In one of the boldest, most audacious moves ever made by a President of the United States, President Barack Obama is on the brink of successfully rendering moot the very first clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (emphasis added). If he forces the Catholic Church to comply with the Health and Human Services ruling to provide its employees with insurance that covers activities the Church has long held sinful — abortion via the morning after pill, sterilization and contraceptives — then the precedent is clear: when religious beliefs conflict with government decrees, religion must yield.A very clear article from Forbes magazine shows exactly how the White House is trampling religious freedom and why they picked the Catholic Church to be the first victim. Go read it all.
This is not just a cause for Catholics or even those who agree that the HHS's chosen issue for forcing the fight (contraception) is wrong. It is for all Americans.
I am not a Catholic, nor do I believe in the Church’s opposition to contraception. But I pray that the leadership of the Catholic Church will have the faith and courage to stand for its core beliefs and use all of its moral power and political influence to defeat the President’s edict. I pray they will reach out across the political spectrum to people of all faiths, agnostics and atheists in the name of religious freedom and individual liberty. By so doing, they, and the institution of the Catholic Church, will have my love and respect for the rest of my life.I urge you to contact your legislators again on this issue, beginning with President Obama. Here is the USCCB's page with links and more information.
I just hope that every religious person understands how serious this issue is. It's now been a week since the president put out that unacceptable "accomodation" and has had the time to hear the Church's concerns. And he hasn't budged an iota. He is serious about this. That article stated the stakes correctly. This is a locking of horns of which one can only characterize it as a life and death struggle. If we lose, we lose religious freedom. It's that big.
ReplyDelete