Providence Alaska Medical Center, a Catholic hospital and one of the largest private employers in Alaska, is investigating the sincerity of employees’ spiritual beliefs before granting religious exemptions to COVID shots.
Last month, the Catholic hospital announced that employees have until Sept. 30 to be fully vaccinated. The Watchman, however, obtained a form which Providence is issuing to employees who request religious exemptions or accommodations.
The form states that Providence will grant religious exemptions “when an individual’s sincerely held religious beliefs preclude vaccination.” According to Providence, acceptable religious beliefs “include sincere and meaningful affiliations with a religious group or moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong, which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views.”
The Civil Rights Act requires employers to ‘provide a reasonable accommodation’ for religious exemptions unless it poses an ‘undue hardship.’
In order to ensure one has sufficiently “sincere” objections, Providence states that it reserves the “right to request additional information reasonably needed to evaluate your exemption request.” This includes asking employees to state their religious beliefs or practices and explain how their faith “conflicts with COVID-19 vaccine requirement.”
The hospital also asks employees to identify someone who can “verify your sincerely held religious or moral/ethical belief practice.” This would include a pastor, spiritual leader or friend. Additionally, the hospital wants to know how long an employee has held to their beliefs.
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to “provide a reasonable accommodation” for a religious exemption unless it would pose an “undue hardship.”
According to the EEOC, considerations relevant to “undue hardship” can include, among other things, “the proportion of employees in the workplace who already are partially or fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and the extent of employee contact with non-employees, whose vaccination status could be unknown or who may be ineligible for the vaccine.”
Alliance Defending Freedom says employers should not demand employees support their religious accommodation request with statements from their church or clergy.
The EEOC cautions employers that if an employee cannot be accommodated “employers should determine if any other rights apply under the EEO laws or other federal, state, and local authorities before taking adverse employment action against an unvaccinated employee.”
“Employers also may receive religious accommodation requests from individuals who wish to wait until an alternative version or specific brand of COVID-19 vaccine is available to the employee,” the EEOC website explains, adding that the definition of religion is “broad and protects beliefs, practices, and observances with which the employer may be unfamiliar.”
“Therefore, the employer should ordinarily assume that an employee’s request for religious accommodation is based on a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance,” EEOC instructs, and in general an employer should “thoroughly consider all possible reasonable accommodations, including telework and reassignment.”
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
The EEOC states that an employer is only justified in questioning the sincerity of an employee’s religious beliefs if they are “aware of facts that provide an objective basis for questioning either the religious nature or the sincerity of a particular belief, practice, or observance.”
The Providence questionnaire, however, assumes a skeptical view from the outset to any employee’s religious objections to COVID shots, and puts the burden of proof on the employee to defend the legitimacy of their deeply held convictions.
According to Alliance Defending Freedom, one of the largest legal organizations committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life, it is “inappropriate for an employer to demand that an employee support their religious accommodation request with statements from the employee’s church or clergy.”
41 Comments
Mask of the Beast leads to the Injection of the Beast which leads to the Mark of the Beast.
Requiring the front line doctors, nurses, and staff to take experimental vaccines – against a virus they have been exposed to for 19 months is total insanity. At the same time they ignore Natural Immunity, which science says is better than any vaccine. They deny therapeutics. They are claiming the hospital is over-run – while threatening to fire hundreds of employees. Read the study from India. Give all hospital employees that refuse to be willing participates in the largest experiment on humans ever conducted in history, Ivermectin. The largest province in India has virtually eliminated covid through the use of Ivermectin alone. But no. Take the experimental vaccine or be fired. George Orwell turned out to be writing truth instead of fiction in his book 1984. Turns out – Nostradamus had nothing on Orwell.
Your conclusion about India and Ivermectin is not supported by the data nor robust analysis of the same.
India’s R-rate began to drop several weeks *before* Ivermectin was authorized for use there. The drop continued after Ivermectin began to be used, but there is no data to support causation.
Lest there is any doubt, Ivermectin is a product of Merck. Merck has no “horse in this race” (haha, see what I did there?). It does not have a COVID vaccine, so has every incentive to sell Ivermectin as a therapy for COVID. They could be making BILLIONS!
Yet even Merck states:
* No scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against COVID-19 from pre-clinical studies
* No meaningful evidence for clinical activity or clinical efficacy in patients with COVID-19 disease; and
* A concerning lack of safety data in the majority of studies
They conclude “We do not believe that the data available support the safety and efficacy of ivermectin beyond the doses and populations indicated in the regulatory agency-approved prescribing information.”
This is a company that is absolutely incentivized to look for every possible way to sell ivermectin. And they’re saying they’ve looked at the data and that it does not support using ivermectin for COVID.
As you said there is no data… That happens when there are no clinical trials to support. Everything must be gathered from the field. It does not mean that that there is no benefit, it simply means that there is no data. If a physician uses the substance and sees a consistent positive response, then the physician has a moral and a relational position to the patient to affect a cure, or at the least, a plan of management of the infirmity.
So unless you are an MD and have patients who are affected by COVID and are using a regimen using Ivermectin you don”t really have a dog in the fight nor the information with which to express an informed opinion. That being said Merck may indeed stand to grab a market share in remedy. I personally don’t trust any of them.
Fred is like the ‘fact checkers’ that just dispute what they don’t like with no or fake supporting evidence (some call this lying).
There are studies out of several countries including India.
Ivermectin has been safe and inexpensive and used to successfully combat both parasites and viruses for years.
It is and has been on the WHOs essential medications list also for years.
Fred, I get that Faucciism is a religion for you, but let’s refrain from making up facts (some call this lying).
You should check out the Church Militant interview with Dr. Robert Malone (inventor or mRNA vaccine technology). There are probably other interviews with him also, but this one is extensive and Dr. Malone uses words and analogies that even someone like you could probably understand most of it.
Totally False. One of the ‘inventors of Ivermectin was interviewed on Newsmax few days ago.. and noted that the reason it was so ‘cheap’, about 10 to 20 cents per dose wholesale as it is now past the Patent, not just for animals, and of course it did win the 2015 (*I think) Noble Prize. Side note from an So-cal Physician and Psychiatrist send his patients needing Ivermectin to small independent Pharmacies. Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, etc. . too political to fill it.
FYI Merck is in partnership with Johnson and Johnson to produce the vaccine
merck.com/stories/why-were-excited-to-partner-on-johnson-and-johnsons-covid-19-vaccine/
They should all walk out and go be drug dealers
Weed cures everything
Your comment, sir, proves why ‘weed’ is still a class A drug, and why we still call it and its users Dope and Dopers.
Mongo and Timothy I agree with you both. The Beast is Destroying my Beloved United States of America Faster . I ever imagined
Force the place to fire you and then start a class action lawsuit
Dont comply! Let them fire you! Also it’s time for them to gather and protest!
The Alliance Defending Freedom is almost correct, it is actually illegal. See here, https://www.lcaction.org/Site%20Images/Resources/Memo-reCOVIDVaccinationMandate-May2021.pdf
Liberty Counsel is doing great work to protect our religious rights.
I posted the incorrect link. See here, https://lc.org/Site%20Images/Resources/ReligiousBeliefs.pdf
I hardly think any one who files for a religious exemption will pass anything the atheist in charge will have as a “test”. I agree with Vonda, do not comply
How stupid is this. It’s my choice to not get this woke shot.
Plus this board probably doesn’t even believe in God or know anything about the Bible and there telling you, your not a believer in Christ.
Stop the madness
“It’s my body, it’s my choice” I gues only works when its politically pushed?
The IRS should investigate the sincerity of the religious beliefs of this tax free organization. It seems Providence is cheating the government out of millions by claiming to be a charitable religious organization. Treat them the same way they treat their employees, that’s what Jesus would do.
This is where Hebrews 10:25 applies ” Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
Believers can’t fellowship very well with one another when their church is the t.v., radio, and internet. No one knows you. The pastors, elders, and church-goers they never get a chance to meet you. Then! It be differcult finding someone to advocate for you.
We need one another even more so in facing these last days.
So read your bible. Seek someone to read with you. Regularly Attend a Church and support its ministries by service and tithes.
The Liberty Counsel is pretty unequivocal. Vetting the sincerity of one’s religious convictions is not allowed. The approach to suing them differs from private sector to government to military. Talk to them. They will help you and their legal representation is FREE.
This is wrong. We have conscience. We are born alone not in approval of a religious affiliation. God gives us our co science. They are trained differently. Some babies have shaken baby syndrome and they may live with damage to the brain that affects empathy and altruism. We have rights to religious conscience. Government has no rights. Governments are supposed to defend people against corporations manufacturing harmful injections that cause harm to the people or economic harm. Is that what is happening here? things are self-evident. The muni doesn’t stop manufacture of harmful injections. Is not interested in the faintest of actual safety of medical products they know nothing of. Truth is submitted to a candid world. Nature’s law is world-wide. Governments have no right. Man has rights. Before we created our republic there were two forms of government: Monarchy and aristocracy. If the assembly is trying to get back to the aristocracy (I’ll in my superior capacity with my superior privileges determine the quality of your faith – or not. Does the assembly have “the eight” to fundamentally alter our form of created “republic government?”. By what process did they have authority to alter our form of government. When citizens alter our f oh r of government they commit a capital offense. No man can dictate to another man in our republic. We have sovereignty and are free and equal. We are not being turned back into a monarchy or an aristocracy. It’s up to us to decide. We don’t seek permission of servants. If you aren’t our servants you are mere corporate board members. Due process marches on.
Time for employees to “Shut it Down”! Walk off the job in mass.
Think of the harm done to hundred of patients! You would kill them to defend your christian beliefs?
The harm would be done by those who are trying to force medical experimentation on their employees, who then walk out because of the potential harm. I am betting these people would stay if they weren’t being forced to inject something into their bodies against their will. Based on your comments elsewhere, I presume you are someone that would defend the “my body, my choice” mantra when it comes to the issue of murder in the womb (if you tell me I am wrong I will state I am wrong), but not in this case because it isn’t the spoon-fed narrative that you naively accept. The statistics are clear, that many have suffered adverse effects because of these “vaccines”, even death. Not that I think you care to see them. I have seen your name on here on a few different posts, and I cannot tell if you are simply a troll, or just blind, but no one, not even you, should have to inject something into his body against his will. What would you say if something you were against was forced upon you? Do you really think you are smarter and better informed than the other people on here?
Thanks Greg for the calm and thoughtful response.
Let’s see. I have always been pro choice but in the last decade my position has greyed because there is a continuum of significance between a zygote and a bawling baby. I don’t know how to draw the line.
But for the vaccines, the line is clear: they provide more benefit than cost.
I do think I’m smarter and better informed than Posters here. I use evidence and reason to make decisions not hearsay and religious nonsense.
Evan, I disagree that you use “evidence and reason.” I think you use whatever you think will bolster your anti-God and anti-Christian views. Anyway, here is a bit of information if you will read it:
“An organism is defined as “(1) a complex structure of interdependent and subordinate elements whose relations and properties are largely determined by their function in the whole, and (2) an individual constituted to carry on the activities of life by means of organs separate in function but mutually dependent: a living being.
It is clear that from the time of cell fusion, the embryo consists of elements (from both maternal and paternal origin) which function interdependently in a coordinated manner to carry on the function of the development of the human organism. From this definition, the single-celled embryo is not just a cell, but an organism, a living being, a human being.
The American College of Pediatricians concurs with the body of scientific evidence that corroborates that a unique human life starts when the sperm and egg bind to each other in a process of fusion of their respective membranes and a single hybrid cell called a zygote, or one-cell embryo, is created.” (https://acpeds.org/position-statements/when-human-life-begins)
“Data released Sept. 17 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that between Dec. 14, 2020 and Sept. 10, 2021, a total of 701,561 adverse events following COVID vaccines were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). The data included a total of 14,925 reports of deaths — an increase of 419 over the previous week. There were 91,523 reports of serious injuries, including the reports of deaths, during the same time period — up 3,352 compared with the previous week.” (https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/vaers-cdc-covid-deaths-vaccine-injuries/)
Did the jab provide more benefit than cost to these people? How many of these were “mandated” to take the jab and then died afterward? And you would be willing to sacrifice them to meet the goal of having everyone “vaccinated?” Are you that selfish? Are you so insecure that you are afraid of people making their own choices? Don’t pretend that your view is about what is best for others. Everyone’s well-being is not your concern. That seems clear.
Why do you despise Christ and Christianity? I can see how false Christians that have given a false impression of Christianity could have soured you. They can be some of the worst people to deal with. But genuine followers of Christ seek holiness and have compassion for those who have been mistreated by religious hypocrites. A good argument does not mean that people have to hate each other, but your animosity toward Christianity is evident in your posts. I would not want to force you to receive something that you do not want, or that you think is unsafe. Why argue so vehemently for us to receive something that we think is unnecessary, potentially dangerous, and even immoral? I
Only way this will end is if everyone(75-90%) at a particular company with these mandate band together and protest. Because then that’s the only way the employers production/profit will seize. But I know it’s hard. We all have to make a living. We all have mouths to feed. This is where the government got us. Our dependence on money makes us a slave to money and the government knows this. I don’t believe we have many Americans now willing to take a stand and force a change in policy. Most employers see us working stiff as replaceable now is the time to see if we really are. Just my opinion.
Exactly. No one said there wouldn’t be any pain. We all need to decide NOW, what we’re willing to give up.
Who are they to vet religious convictions? God? I think not.
Right? The arrogance is amazing.
There’s only one who is able to judge and it is not Providence Hospital. I’d hand them a bible and tell them the proof is in there.
Straight up truth!!
Rev 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy “SORCERIES” were all nations deceived.
Sorceries: pharmakeia
Outline of Biblical Usage:
I. the use or the administering of drugs
II. poisoning
III. sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it
metaph. the deceptions and seductions of idolatry
Strong’s Definitions: †φαρμακεία pharmakeía, far-mak-i’-ah; from G5332; medication (“pharmacy”), i.e. (by extension) magic (literally or figuratively):—sorcery, witchcraft.
Also the candle represents the Bible, the bridegroom is Jesus & the bride is the church
Rev 6:2
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a “CROWN” was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
In a Spanish bible the word “CROWN” is translated “CORONA”
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a “CORONA” was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer
Now the hellhole of Providence is also judge and jury. The overweening arrogance of whoever is doing all this puts Mr. Tiny Mustache to shame. They do not listen to reason and you cannot persuade them. This type of behavior is absolutely the worst. Providence authorities: do you know what ultimately happens to tyrants? Does your hubris extend so far that you think there will be no consequences for your actions? You better pay attention because a day of reckoning is not that far away.
I wonder if the vaxxed, when laying in bed at night, think about the potential harm they may have cuased themselves and their families by taking an unproven gene therapy.
Heart inflammation, blood clotting, brain inflammation, immune disorders, fertility disorders, etc.
All for a flu virus that has a recovery rate of 99.97%???
Textbook case of Mass Hysteria.
Outrageous ethical and moral crime by health officials pushing this experimental gene therapy.
The staff all need to ask these administrators/dictators to show their vax cards and proof of the jab! I’ll bet $10 they themselves haven’t been vax’d because they know the poison in them. Yet, they are requiring it in order to continue doing the same thing they have heroically been doing for the past 18 months — jab free! Makes no logical sense.
It is so wrong to ask what denomination or what is reason for refusing this .
The Catholic Church is not religious . Not Christian . Not anything , but controlled by terrible actors .
All the Covid vaccines have used research using unborn children’s fetal cells to develop their Covid vaccines. So far the author of the Ten Commandments has not recinded “Thou Shalt Not Kill”!