We the Government of the United States, in order to form a more secular Union, establish our will, insure domestic income, provide the commoners with contraceptives, promote Planned Parenthood, and secure the Blessings of the media elite to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this new and improved Constitution for the United States of America.
We live in dangerous and odd times where we now have a right to free contraception but not a right of religious expression. This administration is seeking to destroy religious liberty and we have Catholic bishops vowing civil disobedience. Odd times.
Even President Obama may be in a bit of a panic about the effect of Catholic outrage on his election chances. Some reports say that he didn’t expect the Catholic bishops to speak out so strongly in near unaninimity against the contraceptive mandate. And he certainly didn’t expect the Catholic left to join in the outrage which many have to their credit.
In this election year, Obama may be looking for a way out. I’ve seen some reports that the administration, afraid to anger the liberal wing of their base, may seek out a middle ground by announcing the possibility of a waiver. Much like McDonalds received a waiver from Obamacare, Obama will be expecting Catholic institutions to go from lawsuits and protests to lining up on the White House lawn begging for a waiver if offered.
My advice to Catholic institutions - don’t do it. The supposed cure in this case would be as bad as the problem it would be created to fix.
In a practical way, it’s just not smart because even if Obama approves waivers now, there’s no telling what he would do after the election. Any waiver would likely have the lifespan of a campaign promise like the one he gave on the campus of Notre Dame for “sensible” conscience protections.
If Catholics were to drop their protests and focus on being granted a waiver it would be calamitous to the cause of religious liberty in this country.
There can be no compromise on unalienable rights. Compromise in this battle is supplication. Too many have died to preserve our freedoms to allow this administration to simply waive them away. Applying for a waiver grants the government the power to grant or deny religious liberty. Don’t do it. It would turn the founding ideas of this country on their head. This country was founded on the idea that “we the people” are endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. To allow the administration to grant waivers would place President Obama in the role of a capricious Creator who endows those whom he favors with very alienable rights. And how would one curry favor with such a capricious creator? Silence. Silence in face of the destruction of constitutional rights, silence as the first amendment is excised and edited, and silence as secularism marches toward victory.
I urge Catholics not to be tempted by the waiver. In order to get the waiver you must surrender your God-given rights. You must ask yourself how can you so easily give away something God gave you.
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You are totally right Matthew. There are certain things we can not compromise,a nd this is one of them. I hope no one (the Bishops) falls for something like that
All we have NOW is a waiver. Say what we will, the government, through our supposedly sacrosanct constitution, has always defined what constitutes free religious expression. Why did mainstream Mormonism rejected polygamy so long ago? The power has always been there to say “Catholic practice in public is not consistent with American values and therefore Catholic public presence must be restricted”; we just never had a government so ready to use that power.
Anybody interested in this stuff, I strongly recommend reading The Unintended Reformation (2012), by Brad S. Gregory, a Catholic historian at Notre Dame. This is all so much more complicated than adherence to the Constitution. We weren’t handed that document by God; we wrote it. It IS fallible. It may be the best we’ve got, and on the whole I like it, but its intellectual and historical origins are not always in harmony with Catholicism. We have to be careful where we tread, especially since at this moment the First Amendment may be our only weapon. Many will answer that we are misinterpreting it and how are we to say that either of us is right? When we presume that individual rights are the same as the common good, we have already opened the possibility of restricting religious freedom.
We must try to stop sinners from bearing more sin into this world. They have not found our Faith yet, so continue engaging in lustful activities rather than promoting love and God’s laws. I am tired of supporting these sinners with taxes that go toward curing the ills their lust causes, and paying to imprison the sinful, disease-ridden, drug-addicted adults their children become.
Therefore, I would rather pay for these sinners not to have children now as opposed to paying to support them and the sinful children they bear later. We must stand together and encourage Obama to stop these ungodly sinners who cannot control their loins from creating more sinners.
In order that the world become Catholic, it is best that non-Catholics bear no children. To this end, it is best we help pay for their contraceptives.
Clearly, what “Archangel” has opined is opposed to objective moral reason and the Catholic faith. If it was meant to be some kind of joke, it failed miserably. Sounds like someone trying to smear Catholics. A “waiver” would mean that the Government maintained a right to impose the mandate but decided for a political reason that it would not enforce that right (at least for now). People would be extremely stupid were they to accept such a lie - they would, in effect, be accepting that the Government is entitled to compel anyone who is an employer to act in a way which is (reasonably) against his or her conscience. It is not just Catholics who are affected - all those rationally opposed to contraception, abortion and sterilisation would also have their natural (and constitutional) rights trampled on. And not only those who object to those particular evils, but ultimately EVERYONE subject to the laws of the USA - as the (invalid) law implies that the Government has the power (which it doesn’t) to compel ANYONE to act against their moral reason or religion. It would mean a dismissal of the principle that the State is subject to Natural or Divine Law and can act arbitrarily (this is also true of any law purporting to permit killing of unborn persons). The State would be the arbiter of good and evil according to its pleasure - in other words, the USA would be a totalitarian regime.
The comment by Archangel is terrible. We do pray for everyone to come to Christ but you have consigned non-Catholics to hell and their children too. Then you wish to thwart God’s plan of creation by hoping to stop souls from being born. How many holy people would you have not come into being because their parents are ignorant of the love of God?! Please pray that we Catholics can always show the light of Christ to ALL people.
Ann G., I think Archangel is trying to be satirical. He should stop before he injures himself.
Also, Archangel, your comment sounds suspiciously like a eugenics plan. The Church affirms and upholds the right of every human to live, and so should all Catholics. Do not forget that we are all sinners, and ought to be helping each other get to heaven. And in response to your suggestion for our non-Catholic brothers and sisters, I would point you to Matthew 28:20 and Mark 7:42 as instruction for how you ought to approach them. In all things we should love as Christ loved.
Great article Matt. I could not agree more. A gracious tyrant is still a tyrant, and such is temporary.
A waiver admits that Obama has power over freedom and it is at Obama’s command that ALL FREEDOM exists. Obama has put the Constitution and our Declaration of Independence, our founding principles under his foot and his boot on our necks. WE, the people, created by God with immortal souls, endowed with sovereign personhood and unalienable rights do not, cannot, and will not allow Obama to deny our immortal souls, for how will we enjoy eternal life? Who will feed us if not Divine Providence? Who will do battle for us if not the TRUTH? We, the people, who constitute our government through our sovereign personhood, will do the will of God and establish a free nation in America, a nation who acknowledges God and gives the atheist freedom to change his mind.
I think the Church should respect the wishes of the patient. If they can’t do that run a referral service.
Let us all pray our Bishops do not believe anything this administration says.In good faith, the bishops did so when Obamacare passed and again in November,and indeed it was a deal with the Devil. This is a watershed moment against government over reach, as much as it is a cause for religious liberty. Stand strong for truth. Stand strong for freedom and liberty endowed by our Creator. No waivers. Only repeal and rewrite will suffice.
Herod.Nero.Obama. Check out the “waiver”, the Certificate [libellus], the Roman Emperor Decius required Christians to get-certifying that they worshipped pagan gods-and the ensuing uprising of the bishops and the faithful…and the martyrdom of thousands. Lactantius, father of the Church, said of the ruler “who but a bad man would attack religion?” And, re: Decius’s being cut down in battle and being eaten by animals and birds “a fit way for enemy of God to die.”
Let’s pray our Bidhops don’t have feeble knees and sell-out for empty promises.
Hey Matt!
One of my “progressive” friends put this on FB today. Thoughts? I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it…
http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/controversial-obama-birth-control-rule-already-law
Matthew, another great read, it is too bad that fools such as the fallen ARCHANGEL and Roger are in the complete dark about God & His Church. Here in Mass. and I believe in San Francisco, the so-called “Catholic Charities” are or were doing the same dangerous game of referring people to places that are putting children into homosexual houses (not homes) instead of doing it themselves and they want us to believe that they are doing the right thing. WRONG!! What is the difference of killing someone your self or hiring someone else to do it? NONE! So Roger, your nonsense about aiding and abetting some one to destroy their bodies and especially, their souls is evil itself. It is apparent that the fallen Archangel is clueless about birth control and how IT IS THE MAIN REASON FOR ABORTION, which is why “planned parenthood” sells useless condoms & the Pill at a very high profit. If you are so strong about your ideas, then, you should be at the abortion clinic paying for all of the victims that use these torture chambers. Makes more sense then us paying for them. +JMJ+
We have to pray that Obama will be ousted!
To get a waiver one will need to first:
1. Apply.
2. Be “reviewed” and “approved” in some way.
Government certification of Catholicism? Literally - over my dead body.
We all need to tell this President that he can take his waiver and shove it up his….
chimney, then light it on fire and sent it back to hell from where it came.
NO compromise. No Catholics registering with the government. They can kiss my… ring first.
Prayer and fasting my brothers and sisters. Prayer and fasting.
Honestly, the bishops agreeing to the first weak “compromise” HHS sends their way has been my true fear from day one. Or worse, some of them agreeing… with the ensuing laity confusion and fragmenting of the solidarity we currenty enjoy. May God move all of our hearts to pray without ceasing.
@ Viterbo Fangirl:
AMEN!
This issue also shines the light on Obama’s violation of the ‘rules’ by which regulations get implemented.
No required advance posting, No required comment period.
Just a simple decree by our Dictator-in-Chief.
This tyrant and his court must be impeached and removed.
We all have to pay for things we don’t agree with in a pluralistic society. Why should Catholics be any different to anarchists who pay for the cost of government, pacifists who pay for the cost of the military or Republicans who pay for the cost of welfare.
Be thankful that you have the freedom to cry in public when you don’t get your own way just like other spoilt children.
Thank you, Matthew for this brilliant Post. My view : The Bishops will not be herded into such a “Trap”. From the emphatic Statement from Cardinal-elect Dolan,to the Pastoral Letters, it is very clear they will not cave in or open any negotiations with your Evil Administration: they will not run: they will not be cowed to negotiate with the “Earthen Image - Obama”. Let us all put our total Faith in the Holy Spirit. True, your Bishops were somewhat a disappointment in the past. But hectoring them now is not the way. Never doubt on the Divine Power of the Holy Spirit Who guides the Catholic Church. Christ’s Ten Apostles deserted Him during His Passion. But what did He do? On the Eighth Day after His Resurrection, He comes to them to confirm them and to impart His Peace upon them, re-affirms His Faith in them and gives them His Power to forgive Sins in His Name. He is doing the same to your Bishops now. And let no one have any doubts; your Bishops will not fail Jesus at this time of His persecution by Obama and his Administration. We all pray that the American Catholic Faithful will rally around the Bishops and fight as One Team of Christ. With the Church Triumphant and the Universal Church Militant already “in the trenches” with you we shall overcome. The Catholic Church has always emerged victorious after every kind persecution and tribulations. She will win this one and become even stronger that ever before. The Blood of Her Martyrs over the Centuries guarantees a resounding Victory
We need also to pray that the same 54% of Catholics who voted for this monstrously evil thug in 2008 do not do so again this November. Wake up, Catholic America! Don’t fall for the lies of this petty tyrant and his slavish, boot-licking minions.
- Fact1: Old Testament written to confuse non-Jews so that non-Jews (reads like a fairytale)
- Fact2: Christians then wrote the New Testament, founded on the Old Testament, which they could not understand
- Fact3: The Truth, as it was understood when the Old Testament was written, can be found in the book The Mishnah
- Conclusion: New Testament written as a sequel to a book Christians thought was the Truth but which was written to ensure any non-Jew cannot understand the Truth
- To understand the Truth, see http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=“Mishnah+Eduyot+1:3”&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http://mishnahyomit.org/eduyoth/Eduyoth.doc&ei=p4U3T5DPJcm60QGC8-i9Ag&usg=AFQjCNGE9_EaQlCPPloiNdiS8cGpIJWCew
Eduyot 1:4 - 1:6 It explains that current laws from the past may be changed now. “To teach the following generations that a man should not [always] persist in his opinion, for behold, the fathers of the world did not persist in their opinion.” ~ Eduyot 1:4
- Therefore: If we do not want to pay for contraceptives, all of us will have to pay more for an increasingly over-populated world. We have enough people whom are homeless and/or starving. It is in the common good to support contraception and there isn’t anything in the Truth (the Mishnah, not the Old Testament or New Testament) which prohibits such.
Question… do the health insurance companies which our Catholic organizations purchase also cover non-Catholic organizations?
America is a “melting pot”, which differences are tolerated. In fact, many moved here to escape being treated unfairly in which certain rights were given to some, and not others.
Remember the Health Care Tax Credit of 2010 which many churches were eligible for? It was governmental assistance paid for by all taxpayers, regardless of what religion they followed.
Thus, it is only fair we support those who support us, regardless of what religion they follow. If we cannot support others who have supported us despite their belief system, some of which undoubtedly were not Catholics, than we should immediately STOP accepting their support and do it all on our own. Until then, I say we suck it up and stop whining. Otherwise, we are takers who cannot give back.
Great article.
I am on my knees in deep, deep prayer for our bishops, and I have never been as proud as I am now to be a Roman Catholic. We need to be right there with our beloved bishops and our Pope especially in this present time.
We the lay faithful need to pray that we will have the fortitude to respond one day as this present leadership of bishops have to the Truth that sets us free.
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