The Baffling Legal Standard Fueling Religious Objections to Vaccine Mandates
For The New Republic, Charles McCrary writes, “As vaccine mandates begin to take effect, thousands of Americans are scrambling to get religion. For those who oppose vaccination, a ‘sincerely held religious belief’ might be the only way to avoid getting the shot—or losing their job.” The Supreme Court has refined and expanded the “sincerely held religious belief” standard over the years. McCrary writes, “According to this theory, everyone is or at least has the capacity to be religious—and religious beliefs are not about their content so much as how they are believed—deeply, sincerely, religiously.” McCrary has also written for Religion & Politics and is a former postdoctoral fellow at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, which publishes this journal.