By Mike Appleton, Guest Blogger
In Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man, Stephen Daedalus is asked by his friend Cranly whether, having forsaken Roman Catholicism, he will become a Protestant. “I said I had lost the faith,” he replied, “but not that I had lost selfrespect. What kind of liberation would that be to forsake an absurdity which is logical and coherent and to embrace one which is illogical and incoherent?”
But God works, as they say, in mysterious ways. A black man, accused of being secretly a Muslim, a socialist and an illegitimate pretender to the presidential throne, has accomplished what all of the post-Vatican II reconciliation committees and joint worship services and inter-faith conferences could not. Rev. Mike Huckabee has declared that Protestants will at last abandon illogic and incoherence. No longer will the Pope be called the Antichrist, nor Holy Mother Church the Whore of Rome. Once again, he says, we are all Catholics. My late Irish grandmother’s faith has been vindicated.
Christians have reunited under the banner of Richard “Coeur de Lion” Santorum to defeat apostasy and reclaim America for Christendom. The enemy this time? An HHS regulation requiring most health insurance plans to include FDA approved forms of contraception in coverage for preventive health services. There is, of course, an exception for churches, but not for religious institutions serving the general public. The outrage has been intense, widespread and misguided.
The newest crusade, like its historical predecessors, is largely fueled by the bad faith of its leaders and the ignorance of its foot soldiers. The President has graciously described the controversy as a difference of opinion between reasonable people, but his comments are undeservedly charitable. The argument that the requirement is an assault on religious freedom is legally frivolous. The suggestion that it raises serious questions under the Free Exercise Clause or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is laughable, unless one is a graduate of the Michele Bachmann School of Constitutional Revisionism and Beauty Culture.
It has never been the law that the First Amendment exempts religion from all civil authority. The First Amendment “embraces two concepts,-freedom to believe and freedom to act. The first is absolute but, in the nature of things, the second cannot be.” Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296, 303-304 (1940). Public policy demands have been found to trump freedom of religion in a number of contexts. The Mormon practice of polygamy was long ago held to be subordinate to criminal statutes. Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1879). Jehovah Witnesses have been compelled to comply with child labor laws prohibiting the sale of printed materials on public streets by minors. Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944). Bob Jones University was unable to prevent the loss of its tax exempt status despite its religious convictions opposing interracial dating and marriage. Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983). And the courts have frequently ordered the provision of emergency medical care to minors over the religious objections of their parents.
The new regulation implements portions of the Affordable Care Act intended to expand the availability of preventive health services to women by requiring insurance companies to provide coverage for those services. Meeting the public health needs of millions of women pursuant to a grant of legislative authority surely fits any reasonable definition of a compelling governmental interest. And the impact on religious expression? None. Religious institutions are not required to change their moral views on contraception. No woman will be compelled to practice birth control.
But if the regulation does not raise constitutional issues, why all the fuss? The answer is that the reaction is a contrived and cynical political attack for election year consumption by Catholics and right-wing evangelicals. It is an effort to extend the notion of religious expression to include what are clearly non-ministerial functions. It is also part of an effort to further weaken the wall of separation between government and religion. Indeed, the position of the Catholic bishops reinforces my opposition to the entire faith-based initiatives program. How is it that a religious body can assert the propriety of accepting public tax dollars to support what it asserts to be a public function, such as operating a general hospital, and simultaneously insist that the operation of that same hospital is protected religious expression for all other purposes?
The government is obligated to respect the free exercise of religion. Religious bodies engaged in the operation of public facilities are obligated to respect the rights of all employees, including those having incompatible religious beliefs, and to comply with applicable laws. Once this has been made clear to all, Christians can return to warring among themselves.
Jim:
Oh, I know Jesus. I read His book about the laws and His insistence on fulfilling every part of the Old Testament Law. As your Master (that says a lot doesn’t it) said, “It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid.” (Luke 16:17 NAB)
Let me know when you want more cites proving just what I said. I ‘ve already proved your just a typical Bible thumper who has never read the damn thing.
raff
as a guess i’d say the charity was the morman church.
and there is no Biblical directive against having your head up your own ass either so here’s some reading material for your trip….
Jim:
“You obviously have absolutely no understanding of scripture. … The second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is why I help people. Jesus never commanded that government do it. Simply following the laws though can’t get one to heaven. That is all about faith and trust.”
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Sure he did Jim:
1 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king�s son.
2 He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
5 They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
~Psalm 72
Then in Proverbs:
4 “It is not for kings, O Lemuel—
not for kings to drink wine,
not for rulers to crave beer,
5 lest they drink and forget what the law decrees,
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. …
8 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
9 Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
~Proverbs 31
Daniel disagrees with you, too:
27 Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
~Daniel 4
They even get into it in the New Testament:
4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
~Romans 13
So Jim, you see, your capitalistic to-hell-with-the-poor fervor doesn’t mesh with your Christian one. Bummer!
You’re wrong about your ticket to Heaven too:
21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[a] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
~James 2
Do you ever read that Book you quote to us as authoritative? Doesn’t look like it there, padre. I don’t think idealist707 is the one with no understanding of scripture.
I think you’re the one full of sacred dung!
Jim-
“….People who use it simply because they are not married and do not want to have a child are not living according to the standard that God has set. That is not judgemental. That is their choice and one they will have to answer for.”
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yes, this is a judgement (yours) and an opinion (yours) unless you are G*d (you are not)…
Jim,
Consider me the Doubting Thomas. Give me a link that says Mitt gave $8 million to charity in one year. And what did he gain in tax write offs for any of the money that he did give?
Bob,
I still see the line at provision versus use in re free exercise.
mespo727272
No Jesus did not come to promote sexual slavery. Human bondage has been around a lot. Here is one for you. Putting our country 16 trillion dollars in debt is also bondage. Jesus said ” I have come to give you life and have it more abundantly, Satan has come to seek kill and destroy. ” You need to put the blame where it belongs.
If you knew Jesus as your savior then you wouldn’t have to conclude anything but rather you would know.
Gene,
It’s the mandate that compels the secularism.
Mike S & Mike A,
It’s become a knee-jerk antidote for those who say they’re guided by the ‘word of God.’
rafflaw
Romney released his tax return. By the Way Joe Biden gave almost $400.
Jim:
“You can’t blame the whole for the actions of a few.”
******************
True enough but you CAN blame the whole for the actions of its duly authorized leaders. And that I believe is rafflaw’s point, though he makes it better than I do. By the way, you are undoubtedly correct that Jesus came to fulfill the law — every jot and tittle. One then must conclude he came to promote human bondage, sexual slavery, and complete obliteration of apostates down to the last man, woman and child. That, after all, is the law of the scriptures. Cites available.
raff,
This is one of those situations where I am in total agree with Jill and contraception….. there have been made some fairly unthoughtout statements made on here….. as you said to Jim….no one has the right to force their own belief on anyone else……stating an opinion and/or pimping for a canidate is pretty much the same….
40 per cent of $20 million in income would be donations of $8 million. Where is the evidence?
Jim,
You can have your beliefs, but don’t force them on the rest of us.
Woosty’s still a Cat
I do not know where you get judgement from my comments. Loving people is doing what is right for them. Sometimes that is called tough love. Making excuses for people is wrong and in the end will backfire. Contraception is a difficult subject. People who use it simply because they are not married and do not want to have a child are not living according to the standard that God has set. That is not judgemental. That is their choice and one they will have to answer for. Government has no business legislating contraception one way or the other. Healthcare is not a right but rather a priviledge. We have to pay for it. Rights are given to us by our creator. The reason people are frustrated is that government under Obama has decided to get involved by issuing mandates and providing free stuff at the expense of others. As I said earlier, Mitt Romney gave over 40% of his money away and Obama gave 1%. Yet, Obama is heralded as a saint. That is the deception and blindness many have in this country. I would like to see every business in America close its doors for one week and then the government and the people will know who really controls this country.
the Greatest commandment is to Love God with all of our Heart soul and mind. The second is to love our neighbor as ourselves.
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Love and Judgement are not the same thing. Persecuting others because they do not share understanding in your manner exactly as you do is not Love. Forcing people to live like chattel or to bring children into a world which will not support or Love them is not Love. Judgement and manipulating people for your own ends is more apt to be antiChristian than Christian. It is hateful and unGodly and neither Christian or Islamic or Judaic.
It’s also not legal in the USA.
Jim,
The bishops and the Vatican have been involved in a decades long obstruction of continual abuse of children. That is not the “few”. This is the many screwing the few.
I’m thinking about selling some pro-contraceptive t-shirts. The slogan?
“Pro-contraception?
Lend a hand . . .
Beat the Bishops!”
rafflaw
You can’t blame the whole for the actions of a few. This shows your ignorance. If you put your trust in people they will let you down because none of us is perfect.