Trigger Warning: This post mentions abortion.
There are a growing number of people and organizations that are trying to eliminate the religious exemptions to, ahem, certain medical procedures. One of the primary arguments is that most of the major religions have had leaders come out and support these procedures.
But here's the thing, regardless of what any church leaders say, religions are mostly ancient, with ancient texts, and religious beliefs are individual. It's very dangerous for the government to put the power of dictating the "formal, recognized" religious beliefs of the members of society into the hands of a few leaders, and that goes for any religious belief.
This is especially true considering that many churches have certain tax-exempt charity statuses that they have to protect, so the government is already pulling many strings when it comes to pressuring leaders around the country to comply with certain views.
One of the biggest religious concerns over the injections in question is that fetal dna was used in their research and development. And not just early stage abortion, these were 20-week+, and the abortion procedures were not your typical, run-of-the-mill, they were done with the water-bag method to try and have the babies born alive to keep their organs fresh for study. This is still a huge ethical concern for much of our medical research today for a variety of studies. Here in America today, aborted fetal tissue is being used for medical research, just not for vaccines, but plenty of other research. It's a booming business. I am opposed to them all, but it's the vaccines they're trying to mandate, so that's why I'm focusing on it. I should also add that these abortions to these older fetuses are not painless for the babies. Early pregnancy stages are worthless to this kind of science, they need late-term abortions, and they can't just kill the babies in the womb or drug them with pain killers or it will destroy the specimen. It's, well, it's barbaric. Whether or not we are willing to admit it, whether or not we are capable of turning a blind eye, this is what is happening when they do medical research with aborted fetuses.
Some will argue that the fetal dna in most vaccines is cloned from decades ago and "only" used dna from 2 different babies, but this ignores the fact that it took researching dozens before they could isolate what they were looking for in the particular ones they used. It also side-steps the larger issue they are facing, that the more we use this cloned dna, the more it breaks down. That old dna is failing, it's not as effective as it once was. China is already using new, fresh fetal dna for vax research, and America among other nations is already an interested customer.
Another common counter-argument is that there is no fetal tissue in the injections, just fetal cell lines. As if that makes it so much better, because, you know, it's not flesh, it's blood. But in this way they can have big headlines, "No, there is NO FETAL TISSUE in Vaccines."
Finally, there's the whole "The ends justify the means" argument. They say, The Catholic Pope says to get it anyway. This local pastor, that bishop, and look, there's even pictures of President Nelson getting the shot. So it MUST be ethical, right? Because these church leaders are doing it.
But do the ends really justify the means? This is a very dark philosophy that has justified humanity's worst crimes. I am ethically and morally opposed to this argument as a matter of principle. Either researching with aborted fetuses is ethical, or it isn't. And if it isn't, we shouldn't be doing it, period.
There are many religious reasons I've covered in the past for Christians and also Mormons in particular, to be opposed to questionable medical procedures. For example, D&C 42:
43 And whosoever among you are sick, and have not faith to be healed, but believe, shall be nourished with all tenderness, with herbs and mild food, and that not by the hand of an enemy.
44 And the elders of the church, two or more, shall be called, and shall pray for and lay their hands upon them in my name; and if they die they shall die unto me, and if they live they shall live unto me.
But I'll go further today and put my reason as a Pagan for using the Religious Exemption instead of personal recently.
Using the life force/energies of one creature to save others is dark magic. I don't care if it is through spell work or scientists in a laboratory, the moral outcome is the same. Witches get a bad rap because Hollywood depicts them brewing potions with the body parts of various animals to do their spells, or sucking the life force of, say, a sheep or something, to save a person. Black magic. But that's not how real magic works. Very few witches do animal sacrifice anymore, just like most other religions have stopped the practice. The intent behind these sacrifices was that by sacrificing the one or the few, the greater good would be benefitted. The ancients truly believed that by sacrificing an individual to the gods they would spare the masses. It is easy for us to judge them through the modern eye and call it what it is, barbaric.
How are we any better today if we use the same kind of argument? The ends justify the means. They say it is morally acceptable to get injections because so very few fetuses have saved so many. While there are other issues to that argument, I'm sticking to the ethical one today. This is the classic Trolley philosophy question, who do you save? Except, there are other options because we don't have to be on the trolley and we don't have to be on the tracks.
I've been very hesitant to begin working with magic, it's something I've only just started to do. It has taken a lot of time decompressing my previous beliefs to get to this point. And it has taken quite some research to understand what magic is and how it works. It isn't separate from the natural world, it works with it. There is white magic and black magic, and plenty of grey magic in between. I want to be a good witch and am committed to only seeking and using white magic.
Others feel differently, and I understand why. You can still be a good person and use dark magic, there are scenarios. Being peaceful and being harmless are two different things. I am not beyond defending myself, but I will not use magic to do it. Others do and I get that. There are many Pagans, just like there are many Christians, etc, who do think that the ends justify the means when it comes to medical injections. Most people simply don't know and understand the history of vaccines and fetal research and/or avoid learning the details because it makes them uncomfortable.
But I have done the research, and I am very aware. From where I'm sitting, these kind of concoctions are no different from the darkest alchemy of the past. When the life of a human being, in its most helpless form, is sacrificed "for the greater good", as it is with vaccines, this is dark magic. That's how it works. If it happens in the laboratory instead of by a shaman, does it matter? Does it change the dark energy of what is being done? If it's not just superstition of the ages but instead modern science that somehow proves its efficacy, does that make us better than the ancients?
To be sure, I have plenty of other reasons I am concerned about vaccines. There has been vaccine injuries in my family, there has been censorship of extremely qualified medical personnel, and there are other data points I might look to. There is the issue of personal freedom. The ethical conviction that individuals should have autonomy over their own bodies. I am extremely against any mandatory medical procedure, and shame on anyone who refuses to learn from the Nuremberg trials after what happened in World War II.
But at the end of the day, given the option between a personal exemption or a religious one, I chose religious. I want no part in dark magic, especially when it harms innocent children.