At the close of his 2009 inaugural address, Barack Obama offered an inspiring message for a nation struggling to regain its footing after the 2008 financial crisis: "Let it be said by our children’s children that, when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and, with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."
Months later, during his May 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, the president returned to the issue of freedom, this time acknowledging the need to "honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion and draft a sensible conscience clause and make sure that all of our health-care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women."
Questions naturally arise.
How to explain, then, the Obama administration’s subsequent decision to discontinue federal grants to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ top-rated anti-trafficking program because the Church’s services to trafficking victims did not include access to birth control and abortion?
And how to explain the administration’s approval of the federal contraception mandate and its accompanying rhetoric that framed moral objections to the mandate as a "war on women?"
Last year, when religious institutions and for-profit businesses began filing legal challenges to the mandate, the Obama administration’s lawyers filed papers that called for the dismissal of the lawsuits and offered fresh promises of modified regulations to aid religious plaintiffs.
But many months have passed, and both a U.S. district court in New York and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals have pressed the administration to act on its pledge.
"There is no ‘Trust us; changes are coming’ clause in the Constitution," the federal judge noted in a decision that granted a preliminary injunction for the New York Archdiocese.
That Dec. 5 decision further stated, "Ignoring the speeding train that is coming toward plaintiffs in the hope that it will stop might well be inconsistent with the fiduciary duties that plaintiffs’ directors or officers owe to their members."
Indeed, during a time of great need and tight nonprofit budgets, our religious institutions are forced to deploy precious resources to make contingency plans and reserve cash — in the event that they are faced with exorbitant fines for failing to comply with the mandate.
As Obama prepared for the inauguration of his second term as president of the United States, media reports confirmed that the Christian minister chosen to preside at the event would step down, after homosexual activists attacked the pastor’s previous criticism of homosexual activity more than a decade earlier.
In a statement marking the departure of Pastor Louie Giglio of the Atlanta-based Passion City Church, the committee planning the inauguration pledged that his replacement’s beliefs would "reflect this administration’s vision of inclusion and acceptance for all Americans."
A new minister was then appointed. This change of guard signified a great deal about the administration’s "tolerance" of dissent on social-policy positions close to the heart of the Democrats’ political base. Ironically, in the name of "inclusion and acceptance," Pastor Giglio and his beliefs about traditional marriage were excluded, despite the fact that they are shared by a large percentage of Americans and billions of others around the world.
Soon after this decision, Obama issued a proclamation making Jan. 16 Religious Freedom Day. The occasion gave the president a fresh opportunity to affirm his commitment to religious freedom.
"Foremost among the rights Americans hold sacred is the freedom to worship as we choose," he stated, choosing to lead with the right to "worship," rather than the more expansive right to religious liberty, which incorporates faith-based expression and activity in the public square.
However, the president’s proclamation also asserted that "religious liberty is not just an American right; it is a universal human right to be protected here at home and across the globe. This freedom is an essential part of human dignity, and without it our world cannot know lasting peace. … As we observe Religious Freedom Day, let us remember the legacy of faith and independence we have inherited, and let us honor it by forever upholding our right to exercise our beliefs free from prejudice or persecution."
We welcome a fresh opportunity to draw the nation’s attention to the importance of religious liberty as a cherished legacy of the Founding Fathers.
But after four years, the administrators, clients and supporters of Church-affiliated institutions might be forgiven for dismissing the latest sample of presidential rhetoric on religious freedom as so much talk.
Talk is cheap. Actions are needed now to secure the future stability of our Catholic institutions that have survived many challenges in our nation’s history and stand ready to continue their work of service.
Moving forward, the U.S. bishops and all Catholics of good will are going to identify areas of common agreement with the president.
For example, he has signaled plans to move forward quickly on comprehensive immigration reform, a long-standing goal of the bishops and of many Catholics, especially undocumented workers and their families who seek to put down roots in this country without fear of deportation.
But as we find areas of common purpose, we need to join our prayers with common action, ratcheting up the pressure on this administration to make good on its promises. Time is running out.
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The president’s rhetoric reminds me of the slight of hand magicians use to perform magic tricks. He uses the rhetoric to draw our attention away from what he is actually doing. What he actually does is the opposite of what he says he will do or says he believes. Many people are convinced that he stands for what he says and won’t believe he actually did what he did. They have been tricked, hoodwinked , or in my view, outright lied to. I am reminded of the clue that Jesus gave us to recognize the enemy, “You will know them by their fruits.”
Obama will say or do anything necessary on a day-by-day basis to get to his objectives with minimal difficulties - for him. We should have seen enough by now to know that his definition of religious liberty is limited to our right to go to Mass on Sunday. His definition does not include any aspects of living our faith which conflict with his social democratic, secular humanist, family-destroying, abortion-mongering vision of America. Let’s not allow our eagerness for “social justice” in areas like immigration reform cloak the evil directly before us, evil that must be recognized and resisted. We must not make the same mistakes German Christians made in the late 1920s and early 1930s. To paraphrase Pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous warning of that era, he’s really “coming for us”.
No offense, but you people(editors) are clueless and being so will be crushed by this so called President. He doesn’t mean a word he says and only mouths the words to appease people like you and others who will believe his rhetoric is an act of good faith, despite what his actions prove. This is a classic tactic of a tyrant. I’m sure you have read history, well you better believe it IS happening here, NOW, in real time. Wake up and stop mouthing the “common ground” mush.
Why do you think this President wants the Orwellian “Immigration Reform”? He wants a large voting bloc for the left that can never be defeated and the bishops want them for their Church’s because they haven’t been doing their job for over 40 years, the pews are empty and they want to fill those pews.
You people better get a clue and prepare yourself for the war this guy is gonna wage. You better be prepared to lose all you have, and yes, go to jail for defying this tyrant.
Nell-“Fill the pews?” Actually, re-fill the collection baskets. We know about $2.2 billion$ of our money paid out for evil and malfeasance, how much more is there that is secret and under seal that the hirelings (i.e., non-shepherds) paid out of our widow’s mites and dollars to settle for their knowing shuffling around the US of evildoers? Heard lately a plea for funds for priests, nuns, and religious retirement? Did this just sneak up on them unawares - these servants of the srevants of God had some fountain of youth and they didnt realize these folks were getting older ? - or did those accounts get flushed out to pay lawyers and victims? Thanks, Nell. well said.
Obama and bush share one feature. They speak a good game, then do something else. And for both, they know that their loyal followers won’t question any of it. But rather defend all foolishness. Only a small group on the other side will argue against it. The media caters to this and only really addresses their pet projects and the government interests. The system is corrupt.obviously. This is why Catholics are called to be in the world but not of the world.
A nightmare is coming to fruition in America. It’s time to wake up! The Obama Administration has given Catholic adoption agencies an ultimatum: submit to religious persecution by accepting same-sex parenting or close down. The Catholic Church cannot and will not comply by putting children into the household of a same-sex couple.
The plight of devout Catholics in America under Obama looks bleak. There is an intensely hateful focus by the Administration on our Judeo-Christian religious beliefs that cannot be denied - especially that marriage is only meant for male/female couples. This has been taught for longer than 2000 years, having very good results. Catholic beliefs that contraception and abortion are wrong have brought other persecution via changes in laws allowing religious freedom.
Now, the Administration is using homosexuals as pawns to impose upon Catholics humiliation and fear that public hate speech causes. Gays are force-fed rhetoric from those demanding action on everything Obama wants gone. Effectively terrorizing priests and faithful Catholics, displeasure among gays is being spotlighted by the liberal media and channeled so as to imply that Catholics beliefs are themselves hateful.
Hitler (by no means a Christian) changed the meaning of the word “citizen” to exclude the Jews - not only exclude them but to vilify them heinously to the point of death, while charismatically justifying his methods all along. Obama’s decision to governmentalize Catholic religious organizations began with an attempt to change the definition of the phrase “religious charity” away from one everyone knows: an organization that helps others according to the beliefs of their religion.
While imposing religious persecution to make it impossible for Catholics to legally practice their faith, Obama is changing religious charities to governmental agencies whose bylaws unconditionally reject anyone professing a different morality than his secular humanism, while retaining the essence of good will already earned by its no-longer-free religious owner. Thus, false (unlasting) respect of his agencies results. The governmental “religious charity” can then safely claim that “everyone” is included in their benevolent works, since devoutly religious entities will no longer be allowed to do charitable acts (because their religious beliefs do not bow to every immoral whim).
Not all religious agencies are affected by this opressive move. Some have earned the right to remain untouched by governmentalization and religious persecution by supporting Obama’s campaigns distributing free-for-all abortions, lauding homosexual “unions”, and making promiscuity easy by providing ready contraception. Decidedly, every single one of these “rights” touch on strong Catholic beliefs. Hitler/Jews, Obama/Catholics.
Including everyone in a depraved soup of moralities creates a mediocre environment for everyone. With the intent to glorify mediocrity and unhappiness as the new norm, changing or intervening in another’s life to be truly charitable - to help them change for the better - is being outlawed as an act of hatred. The energy of the largest segment of society, then, is being recruited to support and defend (at all costs) the “right and just” position of homosexuals to remain unhappy in the Catholic sense. Those segments of society that are depraved will then be glorified - yet, unchanged - and made acceptable in their entirety while remaining depraved but “equal”. Another unhappy instance of the culture of mediocrity and death solidified.
Have no fear…the homosexual class is receiving preferential government treatment..but…rejoice in all things, again I say Rejoice!...this is not like being AfricanAmerican ...this is a protected class we can all join simply by making a free choice to engage in homosexual activity OR maybe simply by saying we do and we will (nudge, nudge) ... and then the govt will have to treat us preferentially….caution: you may need proof, although I have not heard that that was required of anyone yet who simply said “favor me, government, because I say, without proof, that I did and I do and I will choose to engage in homosexual activity.”
Question: would this be morally wrong…to lie about this to an evil immoral government so that one is treated equally, preferentially?
Sorry folks, it’s over. There is no stopping the inexorable flood of secularism, relativism, and materialism that is drowning the West. We are morally, intellectually, and financially bankrupt. You can blame Obama but the people put him there. We, the people, are vile. The Church and its faithful need to understand what is going to happen from this point. The pressure from the secular government is going to become greater and greater. First, the Church will be forced to abandon its “public” ministries (adoption agencies, anti-human trafficing, hospitals, other charitable activities) because it cannot submit to the government-imposed mandates on moral and life issues (e.g., providing or making referrals for contraceptives & abortion, placing adoptees with gay couples). This is already happening, and will dramatically accelerate. Next, the Church and its faithful will be labeled as societal pariahs because they will not endorse or recognize “gay” marriage. Both the institution and its members will be labeled as bigots, many will lose their jobs (already happening) and will be shunned by society. These battles are already lost. Are you willing to suffer this for the teachings of the Church? My guess is that 75% of American “Catholics” are nots o willing (especially considering more than half of all self-identified Catholics voted for Obama), which means Church membership will shrink dramatically, the pews and coffers will be empty, parishes and schools will close, and the Church will become completely marginalized in the U.S. After the house of cards that Western Civilization has become crahses down, as it inevitably must, the Chuch will be left standing and people will start to return to it. But it ain’t gonna be pretty in the meantime.
As Roman Catholics, we need better leadership as our weak bishops are like women playing in the NFL. They are not even clear in their message, as they now do not present a clear and concise message. Life begins with conception and ends with a natural death. Same as 2000 years ago, Dolan i once believed had the backbone to direct the Church in these matters. He has shown he is not any good either. We as Catholics elected the one who will try by any means to disrupt our personal beliefs, probably with the Bishops standing by his side. Please do not deny what is happening here in America, as we become socialistic in all ways. Forget any future benefits for our children, they as a group wanted more than they gave, and got Obama.
john condon -
Simply put, the Bishops are afraid to publicly castigate heretics who claim to be Catholic but advocate in opposition to the Church. Take NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, as an example. He supported the “gay marriage” legislation that recently passed and is now advocating the most agressive abortion legislation in the land. And he touts the fact that he is Catholic. Well, this drew expressions of disappointment; a carefully worded letter, which was sure to also make note of the fact that he has supported some praiseworthy policies as well. Not enough. Call a press conference; invite the NY Times; make it clear that Gov. Cuomo’s positions and advocacy are evil in the eyes of the Church; that he is in grave danger of going to hell if he does not repent, confess, and desistn from attempting to enact gravely evil policies; that any Catholic who supports him likewise places his mortal soul in grave danger of eternal damnation; that he is deceiving the faithful and causing scandal by disingenuinely continuing to identify as “Catholic” when his public positions are so at odds with the unambiguous and settled teachings of the Church. Do this consistently with every Catholic politician who advocates abortion and homosexual marriage. You see, we are letting them get away with it, so we have only ourselves to blame.
All this reminds me that, as American Catholics, we can’t afford to wait on our putative leaders, the USCCB. We have been given rights by God, not by ecclesiastical bargaining with government.
Example 1: No matter what the US Supreme Court may decide about Obama’s abortion mandate or what the USCCB may then do, it is obvious to anyone who can read that it is a clear violation of the 1st Amendment.
Example 2: Even if Obama’s Executive Orders and related gun laws are endorsed by Congress and the courts, it will be obvious which parts of them violate the 2nd Amendment.
As citizens and as Catholics we will then have some decisions to make; decisions similar to those made by our ancestors in 1775-76 and by civil rights leaders in the ‘60s. Unfortunately, I’m not optimistic that resulting actions can succeed. We’ve let the government schools make politically correct monsters of our children and the Catholic schools instill “social justice” via government meddling as a way of life. Rome lasted a lot longer as a republic than we have.
Clearly, the Church is better with less ‘registered Catholics’ than watering down to include more people and MONEY! Retire the present group of bishops and appoint some sound ones who practice what they preach.
@Don: I sympathize with your comments re Gov Cuomo.
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However, you are over the top with: [“that he is in grave danger of going to hell if he does not repent, confess, and desist from attempting to enact gravely evil policies; that any Catholic who supports him likewise places his mortal soul in grave danger of eternal damnation; that he is deceiving the faithful and causing scandal by disingenuinely continuing to identify as “Catholic.”].
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First, your suggestion of calling a press conference with the NY Times will largely be unimpressive and a blip on the news. Polling shows 87% of the media is largely unchurched. Do not expect the media to be “shaking in their boots” and taking the news seriously. Second, we as believers are in no postion to judge “who” is going Hell. We can judge their fruit, but not their ultimate salvation. Clearly, many people,—many profess to be Catholic and Protestant who have never truly invited Christ into their lives and be guided by the Holy Spirit. People like Gov. Cuomo, Nancy Pelosi, Biden, Leahy, the Kennedys et al all support unbiblical positions. Whether they end up in Hell is for God to decide. We pray such people come to Christ eventually even though I not optimistic they ever will. Only the power of God can change such people and their thinking. Pontificating “the Church teaches x,y or z” is unconvincing to these people.
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What can be done is for the USCCB (including Cardinal Dolan) is to reform their usual method of press releases. Every time I read remarks issued by our local Bishop or the USCCB the clarity of their message is lost and buried in the plethora of verbiage. Why does it alway take them 5,000 words to say clearly what should be said in 250 (or less)? When making a point, fewer words are more effective. The Bishops and the Vatican have been doing this forever. No wonder Catholics are all over the map regarding a whole range of church issues.
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