As expected, the creeping tyranny mandating that all shall be vaxxed is not emanating from Uncle so much as from the private sector. Kathy and I were looking forward to traveling to Cleveland to see James McMurtry* – tonight was to have been the night – but that got postponed to sometime in April. The venue later issued an announcement that all comers to any further events at their place must produce proof either of COVID vaccination or of a negative test performed within 48 hours of the concert. “Can I see your papers, please?” Then today I read a happy e-mail from one of our local jazz favorites, saying he and his group will be starting up a regular Wednesday night gig, indoors (!), at their old haunt. But “vaccinated only”. No mention of tests. Maybe the person they post at front to take the cover charge will also be checking C19s. Granted, they draw an older crowd and likely don’t want anything like what happened at Gretchen’s and Mario’s nursing homes.
So I figured it was high time to get my own papers. No, I’m not taking the stab. Instead, I’m taking a stab at getting an exemption from the U. Der Schliz has not come around to mandating emeritus faculty get vaxxed, yet. But I thought I could still enter the portal https://campusblueprint.umich.edu/vaccine/ and see about getting a religious exemption. Pro-active, doncha know. I’m Christian and pro-life, and all 3 vaccines used fetal cell lines somewhere in their development https://www.michigan.gov/documents/coronavirus/COVID-19_Vaccines_and_Fetal_Cells_031921_720415_7.pdf, so it seems like a no brainer. The form has a little box to enter your comments on why you’re seeking an exemption. Here’s what I wrote:
“By my deeply held Christian faith (I am a Methodist, member of the Ann Arbor Christian Reformed Church from ’06 till recently, when I transferred back the the Vicksburg UMC where I first became a member) I revere all life as a gift from God. I grew to become staunchly Pro-Life as my values coalesced after college and I realized my wonderful life as an adoptee might never have happened had Roe v. Wade been law of the land in ’52. I oppose abortion in all forms and find use of tissues from aborted babies for research and pharmaceutical development especially heinous. All 3 US COVID vaccines have used fetal cell lines in their development. I cannot abide accepting a product with this lineage.”
So we’ll see what happens.
Have you heard Eric Clapton’s latest take on life, such as it is today? https://rumble.com/embed/vj89iu/?pub=4
*PS. 2 of my favorite James McMurtry songs
“Just us kids” (“had enough of this small town bullshit”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH5hTwWgHp0
“Choctaw bingo” (“have us a time…”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nggqe-L9ZQ8
addendum (9/4/21, my 69th birthday): someone at the “U-M Exemptions and Temporary Postponement Response” office e-mailed me 11:02 PM last night that my request for an exemption from COVID-19 vaccination had been approved. Hallelujah!
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