A reader from Seattle writes, and she is right:
Okay, earlier today I sent an email asking that Corner posters make it clear that we are not just talking about Catholics being the only body with objections to the HHS mandates — Protestants do, too, as do I’m sure other religions.
I was happy to see a post by a Lutheran (LCMS — I, too, am Lutheran, but a member of WELS) agreeing that the conscience rights must be defended. (Post by Robert Morrison.)
But the headline on the post still irks me – “Why This Lutheran Defends Catholics’ Conscience Rights“
We don’t have “Catholic” rights of any kind in the Constitution. And Catholics are not the only ones with Conscience Rights, or with religious objections to the HHS Mandate. Can you PLEASE change your phrasing to reflect the fact that it is NOT just the Catholics who have problems with the mandate? If we make this a “Catholic vs. the rest of us” we could lose the battle.
The priests and bishops need to stop referring to this as a decision from "the Administration." Half of their flock hasn't a clue as to who "the Administration" is, and I am sure that Sarah Palin or George Bush would ultimately be assigned the blame.
In every sentence written or spoken, the priests and bishops must refer to this decision specifically from Barack Obama or the "Obama Administration" if they want this despicable rule reversed. Obama made this decision; let him live with the political consequences.
And the Church needs to say "no thanks" to any escape hatch peddled by Axelrod.
If this travesty were not so serious for the nation, it would be just desserts for the Catholic hierarchy to be swindled by Obama, because when you lay down with dogs, you get fleas. This is the handiwork of 50+ years of leftist Catholics peddling the "social justice" crap.
I write this as a practicing lifelong Catholic.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI would like to see the leaders of other faiths come out as clearly and unequivocally on this issue as the Catholic bishops have. The USCCB should not speak, and has not spoken, for other faiths' principles - it is proclaiming Catholic principles and leading its own faithful. But I'm sure they'd appreciate other denominations and individuals joining the defense of religious freedom.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWow, it would be great to have the Protestants come out and vocally "protest" this latest abomination. The reason this is seen as a largely Catholic issue is that that the Catholics are typically the only group with the guts to speak out about the issues of Life and Conscience. It would be a really nice change if this were to be legitimately expanded into an issue that ALL Christians care deeply about. Deeply enough to speak up, write their representatives, and cast votes about. Sadly, too many "Christians" have sacrificed their religious principles on the false altar of "social justice" and have walked in lock-step with the Democrats as the Judeo-Christian foundations of our great nation have been slowly torn down.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIronically you are going to find more devout Protestants in this country than Catholics, but only the Catholic Church has the eclessiological structure to speak as one voice. The other problem is that as soon as a Lutheran church spoke up against HHS, there'd be three others saying that they are fine with HHS provisions, which the administration would just reply with "oh we have half the churches saying one thing and half another." Only the Catholic Church can speak with one official voice, and so the voice of the Catholic church should lead the way on this. . And I say that as an Eastern Orthodox Christian (we are in full agreement with the catholic church, but no jurisdiction can speak for all of us. I would like to see a letter from all our bishops though.)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRocket - cogent comment on how the battle has to proceed. You will be pleased to know that all sixty-five Orthodox Bishops in the US/Mexico Assembly have issued a letter of support to the USCCB. Has a certain Lord of the Rings flavor as to how this is progressing. It would be great if the entire Christian community could come together for a while (like forever?) and defeat the common enemy on this issue, and the even more urgent issues of sanctity of life and family. Ahhhh...there I go dreaming again!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCongratulations! You've just piled more garbage into a single paragraph than anyone thought possible.
Who do you think made up the bulk of the "Religious Right"? Sure wasn't a Catholic movement. Catholics historical were more aligned with Democrats than Republicans. So get off your holier-than-thou high horse for just a minute.
There are many Christians like myself who don't belong to a denomination, who don't have this group or that group representing me. I can't make headlines, nor can my church (at least not unless it's negative). And for all your self righteous preening, most Catholics I've known were immoral (knowing a quick confession got them off the hook). My wife was raised Catholic, her family still is. Gotta love the Louisiana Catholic Democrat.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSeveral quick comments. The "religious right", whoever that might be, does not seem to have had much success over the past forty years in stemming the tide on the two big trigger issues of abortion (more broadly the sanctity of life issues) and same sex marriage (more broadly the sanctity of marriage issues), have they? Although you seem to want to exclude conservative Catholics from your formulation of the religious right, the bottom line is that protestants make up the majority of voters in this country. And over the previous forty years they have done little of anything that is effective at reversing the absolute scandal of the killing of over forty million children and the slow march of homosex marriage from coast to coast. At least the Catholic church can with clear conscious claim to have been leading the battle on these issues, and will be the most effective voice in defeating these evils. With or without the "religious right". As it was, you chose not to actually engage on the point of the other comment, because I assume in your world it really does not matter all that much. Your "church" probably meets in a warehouse or an empty office building, and engages primarily in devout introspective "worship". No world wide aid organizations. No hospitals. No primary or secondary schools. Probably not a lot of mission work either. Best be careful when you live in a glass house.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Your "church" probably meets in a warehouse or an empty office building, and engages primarily in devout introspective "worship". No world wide aid organizations. No hospitals. No primary or secondary schools. Probably not a lot of mission work either. Best be careful when you live in a glass house."
Be careful with those assumptions, my friend. Be careful.
"At least the Catholic church can with clear conscious claim to have been leading the battle on these issues"
Really? The church? A church is made up of, and assumes the identity of, it's members. Any organization can put out moral press releases, statements, whatever, but the actions of individual members can put a lie to those statements. And I daresay the average American Catholic that I've encountered doesn't reflect the heart and mind of Christ.
I'm not sure how building hospitals makes one holy or righteous. Sure, it's a good thing, but you think that makes the Catholic church better than a non-denomination Christian church down the street, then you, my friend, are sadly mistaken. In your world, my friend who builds cancer treatment centers and a couple of hospitals is more holy than me.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe Protestants did. Or at least the National Association of Evangelicals did--right here: External Link
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseExcellent! We need more of this.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWow, you couldn't just say "Amen", could you?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOn the contrary, this is largely a Catholic issue, with some consequences for some ideologically similar denominations. After all, it's the Catholic Church that's most fervently opposed to abortion, contraception, sterilization, and the like. We don't hear much about freedom of conscience exceptions for Quakers who don't want to fund war, Unitarian Universalists who don't want to fund the death penalty, or Scientologists who don't want to fund psychotherapy. My guess is that we'll never hear from them, and that the Catholic Church and its mouthpieces will never address these issues.
That aside, the Catholic Church that has the authoritarian structure to speak with (more or less) one voice. Protestant denominations tend to accept a bit more ideological flexibility from their adherents, knowing that if members of the congregation don't like what is being preached, they'll shrug and go somewhere else.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAs a kosher pork butcher whose family business has barely gotten by since its founding 3,000 years ago, I applaud the decision by HHS to recognize that the other white meat contains important nutrients essential to good health, and to require that pork be served at all meals served under the auspices of Jewish organizations other than synagogues that do not employ any non-Jewish office staff.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt's not about Catholics, Lutherans or any other religion. There's a bigger point here, which
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRepublicans can use to hang Obama. The point is that this is merely one example of how ObamaCare concentrates a dangerous amount of power with not only the federal government, but with the rogue and unaccountable regulators who are increasingly making law by decree rather than legislation. If these bureaucrats can force us to buy private financial products and force religious institutions to abandon their strongly held beliefs, what limit is there? And if that same executive branch can not only command us with impunity, but completely ignore the Senate to staff the government, then in what sense do we have a Constitution that protects us from federal power? Civil liberties types should be terrified.
The Catholic Church has the organizational structure to make them a player at the Big Politics table. Your average Evangelical Christian church is part of a looser affiliation and not as monolithic, but when push comes to shove (which is what's happening with HHS), they can and will put boots on the ground. They might not speak with one voice, but the grassroots will spring up.
It's extremely unhelpful to make this a "Roman Catholic" issue, and the country will be better served by making it a catholic one. What might be a more helpful tactic by the Catholic Church is to start disciplining some of their more vocal members who are actively pursuing "death" policies; Nancy Pelosi comes to mind.
This attack on freedom of conscience is so abhorrent to people of faith, given the roots of our nation, that I can't imagine that every person who understands it and sincerely believes in God will not take to the streets in order to correct it.
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