Take heart, people suing the administration for religious freedom: It’s Religious Freedom Day!
posted at 10:11 pm on January 16, 2013 by Mary Katharine Ham
Foremost among the rights Americans hold sacred is the freedom to worship as we choose. Today, we celebrate one of our Nation’s first laws to protect that right — the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Written by Thomas Jefferson and guided through the Virginia legislature by James Madison, the Statute affirmed that “Almighty God hath created the mind free” and “all men shall be free to profess . . . their opinions in matters of religion.” Years later, our Founders looked to the Statute as a model when they enshrined the principle of religious liberty in the Bill of Rights.
Because of the protections guaranteed by our Constitution, each of us has the right to practice our faith openly and as we choose. As a free country, our story has been shaped by every language and enriched by every culture. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, Sikhs and non-believers. Our patchwork heritage is a strength we owe to our religious freedom.
Americans of every faith have molded the character of our Nation. They were pilgrims who sought refuge from persecution; pioneers who pursued brighter horizons; protesters who fought for abolition, women’s suffrage, and civil rights. Each generation has seen people of different faiths join together to advance peace, justice, and dignity for all…
Now, dignity for all just requires religious people to provide birth control and morning-after pills free of charge for anyone they may employ.
Tim Carney notes an interesting word choice:
Obama edits “free exercise of religion” to “right to worship.” Telilng.
— Timothy P Carney (@TPCarney) January 16, 2013
Worship is a very specific form of “exercise.” “Free exercise” covers a lot more ground. Out of curiosity, I checked a Bush-era Religious Freedom Day proclamation, and it does use the more traditional and expansive “free exercise of religion.”
The Obama proclamation continues:
As we observe Religious Freedom Day, let us remember the legacy of faith and independence we have inherited, and let us honor it by forever upholding our right to exercise our beliefs free from prejudice or persecution.
The Catholic Association responds:
“This distortion of our nation’s first freedom is the justification for the HHS mandate and the reason that 44 separate cases now have been brought against the federal government,” Maureen Ferguson, senior policy advisor for The Catholic Association said.
“The Constitution guarantees Americans the right to practice their faith 24 hours a day, seven days a week, whether at church, home, school or work.”
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has the scorecard for which religious business owners have been able to get an injunction for their persecution— nine injunctions granted and five denied. There are 43 cases, and the Becket Fund is doing the work of representing many of the plaintiffs. You can support them at the link.
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Obama’s not interested in compromise ever. He wants to fundamentally transform the US into a socialist utopia. What will it take for the GOP establishment understand this?
sauldalinsky on February 7, 2013 at 3:27 PM
“HHS will fail…under it’s own weight” – Gov. Rick Perry
workingclass artist on February 7, 2013 at 3:29 PM
I hope the USCCB has a secure, hardened bunker to protect against a likely OBOZO drone attack
TeaPartyNation on February 7, 2013 at 3:33 PM
Barry Obama and Her Holiness of Health Care are just going to continue to double down on stupid.
GarandFan on February 7, 2013 at 3:33 PM
“Eventually we do have a problem. That the population is getting older, health care costs are rising… there is this question of how we’re going to pay for the programs. The year 2025, the year 2030, something is going to have to give…
We’re going to need more revenue… Surely it will require some sort of middle class taxes as well… We won’t be able to pay for the kind of government the society will want without some increase in taxes… on the middle class, maybe a value added tax…
…
And we’re also going to have to make decisions about health care, doc pay for health care that has no demonstrated medical benefits.
So the snarky version… which I shouldn’t even say because it will get me in trouble is death panels and sales taxes is how we do this…” – Economist Paul Krugman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H9u2Lf0DdzA
workingclass artist on February 7, 2013 at 3:34 PM
His Eminence has a slogan worthy of a bumper sticker there:
“Healthcare for all should not mean freedom for few.”
JimLennon on February 7, 2013 at 3:36 PM
I’m not at all surprised at this. I can’t decide why the Obama administration ever thought they could pull this off. If they think all Americans are as lacking in critical thinking and discernment as Obama voters, they’ve missed the mark. Those who are pro-life have been dealing with politicians too long to be fooled with shell games.
At some point the Byzantine maze of regulations is going to entangle the feet of those who are trying to force people to violate their beliefs and conscience. They’re going to fall into the pit they’ve dug for others.
INC on February 7, 2013 at 3:36 PM
I’m happy to see even qualified opposition to ObumblesCare. We need all the help we can get fighting this thing.
MTF on February 7, 2013 at 3:37 PM
…which is…as you know…to sit down and shut up!
KOOLAID2 on February 7, 2013 at 3:40 PM
If I’m correct, USCCB initially supported Obamacare. Now they are whining about the contraception mandate. Please tell them to cry me a river.
antifederalist on February 7, 2013 at 3:40 PM
…another “little fart”… from Rick Perry?
KOOLAID2 on February 7, 2013 at 3:42 PM
They don’t get it, do they? They just don’t.
Bob's Kid on February 7, 2013 at 3:43 PM
“Universal healthcare still totally kicks ass, though!”, added Dolan.
Armin Tamzarian on February 7, 2013 at 3:47 PM
All who brung/kept Obama, go to Hades, with yours too. May he destroy you all. YOU deserve NO less.
Time to wake up.
The line btw. state and church is severed by Obama.
Schadenfreude on February 7, 2013 at 3:47 PM
Yeah…Living in Texas is like living in a whole nother country.
workingclass artist on February 7, 2013 at 3:52 PM
If I’m correct, USCCB initially supported Obamacare. Now they are whining about the contraception mandate. Please tell them to cry me a river.
[antifederalist on February 7, 2013 at 3:40 PM]
Well, they’ve always objected to the parts which infringe on their rights. Other people’s rights they were happy to trample all over in their rush to support it.
Dusty on February 7, 2013 at 3:53 PM
I’m happy to see even qualified opposition to ObumblesCare. We need all the help we can get fighting this thing.
[MTF on February 7, 2013 at 3:37 PM]
Don’t get too happy nor stand in front of them. The USCCB will switch sides as soon as they get their 30 pieces of silver.
Dusty on February 7, 2013 at 3:57 PM
O/T Check this out.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2013/02/07/Morgan-blame-deranged-criminal-not-politics
jawkneemusic on February 7, 2013 at 4:00 PM
” For decades, Democrats and Republicans alike have invested heavily in governance schemes that erode the Constitution’s separation of powers and mar its proper functioning. The Federal judiciary has uniformly rubber-stamped these schemes. The consequence has been an unsustainable spree of borrowing, spending and overregulation at the Federal level, cyclical fiscal crises at the state level, and less accountable and less representative government at every level.
These governance schemes are generally of two kinds: one erodes the separation of powers between Federal and state governments, while the other erodes the separation of powers within the Federal government. In the first category is “cooperative federalism”, whereby the Federal government uses monopoly powers to coerce and subvert the prerogatives of state governments. In the other is Congress’s delegation of vast rule-making authority to administrative agencies….”
http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1353
workingclass artist on February 7, 2013 at 4:02 PM
Morgan got pwned. :)
22044 on February 7, 2013 at 4:19 PM
Then why did the USCCB work with Dear Liar for national healthcare?
rbj on February 7, 2013 at 4:20 PM
Man, that picture looks like he and Ed Schultz were separated at birth!
Hill60 on February 7, 2013 at 4:22 PM
Well, yes and no. But they’re indeed culpable, and I write as a lifelong Catholic.
The contention occurred with the House vote on Obamacare in November 2009. Pro-life Dems, led by Bart Stupak, insisted on an amendment that accomplished nothing but gave a fig leaf to their pro-life credentials; these 24 or so House Dems claimed that they could not support Obamacare without the Executive Order protection. Pelosi and liberal Dems had no choice but to go along if they wanted any bill to pass the House; the margin was very close on the Democratic side, even with pro-life planks.
So GOP congressman Shadegg of Arizona, correctly as it turned out, advised the GOP leadership to instruct its caucus to vote against the Stupak amendment, knowing that it would kill Obamacare in the House (or at least slow it down) — e.g., the GOP would team up with pro-abortion Dems to defeat the Stupak amendment. But the Catholic Church refused to let the GOP off the hook, indeed, compounding the problem, various pro-life groups claimed they would “score” the vote, thereby putting more pressure on GOP House members to fall in line.
Notwithstanding their pabulum that pro-life supporters must never abandon the unborn, the result has been something horrifically different. Had the House vote been delayed for just a few weeks resulting from a protracted abortion battle, then there is no way that Harry Reid could have assembled his 60 votes just prior to Christmas on the Senate side. Immediately thereafter Scott Brown was elected in January 2010, and the House had to accept the Senate bill… b/c Reid would never have 60 votes again and could not re-secure cloture from any House-Senate conference.
Bottom line: the Catholic Church let Pelosi off the hook by insisting on Stupak. An argument can be made that Pelosi would have twisted enough arms within her caucus to find some compromise and further marginalize the GOP’s pro-life posture, but the resulting delay, as seen in the rear view mirror, could have been fatal to Obamacare with Scott Brown’s subsequent election immediately ahead.
That said, it is also true that Reid could have moved his bill on the Senate side b4 Pelosi had cleared a bill in the House, but every Democratic senator expected the House to finish its work first.
The entire dreadful saga does point out that legislative delay is a very good option when you oppose something, because the hand of fate can often intervene in unexpected ways.
Had this been a GOP administration, there is no way the media would have allowed the incessant and blatant corruption and abuse of power that accompanied the entire enactment of Obamacare in the House, the Senate, and the Executive Branch.
And the Catholic Church is complicit in the wreckage resulting from its shortsighted stupidity.
matthew8787 on February 7, 2013 at 4:34 PM
Because they’re part of a large hierarchical government themselves (the Vatican is a country after all) and when push comes to shove believe more in the efficacy of bureaucracy which compels behavior than free will and God’s will. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
Fenris on February 7, 2013 at 4:40 PM
Listening to Rush today gave me some new hope. He said something that made sense on many levels; “no one wants to die.”
There will come, as more stories of people turned away due to age, a point where healthcare for our elderly will be recognized for finding cheap ways for people to die.
Already Krugman has admitted it as such.
I don’t know if Obamacare can be overturned. But if not, it will hang as an albatross around the Democrats.
itsspideyman on February 7, 2013 at 4:59 PM
Hey Ed. I watched a clip on The Blaze (original C-Span clip) earlier on the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast. Dr. Benjamin Carson gave a powerful speech that did not amuse Obama at all. C-Span appears to have removed the video (in a matter of hours) from their library. Can you or anyone else find another copy. It was 26 minutes long. Well worth the time and effort to find it. Trust me.
dddave on February 7, 2013 at 6:49 PM
Not the best quality, but this is part of it anyway
Eren on February 7, 2013 at 8:15 PM
A large hierarchical government instituted by the Lord.
unclesmrgol on February 7, 2013 at 10:23 PM