Bishops Renew Call to Legislative Action on Religious Liberty

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It is indeed distressing when an agency of the U.S. Government decides to mandate insurance coverage which is morally objectionable to the largest religious body in the nation. And, of course, Catholics are not the only ones who object to the mandate. I don’t see how it cannot be a violation of religious liberty.

Not only that, there is simply no compelling governmental interest in this. Not nearly enough to justify a mandate. Contraception and contraceptive procedures are one of the most widely available items in the nation. Planned Parenthood has seen to that. The mandate is a stunning governmet overreach.
 
Marie5890 said:
Rasmussen poll showed on Fox News today showed that 58% of Catholics polled think that contraception showed be covered by employers.
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Actually I took that stat as a good sign and a rather low number considering all the BS people put out about how pretty much all Catholics approve of contraception.

Rasmussen also showed these stats:

rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_scott_rasmussen/team_obama_fumbles_ruling_offends_catholics
But, among Catholics, only 28 percent believe religious organizations should be required to implement rules that conflict with church doctrine. Sixty-five percent are opposed. This is true even though many Catholics disagree with church teachings on birth control.
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The impact is stunning since 54 percent of Catholics voted for President Obama in 2008. Today, just 39 percent of Catholic voters approve of the way he’s doing his job.
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By a 77 percent to 9 percent margin, voters think everybody should have the right to choose between different types of health insurance plans, including some that cost more and cover just about all medical procedures and some that cost less while covering only major medical procedures. They want options, not mandates.
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Nate13 said:
Actually I took that stat as a good sign and a rather low number considering all the BS people put out about how pretty much all Catholics approve of contraception.

Rasmussen also showed these stats:

rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_scott_rasmussen/team_obama_fumbles_ruling_offends_catholics
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How interesting. If you go by the net you’ll think all Catholics have now shifted support from Bishops to Obama since the compromise on Friday- These stats report quite the opposite.
 
Marie5890 said:
Unfortunately that will be lost on most Americans, including many Catholics.

They will now see it, as the Bishops continue to push, as the Bishops pushing against contraception, and not the religious freedom.
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Ultimately none of this will matter because, unless the Administration comes to realize their error and withdraw the requirement, the matter will wind up in court as a violation of the first amendment and the long standing legal principle of separation of Church and State. At which point it will not matter what the majority of American’s think it is about. What will matter is what is in the various legal briefs submitted to the courts

The first thing that will happen is that there will be a court injunction preventing the rule from being enforced. This followed by the various parties submitting their cases, arguments and judgements at the various levels and, if necessary, a final ruling by the Supreme Court in DC.
Given the many rulings on things like posting the ten commandments or nativity scenes on public lands that tend to keep a very strict separation between Church and state, it is highly unlikely that this rule will survive a court challenge.

Peace
James
 
Marybeloved said:
How interesting. If you go by the net you’ll think all Catholics have now shifted support from Bishops to Obama since the compromise on Friday- These stats report quite the opposite.
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Rasmussen brings them up when he is on the news. I think its likely this decision by the Administration could affect how independent Catholics votes and that describes a good chunk of Catholics. Liberals will always voice their poll questions to get the responses they want. If you look at the questions Rasmussen asked though they actually get the answers that matter.
 
Leegal said:
Yes, but even if 99% of Catholics wanted contraceptive coverage, it still is about freedom of conscience and something our forefathers tried to prevent government infringement upon. The bigger issue is “what’s next?” Government mandated Sabbath day to Sunday to prevent Orthodox Jews from closing on Saturday? No time off for religious services?

usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/index.cfm

Thank you all and God Bless.
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Some spokesperson in the American Catholic Church needs to drive home, big time, what is really at stake here and explain to the POTUS, Kathleen Sebelius and the liberal press this is a Constitutional issue first and foremost!

If polls show Catholic majorities in support of use and free availability of artificial Birth Control, sterilizations and abortificients, it really is not important what these people think since our Constitution trumps their feelings. It should however shame the shepherds for the current state of confusion in the Church today. I’m sure if Catholics–whatever that means anyway–were asked if they supported a married priesthood and women priests, you would find a strong majority in favor. This only proves how confused Catholics are when it comes to the uncomprimising tenets of the Catholic Church.
 
elgar said:
Some spokesperson in the American Catholic Church needs to drive home, big time, what is really at stake here and explain to the POTUS, Kathleen Sebelius and the liberal press this is a Constitutional issue first and foremost!

If polls show Catholic majorities in support of use and free availability of artificial Birth Control, sterilizations and abortificients, it really is not important what these people think since our Constitution trumps their feelings. It should however shame the shepherds for the current state of confusion in the Church today. I’m sure if Catholics–whatever that means anyway–were asked if they supported a married priesthood and women priests, you would find a strong majority in favor. This only proves how confused Catholics are when it comes to the uncomprimising tenets of the Catholic Church.
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This is an important point. What good does it do for Catholics in general when a vast majority think oral birth control, sterilizations and abortion drugs should be free to all women? Maybe we have the numbers to pull some weight but the numbers are made up of nominal Catholics. What do you do with those people that refuse to go along with Church teaching, and especially when they are yelling it from the rooftops? It’s really a scandal of major proportions. And so are the clergy who also promote heresy. Their goal I do believe is to change the Church from within.:rolleyes: As if that’s going to happen. In the meantime it is confusing to people, and causes much public scandal. The people who haven’t been properly catechized are some of them latching on to error. I can understand the concept of cutting the ring leaders loose, and at the same time the Church needs to emphasize catechesis. It’s been absolutely trampled on in the last 50 years or so. It’s a sin that has caused major repercussions.
 
Teelynn said:
This is an important point. What good does it do for Catholics in general when a vast majority think oral birth control, sterilizations and abortion drugs should be free to all women?.
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Be careful, supporters of the president’s mandate love to toss out statistics that reveal just how many Catholics are in disobedience to the Church on this — as though that’s an excuse to trample religious liberty. Cardinal Wuerl had a simple response to those supporters.

“The teachings of the Church are never determined by the polls,” he said. “That isn’t the norm for Catholic Church teaching: The Gospel is. Revelation is, not the polls.”

hotair.com/archives/2012/02/13/video-archbishop-cardinal-wuerl-denounces-contraception-accommodation-on-americas-newsroom/

I heard another archbishop this weekend say that there are many Catholics in jail too, but that isn’t a reason the Church should sanction stealing.
 
Teelynn said:
I agree completely…sometimes I think it’s a convenience so that the clergy doesn’t have to get involved. Then again, you do hear rumblings on Capital Hill about taking away their tax exemption whenever they breath a word. I used to think it would never happen regardless, that there would be too much of a backlash, but with this administration anything is possible. They seem to be dictating the rules to the rest of us.:mad:
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While I don’t think the Obama administation would stop at anything to get its agenda through (including harrassment, threats, etc) the reality is that speaking out on an issue does not jeopardize tax status. It is the promotion or discouragement about voting for specific candidates that is the risky action. OTOH POTUS thought it was fine to go into churches and many churches promoted his election without any detrimental result.

The Church needs to keep focusing on the religious liberty aspects and also get the media off the “contraception” focus. It is not all about ABC but about the more aggressive procedures and medications such as Ella and sterilization. It is also irrelevant whether Catholic women use ABC or even if they want it in their insurance plan. When a question is formulated about some kind of potential free benefit most will agree but when framed in the “should this be mandated for all plans” you get the opposite reaction.

I just hope people have long memories and vote this unethical man out of office. He has been a disaster for this country and four more years may mean no way out of the hole he has dug

Lisa
 
JRKH said:
Ultimately none of this will matter because, unless the Administration comes to realize their error and withdraw the requirement, the matter will wind up in court as a violation of the first amendment and the long standing legal principle of separation of Church and State. At which point it will not matter what the majority of American’s think it is about. What will matter is what is in the various legal briefs submitted to the courts

The first thing that will happen is that there will be a court injunction preventing the rule from being enforced. This followed by the various parties submitting their cases, arguments and judgements at the various levels and, if necessary, a final ruling by the Supreme Court in DC.
Given the many rulings on things like posting the ten commandments or nativity scenes on public lands that tend to keep a very strict separation between Church and state, it is highly unlikely that this rule will survive a court challenge.

Peace
James
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True. Not to mention that last month, the USSC came down with a strong 9-0 in favor of Protestant Evangelicals being allowed to determine what a “minister” is and hire or fire accordingly. A good decision by a non-activist Court.
 
Leegal said:
True. Not to mention that last month, the USSC came down with a strong 9-0 in favor of Protestant Evangelicals being allowed to determine what a “minister” is and hire or fire accordingly. A good decision by a non-activist Court.
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Yes - It’s my feeling that, as the courts review the case law in these matters (and I’m no expert) many of the decisions that were decried in the past (no prayer in schools, no ten commandments in the courthouse etc…) are going to come around to help in this matter.

Peace
James
 
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