Several sources are reporting that both the House and Senate versions of the health-care reform legislation contain a religious exemption.

CQ Politics, the Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times and others are reporting that Amish people are exempt from the requirement — expected to be part of the final bill — that people purchase health insurance or pay a fine.

“The emerging bills in both the House and Senate include language patterned on an existing ‘religious conscience’ exemption to laws requiring workers to pay taxes for Social Security and Medicare,” CQ Politics said. “What’s not clear is whether the exemption, originally designed to apply only to the Old Order Amish, might be...READ MORE

Supporters of traditional marriage won another important victory Jan. 7 as the New Jersey Senate rejected a bill that would have made same-sex “marriage” legal.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that after nearly two hours of pleas for and against, 14 senators voted in favor of homosexual “marriage” when 21 were needed for passage. Six Democrats voted against the legislation while one Republican voted in favor.

Advocates on both sides of the issue flocked to the statehouse Jan. 7. When the final vote was announced, there was applause in the Senate chambers.

Governor-elect Christopher Christie, a Republican, had said he would veto the legislation if it had passed. Supporters of...READ MORE

Now that Congress is back in Washington from the Christmas break, negotiations are set to begin on crafting a final health-care reform bill. Will it include the Stupak amendment banning the funding of most abortions, or the Nelson amendment, which was a compromise in the Senate version that many pro-lifers opposed?

Yesterday, a Rasmussen Reports poll found that 53% of Americans oppose federal (taxpayer) funding of abortion.

Meanwhile, CBS News is reporting that Congress may skip the formal negotiating process of a conference committee.

“‘It’s time for a little ping-pong,’ one staffer reportedly said, referring to the process in which the House and the Senate ‘ping-pong’ full bills back...READ MORE

A New Year’s Eve court ruling gave physician-assisted suicide a boost in the state of Montana, as a New York Times article reported here. But the ruling stopped short of finding a constitutional right to the practice.

The court ruled 4-3 that state law protects doctors in Montana from prosecution for helping terminally ill patients die. Though Compassion & Choices, which participated in the case as a plaintiff, had hoped the ruling had gone further, its legal affairs director, Kathryn Tucker, said the decision expanded the choices available to the dying in Montana and extended protection to their doctors.

The case originated when retired truck driver Robert Baxter died last year, at 76,...READ MORE

It’s New Year’s Eve.

But, of course, it’s still Christmas.

The Church is still celebrating the Octave of Christmas, and the Season of Christmas doesn’t end until the observance of the Baptism of the Lord, which this year falls on Jan. 10.

In the Burger household, we’ve been keeping the Christmas spirit going by, in part, listening to a lovely CD that landed in our mailbox. It was recorded this year by a young group of nuns in the Midwest who, being Benedictines, lead a very old way of life.

They are the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, and their CD, “Christmas at Ephesus,” is their way of introucing more people to their way of life, charism and apostolate.

The 23 clearly-sung...READ MORE

Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the meaning of Christmas during his general audience on Dec. 23, pointing out that the Church invites us to contemplate the mystery of Christ’s birth and experience the joy and hope that the newborn Savior brings into our world.

Read what happened, and a “Prayer for the Pope.”

The nation is trying to pull up its bootstraps after one of the worst recessions in recent history. Unemployment has exceeded 10%. Home foreclosures have been in the millions. More people are relying on food banks and soup kitchens. Some young Americans are spending their Christmas in Iraq and Afghanistan, while others seem to be wasting their young lives. There are continuing terrorist threats. Fear and uncertainty haunt many about the direction America is heading. At times, the public square seems to be washed free of any acknowledgement of God.

This may not be the happiest Christmas for many Americans.

Or could it?

We asked Register readers how all of this is affecting them.

Like...READ MORE