Religious Exemption Letter
Updated: 8/25/21
As the world gets stranger and stranger everyday, I realized I needed to offer a helping hand and provide what appears to be one of the better Religious Exemption Letters I have found on the internet. This is by no means a foolproof way of getting your employer to leave you alone, but if pushed up against a wall or given a deadline, this letter will provide you with a fighting chance.
2021 Religious Exemption Letter:
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<Date>
<Full legal name>
<Address>
Phone:
Email:
Dear <Name of Employer/Organization>,
I am writing you to make you aware that I hold a specific religious belief that prevents me from taking a vaccine. Per United States Federal Labor and Employment Law, my religious beliefs cannot be used as grounds for any termination / retaliation / discrimination. Additionally, I am under no obligation to be specific with you of these beliefs, to enumerate them, or be asked or required to defend them.
Please be advised that vaccinations (and certain other medical procedures/applications) violate my deeply held religious convictions. Accordingly, I am exercising my federally protected rights under 42 USC § 2000e–2(a)(et seq) which read as follows:
Unlawful employment practices
(a) Employer practices
It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer—
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Therefore, please place this letter in my appropriate HR file as a substitute for any such "proof of vaccine" or "certificate of vaccine" that you may need.
Thank you.
Signature: ___________________________________ Date: ________________________
- <Full Legal Name>
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*I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice*
From my research, and other popular opinions on the matter, you should not mention any of their 'science' as that is their way to catch you. That is not YOUR religion, that's theres, and they wrote the scripture.
DO NOT mention these points in your letter:
-medical status
-age of who should be vaccinated
-percentages of infection
-chances of infection
-Covid-19 terminology
-scientific studies
-scientific terminology
-political beliefs
-and so on
DO NOT PANIC. Your HR rep, or boss, or whoever sent your threatening email is trying to do this because they have either been told from the top down this is to be expected. They are all talk, and will back down with the correct wording. However there are laws that cover you, if you know the right words to say.
I give people an example at the airports in the US (doesn't always work overseas, but most of the time it does with showing respect). In the US they 'require' you to go through the X-ray body scanners at the TSA checkpoints. However if you say exactly word for word: "I am opting out", every TSA agent knows the exact procedure to do a public pat-down of your body, and you can avoid the radiation. However, if you say to that same TSA agent: "I don't want to go through the scanner", they will tell you that it's mandatory and you wont be able to pass. Same applies to this exemption letter.
Do NOT have any informal conversations with them if they call you to their office, or try to speak to you over the phone. Tell them to send you ANY and ALL questions in advance for your viewing, and your attorney to look at (you do not need an attorney at that time, just make it known to your employer you have legal counsel). If you do agree to talk with them face to face, please respond with the words, "No comment", to EVERY SINGLE QUESTION. They are only talking to you so that you will confess to being a covid truther/anti-vaxxer/conspiracy nut/etc. These meetings only stand to hurt you. If they are threatening you with 'termination' for not getting the medical procedure, you have to do everything BY THE BOOKS, as anything and everything will be used against you.
If my career was on the line, I would seek legal advice before sending the letter, however from some of the examples I've seen, this is the most vague, yet all encompassing letter to protect you for the time being. It's probably best that you make a physical copy of this, rather than a digital one, with your wet-ink signature. The odds are strongly in your favor that they will not respond to this, since they are now put into a corner.
Now here is the letter that I found, I do not take credit for it, but together we can all chime in and improve upon a great letter to begin with.
I also have a source for custom religious exemption letters drafted by a pastor, here is the link.
Make sure you choose the right religion.... (Just kidding, you don't have to disclose which religion you follow!)