Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Posted on 02/07/2012 3:21:16 PM PST by NYer
It is a rare moment indeed when faith denominations of all stripes unite together in common cause, and it is rarer still when that cause is a political one, with a sole piece of legislation as its principal target. But when that law eviscerates the very foundation of religious liberty in America as protected under the First Amendment, it should not be surprising that Catholics and Jews, evangelical Christians, and mainline Lutherans alike find common cause in defense of their liberties.
Such is the case with the firestorm of opposition to Obamacare and the Obama Administration’s attack on religious liberty. Under a new Obamacare mandate issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the White House is mandating that virtually all religious employers, with the exception of churches, provide health care coverage for contraception — including abortion-inducing drugs — thereby trampling upon their constitutionally guaranteed free exercise of religion. And it is this mandate that has caused a vehement response in churches and synagogues across the country.
Yesterday, the head of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, warned that the nation’s 70 million Catholics are ready to go to war with the Administration’s dictates, saying “Never before, unprecedented in American history, for the federal government to line up against the Roman Catholic Church. This is going to be fought out with lawsuits, with court decisions, and, dare I say it, maybe even in the streets.”
Donohue’s remarks follow those of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and at least 153 Catholic bishops across the country who have weighed in with opposition to the mandate. “We Catholics will be compelled to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees and suffer the penalties for doing so,” wrote Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette, Michigan. Those penalties include fines imposed by the federal government that could cost larger organizations millions of dollars per year.
The Catholic Church is not alone in its opposition to Obamacare’s onslaught against religious freedom. David Addington, The Heritage Foundation’s vice president of Domestic and Economic Policy, details the growing ranks of the faithful who say the Obama Administration has crossed a very dangerous line. The National Association of Evangelicals commented that “The HHS rules trample on our most cherished freedoms and set a dangerous precedent” and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America stated, “In declining to expand the religious exemption within the healthcare reform law, the Obama Administration has disappointingly failed to respect the needs of religious organizations such as hospitals, social welfare organizations and more.” The Agudath Israel of America stated its opposition, as did the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America.
The Obama Administration is beginning to feel the pressure. On Sunday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius authored an op-ed in USA Today defending the Obama Administration’s actions, claiming that a very narrow exemption to the mandate is evidence that the White House is “working to strike the right balance between respecting religious beliefs and increasing women’s access to critical preventive health services.” That exemption, though, does not apply to institutions like religious schools and hospitals. Sebelius might claim the Administration is offering grace to people of faith, but in fact it is not. In an editorial that ran the same day as Sebelius,’ USA Today agreed with those standing on the side of religious liberty, writing that “in drawing up the rules that will govern health care reform” the Obama Administration “galloped over” the line and violated the “simple proposition that the government should steer away from meddling in church affairs.”
The Obama Administration’s actions, though entirely counter to the freedom of religion, should not be surprising given the nature of the President’s health care law. Obamacare has given the federal government broad power over one-sixth of the American economy and thereby purports to grant Washington the power to force religious institutions to take actions contrary to their faith. Addington writes that this kind of concentration of power “has proved to be a drastic and dangerous experiment.” America’s religious leaders and the faithful have awoken to this wolf at their door and are lashing out in defense of their freedoms. Congress, too, should act now by repealing Obamacare and restoring the religious liberty that is so central to our way of life.
Quick Hits:
Honestly, this really is the best thing that could happen. It brings back the Healthcare front and center. With the ecomony doing so fantastically (lol) this will motivate us agaIN. He is a POS and I feel like I did in 2009/10 right before we kicked everyone out!!!!!
They should join the suit that’s going to the Supremes. Or at least petition them to join, keep in green and in the news.
I wouldn’t discount the possibility that this is all a big bait and switch, and that in a few months Obama is going to magnanimously reverse what he will call “Sebelius’s overreach” or something, and reinstate the conscience exception clause to Obamacare. The press will spin it as showing how deeply Obama cares about Catholics and other people of faith, et cetera., and all will be forgiven and the RC Bishops will endorse Obama for President again.
Or am I too cynical?
Against him.
Obama could propose a solution....
maybe shuffle the money so every taxpaying citizen can get what they want as long as religious people aren’t connected directly
they have a problem with offering coverage directly, so to protect womens rights and equal protection, the government can offer free vouchers for all birth control and cut government funding to catholic hospitals or other religious institutions to cover the cost of it.
this could apply to all moral objections and religions as well
problem solved!
Exactly. Nothing good will come of this. Obamacare will stand, he will win reelection, and we’re f***ed. Period.
Cynical, no. But realistic, I think. He absolutely could be doing this as a bait/switch, he is a politician. I can only hope our side is in front of this. But right now, we need to educate all again. He has done this before, he has a pattern now. We need to bring back into the headlines that awful No vote against the Infant born Alive Bill(not sure of correct name)
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
This is going to be fought out with lawsuits, with court decisions, and, dare I say it, maybe even in the streets.”
Don’t forget fighting with the ballot box.
I think Obama was just arrogant enough to think that dumping on the Catholic Church would be a cake walk.
I wouldn’t want to start singing “Ding Dong The Witch is Dead” too soon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama throws Sibelius under the bus if the doody really starts hitting the fan for him politically.
Sadly I am not certain if you are cynical enough.
Incredible that THIS was posted on May 12, 2009!!!!!!
(but, we didn’t like Bath-House Barry because of the color of his skin/sarc)
“problem solved!”
Wouldn’t we still have the rest of Obamacare?
Why are you proposing a problem solution to help “them” with this specific when the whole thing is a problem?
Romneycare is the FATHER of Obamacare !
There is a reason why the roads of hell are paved with the skulls of bishops.
This is a quote from lib Wikipedia regarding pro-lifer Jill Stanek and Obama’s vote against the Born Alive Infants Protection bill. Written by libs, but you get the gist of it...
“Obama infanticide accusations
Stanek generated national news during the 2008 Presidential campaign when publicizing Barack Obama’s four votes against Illinois’ Born Alive Infants Protection Act while state senator as well as his state senate floor testimony.[9] She posted a vote tally on her blog[10] showing that, during a March 12, 2003, meeting of the Illinois State Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee, Committee Chairman Barack Obama prevented the passage of an amendment to Bill 1082 that would have conveyed “the rights of personhood upon any fetus expelled or extracted from the womb if that fetus was capable of breathing or voluntary motion.”[11] Stanek argued that Obama had supported the killing of such infants and claimed that he had advocated for infanticide.”
Stanek later accused Obama of allowing statutory rape to go undetected by opposing parental notification laws.[12]
[edit]
Frankly, I’m getting tired of the surrender monkey parades and the defeatists that these threads bring out. If you’ve given up, dig a bloody hole and bury yourselves.
Considering the fact that the parasites are about to outnumber the producers and the MSM is more than willing to cover the blatant fraud by the left in any election in this country, I consider your statement laughable and naive.
The ballot box is pointless, and we have only ourselves to blame for letting it happen.
Be prepared to do as you’re told. You have no other choice that you’re willing to use.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.