“When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.” - George Washington

The Foundation for Moral Law filed an amicus brief this week with the United States Supreme Court urging the Court to take the case of 39 military chaplains who suffered discrimination because of their religious objections to the COVID vaccine. Read the brief here.

The chaplains, from many branches of the armed forces and denominations and ranging in rank from First Lieutenant to Colonel, refused to take the vaccine because it violated their religious convictions. Like many others, many of these chaplains would not take the vaccine because it was made from cell lines from aborted babies and therefore condones and encourages abortion. Because of their refusal, many 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 The Fourth Circuit dismissed the case as moot because the Department of Defense (DoD) has rescinded the vaccine mandate, but the chaplains argue that the case is not moot because the mandates could be brought back at any time.

Foundation Senior Counsel John Eidsmoe, author of the brief and 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 this in common: they’re both unvaccinated.”

Foundation President Kayla Moore, whose husband Judge Roy Moore is a West Point graduate and Vietnam veteran, said “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. As President and General George Washington said, ‘When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.’”