One would be remiss to ignore the Obama Administration’s latest example of hypocrisy, stupidity, and attack on religion. To recount, as part of Obamacare, it now appears that religious organizations must cover contraception in their offered health care insurance packages with employees. Obviously, this has raised the ire of the Catholic Church in particular.
First, as a Catholic, I can safely say that many Catholics practice birth control despite the Church’s teachings. Likewise, I am sure that Catholic women have had abortions just as I believe some Catholics view Christ as more of an historical figure. The point is that one cares less about polls cited by liberal talking heads showing that over 80% of Catholics disagree with the Church’s position on birth control. The bigger point is that the Church’s view on the subject is a central tenet of their faith and has been for a very, very long time. At its epicenter is the belief in the sanctity of human life- real or potential. It is the guiding principle that leads to other areas. It is why the Church has a policy against capital punishment. Because I disagree with it as a Catholic makes it no less a central tenet of faith. And largely ignored by the media, because they have those polls to prove their point, is the fact that abortificents like the “morning after” pill would also have to be covered.
Obama deftly avoided the issue by putting off implementation until after the election, although Catholic leaders were led to believe that they would be exempt from this provision. This is the same liberal thinking and weasel action that guided his decision on the Keystone pipeline. If contraceptive services are an over riding governmental interest in health care reform as HHS and Obama state, then grow a set of balls and tell the Church that and stand on your principle. But instead, Obama pushed the issue down the road until after the election. And it is proof of two things- this Administration is guided by liberal non-principles and they have a thing against organized religion in this country. Put another way, Obama is a wimp.
One has to question Obama’s motivation here. He had th leadership of the Catholic Church on his side on many key issues. For example, they have been the most vocal proponents of comprehensive immigration reform including amnesty. They largely supported Obamacare, some even calling for a single payer system. In fact, on many issues, the Church has been quite liberal. But for some reason, he has taken them on and potentially costing himself votes in the process. Does this man really believe his liberal base will push him to victory? Perhaps, some internal polling showed that he was losing or lost the Catholic vote. I am not insinuating that Catholics take their voting orders from the pulpit. However, Catholics and anyone of faith can see that this is an attack on religion in general. If he can openly take on a central tenet of faith of a major religion cloaked in the language of health care reform, what stops him from doing so with other religions? For example, some Jews see Jerusalem as the rightful capital of Israel. What if Obama, for the greater good, says that is a bunch of religious malarkey and that Jerusalem should be the capital of a new Palestinian state?
The more practical problem is that the Catholic Church, like many religious organizations, not only hold services on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. They also operate charities. They operate hospitals. They operate adoption services. They operate colleges and universities. They operate elementary and high schools. And they employ and they insure many people, not all of them Catholic. No religion should compromise a basic tenet of their faith under a government mandate. That is the precise reason for the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses in the 1st Amendment.
The only motivation in delaying the implementation until 2013 (besides the obvious political one) is to avoid the inevitable court case. Just this term, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against the Obama Administration’s position in the Hosannah Tabor Church ruling. Although not directly related, there are some similarities. In that case, the EEOC tried to enforce a finding against the church in favor of an employee, but in direct conflict with a stated church policy and central belief of that church’s beliefs and practices. No less a liberal than Elena Kagan was openly dismissive of the government’s arguments in that case and viewed the EEOC’s actions as an unwarranted and dangerous intrusion into the operation and beliefs of a church. In the case, the attack on religion was cloaked in the language of ending sex discrimination in the workplace. Although some considered it a narrow decision, it had larger implications that touched upon other basic beliefs. For example, had the government prevailed, in the interest of ending sex discrimination, there was the slippery slope possibility of some court ordering a church to ordain priests. The decision was an embarrassing and emphatic slap down of the Obama Administration and it cut across ideological lines with a 9-0 decision.
This is not just an attack on the beliefs of the Catholic Church. This is an attack on every faith practiced in America. If the government can demand actions of religions because they happen to employ people and because they deem their action “in the best interests of the people,” then liberalism has certainly won the day. But, is that the America our Founding Fathers envisioned? Is that the America in which one wants to live? This man in the White House needs to be shown the door. Everyone, not just Catholics, who believe in a power greater than ourselves needs to come to this realization before it is too late.
Moe Lane
Neil Stevens
Steve Maley
Daniel Horowitz
Jake Walker
