If a law should apply, it should apply regardless of how people feel about following it. If the law infringes on liberty, it should be repealed.
If a law should apply, it should apply regardless of how people feel about following it. If the law infringes on liberty, it should be repealed.
Exactly.
There’s a massive fucking difference between “usually we don’t allow weapons here, but Sikhs wearing a kirpan is fine” and “we’re giving you carte blanche to discriminate because you claim your faith demands it”, and exemptions almost universally exist because of the latter. If we as a society have decided that discrimination is wrong, then you don’t get to claim “But I really need to discriminate because God demands it.” You either abide, or you don’t get to open the business/school/whatever.
And that goes especially for people like public servants and medical professionals. If your faith says that you can’t serve all people equally, then find a new fucking job.
A bigger problem is the “religious” exemption from vaccines.
We have that covered in my country.
You can refuse to be vaccinate. No need to justify; your choice, you’re cool.
However…
If you opt for not vaccinate your children, then your children can not go to school. Any school. And although you can homeschool, nevertheless you are required to have your children enroled at your local school, in order for them to have formal evaluations and follow ups. But because the children are not vaccinated they don’t meet the requirements to enroll at a school, as they pose a threat to other children by possibly carrying diseases with high contagion risk.
And if your children don’t go to school, you’re criminally responsible for it, as it is considered gross negligence.
So…
And getting a medical exemption is a very hard task, as the medical professional attesting it is mandated by law to prove why a child or individual can not be vaccinated. If demonstrated false, if gets very ugly for the physician.
Religious exemptions don’t go very far here. Even JWs can’t do a thing if one is carried to an hospital in a life or death situation and doctors need to admnister blood or plasma: saving a life comes first. And if they refuse life saving procedures, they do it at their own responsability and are required to sign a term of responsability.
The logic here, boiled down, is: do whatever you want with your life, as long you do not trample others.
And it works.