Christian leaders in the U.K. have called upon Prime Minister Boris Johnson to block to idea of implementing vaccine passports, which aim to provide certification on whether citizens have been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Aside from proving COVID-19 vaccination, the proposed paper or app passport will also certify that an individual has tested negative or recovered from a confirmed infection in the last six months. The government believes that this will be key in reopening up the country, but religious leaders are opposed, saying it will lead to the creation of a "surveillance state."
According to CBN, more than 1,200 U.K. Christian leaders of churches have backed an open letter to the Prime Minister, in which they warn that forcing citizens to have vaccine passports will enable the government to violate the people's right to privacy, thus creating a "surveillance state."
Right now, the U.K. government is still reviewing the possibility o a "COVID status certification" and has now yet decided on implementing a system of vaccine passports for its citizens.
"We are considering a range of evidence around COVID-status certification and whether it may have a role in opening up higher risk settings safely. The review is ongoing and no decisions have been taken," a U.K. government spokesperson told BBC.
However, U.K. Christian leaders, which include Anglican and Catholic ministers, have already condemned the idea in the open letter sent to the Prime Minister. The open letter argued that the implementation of vaccine passports system will create a "medical apartheid" and a "two-tier society."
In defiance of a possibility of such a project to be implemented, the religious leaders stated that they would never refuse entry to their churches to people who do not have a vaccine passport or any other certification that shows "proof of health."
The open letter also invited "leaders in churches of Christian organisations" to sign the letter and back their campaign against the vaccine passports, with copies of the letter arriving at the offices of the Prime Minister and all Members of the Parliament. The letter has also been published online.
"This scheme has the potential to bring about the end of liberal democracy as we know it and to create a surveillance state in which the government uses technology to control certain aspects of citizens' lives," the U.K. Christian leaders argued in the open letter. "As such, this constitutes one of the most dangerous policy proposals ever to be made in the history of British politics."
The U.K. Christian leaders are not alone in the concern of turning the nation into a "surveillance state" once vaccine passports are implemented. The idea has also divided Members of the Parliament on all sides of the Commons.
Over 70 Members of the Parliament expressed their disapproval of the plan because it was "discriminatory and divisive." Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Oppositio Sir Keri Starmer agreed, saying that vaccine passports will cause discrimination against those who have not been inoculated.
