own vaccination and booster shots, an unexplainable and completely backward position. There's no question that this has indeed called their Christian testimony into question.  The Biblical text clearly supports the idea that getting vaccinated against COVID,  including mandates which make sure those in groups which serve the public are healthy, can be defined as "doing right", if saving lives can be considered "doing right." 

If, as most Evangelicals and many conservative Protestants insist, there can't be a "sincerely held religious belief" without the support of the Biblical text, then being anti-vaxxer is not, under any circumstances, a "sincerely held religious belief."  That makes an anti-vaxxer position "wrongful use of the name of the LORD."