40 Days For Life: Many prayers, candles and
signs outside of the abortion
clinic in Modesto.
signs outside of the abortion
clinic in Modesto.
There is an accelerating “climate change” in our country. In particular, Religious Freedom in America is eroding faster than the glaciers in Greenland. The founders of our nation saw the need to immediately strengthen our Constitution with the “Bill of Rights.” The first of those Bill of Rights is the free exercise of religion. This First Amendment guarantees citizens the free practice of the faith of their choice, without the interference of the U.S. Government.
Two weeks ago the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandated that all employers will purchase insurance that provides sterilization and contraception, including abortion-causing drugs. That means that our parish, for example, will have to pay for the chemical abortions of our employees, should they request it. Catholic hospitals will have to provide for abortions. In a meeting with pastors last week, Bishop Blaire stated forcefully that the Obama Administration’s decision is “an egregious—an egregious—violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment.” Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference, wrote in the Wall Street Journal: “Coercing religious ministries and citizens to pay directly for actions that violate their teaching is an unprecedented incursion into freedom of conscience…. This latest erosion of our first freedom should make all Americans pause. When the government tampers with a freedom so fundamental to the life of our nation, one shudders to think what lies ahead.” As of this writing (February 1), 125 bishops and many other public figures of our nation have joined him in strong objection.
Which way America? What freedoms of conscience will the government still permit us in the years to come? How much more will the Church be singled out for persecution? In 2010, Cardinal George of Chicago spoke these prophetic words: "I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr in the public square." Which way, America?
Two weeks ago the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandated that all employers will purchase insurance that provides sterilization and contraception, including abortion-causing drugs. That means that our parish, for example, will have to pay for the chemical abortions of our employees, should they request it. Catholic hospitals will have to provide for abortions. In a meeting with pastors last week, Bishop Blaire stated forcefully that the Obama Administration’s decision is “an egregious—an egregious—violation of the Constitution and the First Amendment.” Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference, wrote in the Wall Street Journal: “Coercing religious ministries and citizens to pay directly for actions that violate their teaching is an unprecedented incursion into freedom of conscience…. This latest erosion of our first freedom should make all Americans pause. When the government tampers with a freedom so fundamental to the life of our nation, one shudders to think what lies ahead.” As of this writing (February 1), 125 bishops and many other public figures of our nation have joined him in strong objection.
Which way America? What freedoms of conscience will the government still permit us in the years to come? How much more will the Church be singled out for persecution? In 2010, Cardinal George of Chicago spoke these prophetic words: "I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr in the public square." Which way, America?
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