His ruling came in a lawsuit filed last year by several parents who said their religious beliefs have led them to keep their children unvaccinated and out of Mississippi schools.
Religious exemptions are increasingly becoming a workaround for unvaccinated hospital and nursing home workers who want to keep their jobs in the face of federal mandates that are going into effect nationwide this week.
Former National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins said he is “heartbroken” that more of his fellow White evangelicals have not received the COVID-19 vaccines. He added that many White evangelicals have been “victimized by the misinformation and lies and conspiracies that are floating around,
Pope Francis denounced fake news about COVID-19 and vaccines Friday, blasting the “distortion of reality based on fear” but also urging that people who believe such lies are helped to understand true scientific facts.
This year brought its unique challenges but also included many important accomplishments here at Word&Way. Here are our top 10 highlights from the year as we look forward to another year of our journalism ministry.
Saxony state in eastern Germany has the lowest vaccination rate among Germany’s 16 federal states, and one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases. So, Lutheran pastors across Saxony have used their sermons to promote vaccines as the most efficient way to prevent severe illness
Fewer than half of churchgoers say their clergy (44%) have spoken about vaccines. One exception: historically Black churches, where two-thirds of churchgoers say pastors have encouraged their people to get vaccines. And some have even led their churches to set up on-site vaccine clinics.
Marcus Lamb, a prominent Christian broadcaster known for his outspoken opposition to COVID-19 vaccines, has died after contracting the virus. Lamb, co-founder and CEO of the Daystar Television Network, was 64.
In this issue of A Public Witness, we roll up our sleeves to examine prominent Christian leaders challenging vaccination mandates. And we warn of the danger of an underlying spiritual-but-not-religious individualism infecting our society.
Two Kentucky seminaries filed a legal petition Friday (Nov. 5) to challenge the Biden administration’s private employer vaccination mandate. The Alliance Defending Freedom filed the suit on behalf of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Asbury Theological Seminary.