Vaccination Exemptions

Since the influenza vaccination blog, I have received many comments and requests for additional information about the legal exemption for vaccination.  North Carolina Vaccination Law offers two options:

1. The medical exemption requires that a physician certifies the vaccination would be “detrimental to a person’s health due to the presence of one of the contraindications” for that vaccination.  An example of a contraindication includes anyone with an allergy to any component of the vaccination including eggs.  Another possibility is anyone that is immunocompromised.   
2. The religeous exemption requires the individual to submit a “written statement of the bona fide religious beliefs and opposition to the immunization requirements, the person may attend the college, university, school or facility without presenting a certificate of immunization.

Just for the record, I am not a biblical scholar.  A common religious or spiritual principle is to keep the body pure.  While few of us will reach a state of perfection, many still strive to take care of their body by making healthful choices.  This includes not consciously taking in toxic material.  Some basic tenants of a religious or spiritual exemption may include:

1. A religious or spiritual biblical concept that views the body as a temple of God.  (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
2. Blood purity and the warning against the mixing of blood. (Leviticus 17:14)  There are other biblical references to blood.  Many vaccinations are blood products. 
3. There are some that make a case forbidding the combination of genetic material.   Leviticus 19:19 warns against mixing two different seeds in a field.  This practice results in cross-pollination which may alter the viability of the seed.  To maintain the purity of a seed means not mixing foreign RNA or DNA.  Vaccines are or contain foreign RNA or DNA.  This practice theoretically means that the substance can combine with our genetic material, creating a mutation.  This translates into potential cancer or other health issues. 

 I can only conclude that prepared immunizations do not conform to scriptural rules for hygiene.ealth care decisions on behalf of their children.  

The Pastoral Medical Association statement is as follows:  

The PMA encourages individuals to seek informed professional advice, considering both the scientific as well as the scriptural in all health matters affecting themselves or their families. We believe and support the God given right of every individual to choose or refuse conventional ideas that conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs, as so ordained in the Supreme Law of the Creator.