I recall that during the Covid-19 pandemic religion became intertwined in the vaccine issue.  To me that seemed weird. What do vaccines have to do with religion?

Well religion is involved in many issues: sex, gender, politics, war, and many others. So why not vaccines too?

For a while, some people were requesting religious exemptions for vaccine mandates. I was puzzled by this.

Mennonite Church Canada (often called The General Conference of Mennonites) got involved and published this in its October 1, 2021 edition of Canadian Mennonite:

“Mennonite Church Canada’s executive ministers released a statement earlier this week responding to inquiries from constituents regarding exemption from COVID-19 vaccines.

 

The message, signed by Doug Klassen (Mennonite Church Canada), Garry Janzen (MC B.C.), Tim Wiebe-Neufeld (MC Alberta), Ryan Siemens (MC Saskatchewan), Michael Pahl (MC Manitoba) and Leah Reesor-Keller (MC Eastern Canada), states the following:

 

For a religious exemption to be granted, rationale for exemption must be clearly indicated within our sacred texts or confessional statements.

We wish to clarify that there is nothing in the Bible, in our historic confessions of faith, in our theology or in our ecclesiology that justifies granting a religious exemption from vaccinations against COVID-19.

“I have heard concerns from some members of our constituency regarding the vaccines. However, we do not believe these concerns justify an exemption from COVID-19 vaccinations on religious grounds from within a Mennonite faith tradition.”

 

Other religious groups felt differently. In Winnipeg the Springs Church, which is attended by many Mennonites but I don’t believe is affiliated with any Mennonite organizations, made the decision to provide religious exemptions to their members.

The Canadian Mennonite justified their position this way:

“For a religious exemption to be granted, rationale for exemption must be clearly indicated within our sacred texts or confessional statements.

We wish to clarify that there is nothing in the Bible, in our historic confessions of faith, in our theology or in our ecclesiology that justifies granting a religious exemption from vaccinations against COVID-19.

We have heard concerns from some members of our constituency regarding the vaccines. However, we do not believe these concerns justify an exemption from COVID-19 vaccinations on religious grounds from within a Mennonite faith tradition.”

 

Presumably similar issues would apply in the case of measles vaccines though they have been around for decades.

Mennonites are a very diverse group. But the facts clearly indicate that many communities with large numbers of Mennonites also have large numbers of people who decline to take vaccines. This is particularly true in those communities where there is a significant distrust of government and authority. That is why some governments have chosen to provide messaging to the people in Low German. I believe that in the areas particularly hard hit by measles in Ontario, there are significant numbers of such Mennonites.