Most of us realize by now that as of March 2020, we have been in an all-out war in defending our Constitution and our way of life. To those that have not come to that realization, including many of our political figures, it is time to get a clue.
Things heated up this past week in Tennessee with the passage of an omnibus bill that while helping many Tennesseans with the issues of employer-mandated vaccines and mask requirements in schools, it left a gaping hole for the federal government to waltz right in and show the state who’s boss. And boy did they.
You get that the federal government had their eyes on us during the special session at the end of October, right? You understand that they were just waiting to see what our legislature would do, don’t you? They were looking to see if we would stand, or if we would fold. And if you have been following along, then you know that we folded. And within a mere matter of days, the feds pounced with requirements on federal contractors and a new interim final rule from CMS requiring the vaccination of all healthcare workers.
It is hard to ignore the timing of it all. I wonder what the feds would have done if they would have perceived that Tennessee might have a pair? What would have happened if we would have called their bluff. Well, we might have just saved not only Tennesseans but the entire country from these mandates that are now upon us. We flenched. And they took us down.
So, what do we do now?
With the General Assembly now out of session, the opportunity to do this the right way has now come and gone, at least until January when the next general session begins. Lawsuits have been filed, but one thing has been proven true over and over again in Tennessee, our courts are pretty much as hopeless as every other branch of our government. Does that mean we give up? Absolutely not. But it means that in the absence of relief given by the courts, we must take up the fight on our own.
How do we do that?
Well, one way is that we demand that businesses, agencies, and contractors follow the law. You are protected by the First Amendment and your right to the free exercise of your religious beliefs. Courts have upheld time and time again that this right should not be diminished or ignored. And that right to your conscience is then further secured from discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Right now, many federal contractors are denying religious exemptions to vaccination requirements based on supposed contractual obligations imposed by the federal government. Hospitals and healthcare facilities are denying religious exemptions to vaccination requirements based on a new interim final rule imposed by CMS via Medicare and Medicaid compliance.
Healthcare workers are especially under the gun right now with the CMS deadline for the first dose of the vaccine due by December 5th before being terminated by their employer. But do the new CMS guidelines require hospitals to refuse religious exemptions? No, they do not. Here is a direct quote from p.61569 of Vol. 86, No. 212 of the Federal Register in the first paragraph:
“In other words, employers following CDC guidelines and the new requirements in this IFC may also be required to provide appropriate accommodations, to the extent required by Federal law, for employees who request and receive exemption from vaccination because of a disability, medical condition, or sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance.”
If you work for a hospital or medical facility refusing your religious exemption and claiming to be following the CMS guidelines by doing so, they are lying. In fact, according to the guidelines, if medical providers are refusing to accommodate employees for their religious beliefs, they are breaking the law and could be in jeopardy of being out of compliance with the federal CMS guidelines which they are claiming to follow.
It is time to put them on notice.
Additionally, on October 7, 2021, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a court order dealing with religious exemptions denied to student-athletes at Western Michigan University. The court upheld a restraining order on the university from enforcing its vaccine mandate without honoring religious exemptions. Here are a few highlights from the court:
“But “indirect coercion or penalties on the free exercise of religion, not just outright prohibitions,” also trigger scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause.”
“Accordingly, a policy that forces a person to choose between observing her religious beliefs and receiving a generally available government benefit for which she is otherwise qualified burdens her free exercise rights.”
“the University’s failure to grant religious exemptions to plaintiffs burdened their free exercise rights. The University put plaintiffs to the choice: get vaccinated or stop fully participating in intercollegiate sports.”
“By conditioning the privilege of playing sports on plaintiffs’ willingness to abandon their sincere religious beliefs, the University burdened their free exercise rights.”
“The Free Exercise Clause, we reiterate, “protects against ‘indirect coercion or penalties on the free exercise of religion.”
“Accordingly, where a state extends discretionary exemptions to a policy, it must grant exemptions for cases of “religious hardship” or present compelling reasons not to do so.”
“Proper application of the Constitution, moreover, serves the public interest, Coal. to Def. Affirmative Action, 473 F.3d at 252, as “it is always in the public interest to prevent the violation of a party’s constitutional rights,” G & V Lounge, Inc. v. Mich. Liquor Control Comm’n, 23 F.3d 1071, 1079 (6th Cir. 1994).”
While many seem to believe the lie that issues of public health trump all other rights, this court seems to hold the First Amendment secured right to the free exercise of religion supreme. And make note, the state of Tennessee is within the Sixth Circuit’s federal court jurisdiction.
There is an argument to be made that while government entities may be bound to provide for religious exemptions to vaccines due to the First Amendment, that a private business is not held to the same standard. Many hospitals are private businesses and can therefore do whatever they want in an employment-at-will state like Tennessee, you say.
But here is the kicker. To remain in compliance with Medicare and Medicaid, hospitals are required to adhere to the federal CMS guidelines. Well, it just so happens that those very guidelines that are now mandating the jab, also require religious exemptions to be granted.
Similarly, for a federal contractor to remain in compliance with a federal contract, it would have to follow federal law. If a federal contract had a requirement for vaccination, it would have to also allow for religious exemptions per the First Amendment.
If you are a healthcare worker or you work for a federal contractor, this is not the time to just sit back and take it. This is your time to stand and demand that your employer follow the law.
Do not give up your rights!
Gary Humble is the founder and executive director of Tennessee Stands, an organization working to secure liberty and hold elected officials accountable to the Constitution through legislation, litigation, and education. Follow Gary @garyhumble and visit www.tennesseestands.org.
If we get locked down by this Martial Law stuff, here is something for you to read and think about.
This was back in the 1800s but still good reading today. Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826). His portrait is on the $2.00 Dollar Bill.
Thomas Jefferson was a very remarkable man who started learning very early in life and never stopped.
At 5, began studying under his cousin’s tutor.
At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French.
At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.
At 16, entered the College of William and Mary
Also could write in Greek with one hand, while writing the same in Latin with the other.
At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.
At 23, started his own law practice.
At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.
At 31, wrote the widely circulated “Summary View of the Rights of British America,” and retired from his law practice.
At 32, was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress.
At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence.
At 33, took three years to revise Virginia’s legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.
At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia, succeeding Patrick Henry.
At 40, served in Congress for two years.
At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.
At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.
At 53, served as Vice President and was elected President of the American Philosophical Society.
At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of the Republican Party.
At 57, was elected the third president of the United States.
At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the nation’s size.
At 61, was elected to a second term as President.
At 65, retired to Monticello.
At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.
At 81, almost single-handedly, created the University of Virginia and served as its’ first
president.
At 83, died on the 50th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, along with John Adams.
Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied, the previous failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, His laws and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today.
Jefferson really knew his stuff.
A voice from the past to lead us in the future:
John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement:
“This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House, with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.” — Thomas Jefferson
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” — Thomas Jefferson
“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its’own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on, would save one-half the wars of the world.” — Thomas Jefferson
“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them.” — Thomas Jefferson
“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” — Thomas Jefferson
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” — Thomas Jefferson
“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” — Thomas Jefferson
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” — Thomas Jefferson
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes, the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical.” — Thomas Jefferson
Something every American ought to know.