BOSTON – On September 16, 2024, a federal judge ruled that a religious discrimination case against Boston Medical Center (BMC), filed by a former nurse, Amy Munroe, could proceed. According to court documents obtained by The Wild Hunt, Munroe, who worked at BMC for over 20 years, was terminated in 2021 after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine on the grounds of her religious beliefs.
Munroe practices a personalized form of Paganism centered around reverence for Mother Nature as her deity. Although she has not aligned with any specific Pagan path, such as Wicca, Munroe asserts that her belief system rejects aspects of Western medicine, including mandatory vaccination. She argues that the hospital’s vaccine mandate conflicted with her deeply held religious convictions, leading to her termination.
COVID-19 Vaccine vial and syringe – US [public domain
In August 2021, Boston Medical Center (BMC) implemented a policy requiring all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Amy Munroe, a nurse at the hospital, requested a religious exemption, explaining that although she was raised Roman Catholic, her beliefs had since evolved into an ancient form of Paganism that she did not specifically define. Munroe described Mother Nature as her supreme deity and expressed her belief that everything in nature, including viruses, has a purpose. She interpreted the COVID-19 pandemic as a sign of Mother Nature’s displeasure with humanity.
In her exemption request, Munroe emphasized that her religious beliefs prohibited her from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, which she regarded as “unnatural.” While she acknowledged that she had reluctantly received the annual flu vaccine in the past, she justified this by noting that the flu vaccine is derived from a “naturally occurring virus.” In contrast, she viewed the mRNA technology used in some COVID-19 vaccines as fundamentally different and incompatible with the natural order that her beliefs uphold.
Lady Justice
In a statement, Munroe wrote:
I believe that we are children of the Mother Earth which has [its] own spirit. I believe in the Circle of Life. Mother Nature is God and She is the most powerful force on Earth. She created all things and all that She created is meant to be here on the Earth. All things made by her, humans, animals, birds, insects, trees, flowers, rocks, unicellular organisms, parasites and viruses serve a purpose on the planet although that purpose may not be known to man. She created humans with, amongst other things, innate senses, minds to think, and immune systems to protect. It is my belief that wildfires, global warming, earthquakes, and the Covid pandemic itself are signs that she is angry with Her humans and wants to humble them, lest they forget that there can only be one center of a circle and that She is that center. Man is not the center of the universe, nor the most powerful, nor any more or less important than other forms of life. When Mother Nature delivers plague and widespread disease it is because the Earth is out of balance and needs to be restored to equilibrium. It is evident to me that the more man attempts to dominate the earth the more he tries to control and interfere with natural occurrences, and the more he distances himself from nature the worse off he will be.
Boston Medical Center (BMC) denied Munroe’s request for a religious exemption, interpreting her statements as inconsistent with Roman Catholic teachings rather than recognizing her individualized form of Paganism. When Munroe continued to refuse the vaccine, she was terminated in October 2021.
The court faced the complex task of determining whether Munroe’s beliefs could be classified as religious under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects religious beliefs but acknowledges the difficulty in defining religion. A central issue was whether Munroe’s beliefs were genuinely religious or merely personal or medical opinions.
The judge noted that Munroe’s beliefs lacked traditional markers of religion, such as sacred texts, rituals, or organized worship. Nevertheless, the court concluded that her beliefs, centered around nature and a rejection of modern medical interventions, could reasonably be classified as religious.
Although Munroe’s beliefs were highly personalized and idiosyncratic, they aligned with certain aspects of Paganism, particularly her reverence for nature. She asserted that a core tenet of her faith was to submit to the natural world and avoid artificial medical treatments. Her objection to the mRNA technology in COVID-19 vaccines, which she viewed as unnatural, was fundamental to her case. While the court acknowledged that her beliefs might resemble holistic or naturalistic health practices, it found them sufficient to support a plausible claim of religious discrimination.
Ultimately, the court agreed with Munroe’s argument that her beliefs about medical treatments had been shaped over many years by her faith, rather than being a recent fabrication in response to the vaccine mandate.
As a result, the court denied Boston Medical Center’s motion to dismiss the case, allowing the lawsuit to proceed.
The Wild Hunt will continue to follow the case and report as new information emerges.
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