Foundation for Moral Law announces defense of military chaplains against COVID discrimination

The Foundation for Moral Law, an Alabama-based nonprofit organization, recently announced that they have filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court urging the Court to take the case of 39 military chaplains who claimed that they suffered discrimination because of their religious objections to the COVID vaccine.

The chaplains come from many branches of the armed forces and denominations and ranging in rank from First Lieutenant to Colonel. The chaplains refused to take the vaccine because they claimed that it violated their religious convictions. The chaplains' objection was due to their refusal to take the vaccine because of their claim that it was made from cell lines from aborted babies and therefore condones and encourages abortion.

The chaplains claim that due to their decision to exercise their religious exemption rights they were denied promotions, prevented from serving in key assignments, given negative Officer Performance Reports, and harmed in other ways that negatively impacted their careers.

The Fourth Circuit dismissed the case as moot because the Department of Defense (DoD) has rescinded the vaccine mandate. The chaplains argue that the case is not moot because the mandates could be brought back at any time.

John Eidsmoe is the senior counsel for the Foundation. He is the author of the brief.

Eidsmoe, a retired Air Force Judge Advocate and Mississippi State Guard Chaplain, noted that the DoD routinely granted thousands of vaccine exemptions for medical reasons but almost no exemptions for religious reasons, and the few who received religious exemptions were mostly soldiers or sailors who were already leaving the service.

"By granting medical exemptions," Eidsmoe said, "the DoD effectively forfeited the argument that they could not grant religious exemptions. Those who are exempt for medical reasons and those who are exempt for religious reasons have is in common: they're both unvaccinated."

Former Chief Justice Roy S. Moore (R) is the Founder and President Emeritus of the Foundation. His wife, Kayla Moore, is the President of the Foundation.

"The Foundation was established to defend the constitutional rights of all Americans, and especially military personnel who have sworn to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies," said President Kayla Moore. "As President and General George Washington said, 'When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.'"

The COVID vaccine remains hugely controversial even three years after mass injections of the vaccine began. A new study on vaccine side effects looked at nearly 100 million vaccinated individuals affirmed that the vaccines do have a link to certain adverse effects including myocarditis and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Significantly higher than expected cases of pericarditis, inflammation of the sac-like structure that surrounds the heart, were also observed. Objections to President Joseph R. Biden's (D) vaccine mandates have contributed to the military's recent recruiting difficulties.

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