NFAB - Religious Freedom For Our Military Letter
NFAB - Religious Freedom For Our Military Letter
NFAB - Religious Freedom For Our Military Letter
As faith leaders representing millions of Americans from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds
from across the country, we write to express our strong concern about the potential for military
members to be stripped of their religious liberties by not being granted an exemption from the
COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
On October 14th, the Navy announced a timeline and “discharge details” for those refusing the
COVID-19 vaccine. In the announcement, it says that “Sailors seeking an exemption to the vaccine
mandate can apply for medical reasons or a religious accommodation.” However, as of October
19th, Mike Berry, general counsel for the First Liberty Institute, stated that he has “read hundreds
of service members religious exemption requests...and of the hundreds I’ve seen, not a single one
has been granted.”
Given your decades of service in the U.S. Army, you are fully cognizant that young men and
women are not currently being drafted into active-duty service; instead, they are choosing to sign
up to serve to protect our freedoms. These military members including Navy Seals put their lives
on the line in some of the riskiest and most important operations each year. We should be
rewarding their bravery and the bravery of all our men and women in uniform, by not forcing them
to choose between sincere religious convictions and staying in the military.
With the current threats we face - whether it be an emboldened Al-Qaeda or a rising communist
regime in China - losing some of our military’s finest over a vaccine mandate would be a travesty.
By not approving legitimate exemptions in a timely manner, you will be threatening the basic
liberties of servicemen, servicewomen, and their families increasing the polarization of our armed
forces, and potentially risking our national security.
We urge you to grant religious exemptions as soon as possible for every American risking their
lives to defend our country. Religious freedom is enshrined in our Constitution and must always
be protected.
Sincerely,