A vaccine requirement, as per Christian singer Victory Boyd, prevented her from performing the national anthem at an NFL game last week. Boyd has previously said that she would not take the COVID-19 vaccine because of her religious beliefs.
The Grammy award singer initially intended to appear last Thursday in the first game of the NFL between the Buccaneers of Tampa Bay and the Dallas Cowboys in Tampa Bay, reports the Christian Post.
However, The Epoch Times reports that the NFL's director for media and entertainment programs informed Boyd's father and manager, John Boyd, through email that the "Game Day Field Access Policy" required the national anthem performer to be vaccinated.
"As I understand that Victory will not be fully vaccinated by the time of the Kickoff game, she would not have been able to comply with the terms of the Game Day Field Access Policy," the email said.
Boyd maintained that she is guided by her Christian faith in her choice not to get vaccinated.
"I am in prayer to make sure that the Lord guides me into the right decision concerning receiving an unproven injection with artificial properties that can potentially have a long-term effect on my reproductive health," Boyd said in a statement for reporters.
"If I want to take the vaccine, the decision will be between myself, my doctor, and my God. At this point, the Spirit of God is leading me to take a stand for freedom of choice," she added.
Dedicated to anyone brave enough to take a stand for freedom. This is for you. pic.twitter.com/49T21WVu50
"” Victory Boyd (@victoryboyd) September 11, 2021
Her "taking stand" for personal health choices
Boyd posted a screenshot of The Epoch Times article on Instagram. In her post, she referred to America as a country engaged in a "fight for freedom."
"America from its inception was a dream. A dream of a place that champions equality, liberty and justice for ALL people. ... There has always been a fight to make this dream into a reality," she noted in her caption.
She said that she accepted the fact that she would be unable to perform the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' National Anthem. However, she is unable and unwilling to accept the resurgence of segregation and prejudice.
"We're in a pretty scary time right now where discrimination and segregation is becoming socially acceptable and few are doing anything to resist," she said.
Continuing the conversation on Instagram, Boyd characterized her choice not to be inoculated as a health decision that required her to "take a stand."
"We stand to lose more by sitting down. ... If Americans don't stand ... what hope is there for the rest of the world," she pointed out. "Let's start by respecting each other's right to make our own medical decisions. We can respect each other's boundaries while still allowing love to abound irrespective of one's personal health choices."
Boyd's faith testimony
Boyd also shared her testimony via an Instagram post, detailing how she came to believe in Christ.
Despite having grown up in the Church, Boyd said she came to a revelation about "the whole point of having a Savior" when she was 18 years old while recuperating from a debilitating bike crash two years ago.
Boyd was left with many missing teeth, as well as a fractured jaw and arm, as a result of the event. Boyd said she was devastated to hear that she would have to have her mouth "wired shut" for six to eight weeks, and she feared she would never be able to sing again.
"In a split of a second, I lost everything that made me valuable to society. ... I lost my identity. ... I couldn't stand calling myself Victory any longer, even though that's my legal name," she shared. "I slipped into a depression and [I] didn't know what I believed anymore. ...This was a whole other level of trauma that I never experienced before. I believed Jesus is real, I just really needed Him to show up and give me a reason to exist."
In response to her pleas, Boyd claims that Jesus "showed up" and made her understand that it was not her duty to be "strong and fight the demons" that were attacking her thoughts.
She claimed that Jesus vanquished the same demons who had tried to torment her thoughts, and she invited anyone who called on His name to share in that victory.
"I found a new identity in Christ and though my mouth was still wired shut and my arm still broken and my teeth still missing and my face still disfigured, I knew I had the right to call myself Victory again my Jesus came back to life and victoriously brought me back to life with Him."
