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Jul 9, 2022Liked by John Inazu

Good observations, John. You remind me of the dilemma draft boards would face (back in the day) if/when a member of a mainline denomination would claim Conscientious Objector status. As I recall, the draft boards had the right to question such individuals to assess genuineness of their objection to taking up arms in military service to the country. These contemporary flash points raise similar issues, and the current political climate tends to amplify the intensity of feelings on each "side," to increase one's skepticism toward the claims of those with whom we disagree. "You can't possibly be serious!" Tricky stuff.

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Based on this, is there a anything to define what is a “religious claim” or even a “religion”? It seems to define these terms so broadly they have no meaning.

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I appreciate the legal principle you have stated, but I know of too many Christians who sincerely believed that being vaccinated was wrong for Christian reasons but could not articulate what those reasons were! They usually came down to not wanting government to control their bodies (their opposite reasoning for being anti-abortion) which was a political reason and not a religious one. So should there not be some necessary criteria of official religious beliefs that people sincerely believe rather than allowing anyone to sincerely claim religious convictions as a cover for political ones?

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