Thank you very much Daniel! I'll definitely include the word "testing".Here's what happens, as it happened to my mother in law, and now my employer (different employer) sent almost the same exact form.
If you include that, make sure to say you oppose the testing of vaccines on aborted fetus cells. They still tried to say to my mother in law that no fetal cells are in the vaccine, to which we restated it was the testing that is against the faith (according to the Bases of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church and the OCA's 2001 Holy Synod) AND that you oppose any coerced medical procedures, which the Georgian Church also condemned.
To sum it up, state that you oppose testing on aborted fetuses and coerced medical procedures, that may get you out of the weekly testing as well.
According to the EEOC's Section 12, they have no grounds to ask you when you developed this belief, if you started believing this yesterday it is still valid. They do have the right to ask more follow up questions if they doubt the sincerity of the exemption.
Well your clergy are simply wrong.
Edit: if you need the sources it is in the Orthodox exemption document going around but the OCA synod is not in that document, so here is the link for that: https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/stat...h-in-the-perspective-of-orthodox-christianity
So glad we have this forum. I dont know you guys in person, but surely feel your support.
Btw, here's one of the responses I received from the clergy:
"There is nothing in the Orthodox faith (nor in scriptures or canons of the church) which forbids vaccination and anyone believing differently is under a heretical understanding.
Heresies naturally create division because the word itself means opposite to Orthodoxy which, when abided by, brings unity and communion.
If your wife is deciding to refuse vaccination, this is a personal freewill decision, the consequence of which will fall solely on her shoulders.
Diseases do not discriminate and like the sun and rain, are given to both the righteous and sinner and the outcomes will be the same for both. In addition, pregnancy increases the risk of severe and/or deadly outcomes if COVID is contracted.
I will pray for you and your wife that the Lord be merciful to you, and that you may be spared from the potentially serious consequences you could face from putting God to the test.
Again, we do not prohibit vaccination and urge you to listen to wisdom and not to the the many foolish opinions swirling on the internet."