Do Mennonites Have a Religious Objection to Getting Vaccinated?
Or have they just been influenced by misinformation and propaganda from folks like RFK Jr?
Since the Mennonites live in groups of religious communities, it would be easy to believe that they are unvaccinated because of some religious objection to vaccines.
RFK Jr sure does seem to think so.
Do Mennonites Have a Religious Objection to Getting Vaccinated?
In a recent Townhall with Chris Coumo on Newsmax, RFK Jr said that:
“…now there are populations in our country, like the Mennonites in Texas, who are most afflicted, and they have religious objections to vaccinations because the MMR vaccine contains a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles. So they don’t want to take it.”
Secretary RFK Jr
Of course, none of that is true.
The MMR vaccine contains neither aborted fetus debris nor DNA particles.
“Historically and theologically, there has not been any religious teaching against immunization in Mennonite circles…”
Who are the Mennonites in a Texas community where measles is spreading?
And not surprisingly, Mennonites do not actually have a religious objection to vaccines!
“Vaccination remains one of the most effective ways to protect yourself and your family from measles,” Dueck wrote. “Vaccinated individuals are far less likely to contract and spread the virus.”
Mennonite newspaper warns of measles danger
Instead of a religious objection, the editor of a popular Mennonite newspaper says that “false information linking vaccinations to autism is playing a role for some in deciding against vaccinating their children.”
And while there are many unvaccinated Mennonites getting measles in West Texas, you will actually find many other Mennonite communities with fairly good vaccination rates.
In fact, one study, Health Needs Assessment of Five Pennsylvania Plain Populations, found that 95% of Mennonites in one community in Pennsylvania reported that they vaccinated their kids!
So no, whether Mennonite parents vaccinate and protect their kids isn’t related to religion.
A month later, the March 21 Post included a column by Dr. Carlos and Carla Wiens from Paraguay explaining the disease and recommending vaccinations for everyone.
“Governments around the world are making every effort to ensure all children are vaccinated against this dangerous disease,” they wrote. “…Many children died before a good vaccination was available precisely because the pneumonia could not be cured.”
Texas measles outbreak draws attention to traditionalist Mennonite community
It’s about these folks listening to the wrong people.
Dave Klassen, senior pastor at Community Church of Seminole, identified by the Associated Press and The Texas Tribune as a “mostly Mennonite congregation,” told the AP and the Tribune he wouldn’t presume to give advice about vaccines.
“Do I trust all the vaccines? No,” Klassen said. “And I get from [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] that he doesn’t trust all the vaccines, either. And he is very well educated in that; I’m not.”
Texas measles outbreak draws attention to traditionalist Mennonite community
People who push an agenda that vaccines are always bad and aren’t necessary.
“Amid the worsening public health emergency, a local historian in Seminole, Texas, Tina Siemens, has been helping a holistic medicine clinic raise money to distribute unproven remedies to families affected by the outbreak.”
RFK Jr. Reportedly Had a Call With Texans Helping Distribute Unproven Measles Remedies
An agenda that scares people away from getting vaccinated, causes outbreaks, and deaths.
“There is no teaching against vaccines in the traditional ecclesiology of Mennonites or the Christian Scriptures. A Christian faith community that completely rejects vaccines is being formed more by modern misinformation than the Way of Jesus.”
Texas pastor to fellow Mennonites: Vaccinate your children
An agenda that is against the teachings of most religions, as it is based on misinformation and propaganda.
“Mennonite doctrine does not prohibit inoculations or modern medicine in general, though I encountered plenty of suspicion among Mennonites I spoke with in Seminole. I met a father who said that he wanted to vaccinate his two daughters but that their mother didn’t think it was a good idea. A grandmother told me she knew of several children who had been given the measles vaccine and were “never the same after that.” A man who'd spent his career installing irrigation equipment said he was suspicious of vaccines in part because he believed that the government had lied about the origins of COVID.”
His Daughter Was America’s First Measles Death in a Decade
Misinformation and propaganda that will lead to more cases and outbreaks in more and more communities, especially now that RFK Jr is Secretary of HHS.
Misinformation and propaganda that you must learn to fight back against!
References
Who are the Mennonites in a Texas community where measles is spreading? https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/26/texas-mennonites-measles-outbreak/
Mennonite newspaper warns of measles danger https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/2025/04/07/mennonite-newspaper-warns-of-measles-danger
Health Needs Assessment of Five Pennsylvania Plain Populations https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6651630/
Texas measles outbreak draws attention to traditionalist Mennonite community https://anabaptistworld.org/texas-measles-outbreak-draws-attention-to-traditionalist-mennonite-community/
RFK Jr. Reportedly Had a Call With Texans Helping Distribute Unproven Measles Remedies https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/03/rfk-jr-measles-outbreak-texas-cod-steroids-call-seminole-mennonite-community-hhs/
Texas pastor to fellow Mennonites: Vaccinate your children https://www.expressnews.com/news/texas/article/measles-texas-mennonites-vaccinate-children-20202367.php
His Daughter Was America’s First Measles Death in a Decade https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2025/03/texas-measles-outbreak-death-family/681985/