An evangelical pastor was fired on Friday for promoting vaccinations during an appearance on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe.’
According to Religion News Service, Daniel Darling, senior vice president of communications for the National Religious Broadcasters, was fired after refusing to admit his pro-vaccine statements were mistaken.
Darling told host Joe Scarborough in an Aug. 2 broadcast that his faith led him to take the vaccine.
“I believe in this vaccine because I don’t want to see anyone else die of COVID. Our family has lost too many close friends and relatives to COVID, including an uncle, a beloved church member and our piano teacher,” he said.
But, the NRB, an international association of Christian communicators, told Darling that his pro-vaccine comments violated the organization’s policy of remaining neutral about COVID-19 vaccines, Religion News Service reports. They told him he could either sign a statement admitting he had been insubordinate or be fired.
Darling refused to sign the letter and was subsequently fired without severance pay.
“I’m sad and disappointed that my time at NRB has come to a close,” Darling said in a statement. “I am grieved that the issues that divide our country are dividing Christians.”
White evangelicals are among the religious groups most likely to be hesitant to the vaccine or outright refuse to take it. 1 in 4 white evangelicals said they refuse to get a vaccine, while an additional 1 in 5 was hesitant, according to a survey from Public Religion Research Institute.
