religious freedom

Why is the Orthodox Episcopal Assembly Silent as Religious Liberty Erodes?

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Source: Fr. Peter-Michael Preble Blog (The Church Under Attack) | Fr. Peter-Michael Preble

– In the Gospels Jesus warns us that the world will hate us. He is giving us a warning that being a Christian will not be easy and that it will be a fight, every day, for what we believe in. The world is becoming increasingly hostile to the truth of Jesus Christ and I do not see it getting any better.

Yesterday I posted an essay on the Huffington Post Religion Page and before my finger was even off the send button the attackers came out. They hate the fact that the church would dare speak out on issues that affect people and their beliefs, one of the more shocking things was that some of those attacking my words were Orthodox! Yes, the Orthodox Church teaches and preaches traditional family values, well it is supposed to anyway, but I fear that many of my brother priests have not done their job. I know our bishops have not done their job as they have been silent these last few years as the Government of the United States slowly erodes our religious liberty. But it is not their fault.

We need to provide the strength and support to our bishops so they will know that we want them to speak out. We need to let them know that we support the mission of the Church to being the truth to society and we need them to know that we need them to find their voice and find it now! I serve on a committee with the newly formed Episcopal Assembly of Orthodox Bishops. The Committee for Church and Society is tasked with the following:

The Committee for Church and Society will develop a process to determine both the propriety and the priority of advocacy by the Assembly of issues concerning Church, government and society that are relevant to the lives of the faithful in the Region (e.g., same-sex marriage, abortion, war, etc.).

I was appointed more than a year ago, although I found out I was appointed by reading it on the website of the Assembly, but the Committee has yet to meet or begin the work that we are supposed to accomplish!

The bishops of our church are the authentic teachers of the faith. It is their role as Arch-Pastors of His Church to educate the people in the faith and what the Church teaches. This is an important role but I feel many times they say only what the people want to hear. Jesus did not tell the people what they wanted to hear He told them what they needed to hear and most of them did not like it but that did not stop him. He was not concerned with what people would think or whether or not they would put anything in the collection bin, he was concerned with the salvation of their souls, period!

Friends I find it unbelievable when I hear Orthodox people, people who have been Orthodox their entire life, say things like same sex marriage should be allowed in the Orthodox Church. People who believe that sex before the sacrament of marriage is just fine because everyone is doing it, and a growing number of people who believe that unrestricted abortion is an acceptable form of contraception regardless of the reason. I am sorry to say these are not Orthodox positions!

Being a Christian in the 21st Century is not easy and being an Orthodox Christian is even harder. We are a Church with some pretty counter cultural beliefs that we hold dear. We are a Church that still placed requirements on her members and hold them accountable for their actions. We are a church that is supposed to preach the truth regardless of whether or not is it politically correct. We are a Church that preaches confession and repentance and that we are all sinners and that the Church is the hospital for healing not just a place to come to hear your native language and eat foods from the home land.

It is time for the Orthodox Church to wake up and start preaching what we need to preach! It is time for us to wake up and, with love, correct people when they go astray. “We have found the true faith” and that faith needs to be preached as it has been handed down to us and watered down. And it is high time that the Orthodox Bishops in this country find their voice and start to speak. If the leadership is not willing to speak then individual bishops need to do it. Your Eminences and Your Graces we need to hear you, your people need to hear from you, we long to hear your voice and we need your teaching!

Religious Freedom Under Attack

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Three cheers to Fr. Peter Michael-Preble and Chris Banescu, the first Orthodox Christians to criticize Pres. Obama’s arbitrary ruling forcing all Americans to comply with the anti-life agenda of the cultural left. The Catholics have been front and center on this threat to religious freedom. Orthodox leaders have been silent except for Fr. Preble and Banescu who recognize the dangers inherent in the policy change.

Source: Huffington Post | Fr. Peter-Michael Prebble

America has a very long tradition of freedom. We cherish these freedoms like, the freedom of speech, freedom of religion and until recently, freedom of choice. I will admit right up front that I voted for President Obama because, like many, I believed we needed change. Well I now feel I was duped and his brand of change is not what America needs at all.

As an Orthodox priest and an American I believe in traditional family values like marriage, family, saving one’s self for that person we plan to spend the rest of our life with — in other words I believe in Christian values as proscribed not only by my Church’s tradition but by Holy Scripture itself.

On Jan. 20th it was announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that the religious exemption on certain parts of the health care plan would not continue and now religious organizations, like the church, would have to supply health insurance that provides coverage for contraception and abortion. The Roman Catholic Church has been carrying most of the water on this fight and as usual our Orthodox Bishops are silent on this. We have an opportunity here to make our voice heard but we are more concerned with territory and language than we are with issues that affect real people! It is time for our bishops to wake up and speak out. Our people are confused and need to hear their voices loud and clear.

Called the “contraception mandate” it requires private insurance to provide access, at no out-of-pocket expense, to contraceptive drugs such as RU 486. Under this plan, people with heart disease, cancer, diabetes or other health issues will continue to pay or co-pay for their prescription drugs, but people who wish to purchase contraceptive drugs will have no out-of-pocket expense.

I have no issue with the choices you make, you make those choices and you have to deal with consequences but this plan will in effect force me to pay for behavior that my religion calls unacceptable. There has always been an exemption for religious organizations for issues such as these. Prior to this ruling for example the insurance that the Roman Catholic Church offered to her employees did not have to cover abortion or contraception — now that will not be the case. The government of the United States is forcing us to violate our conscience and that is unacceptable. The Obama administration’s witch hunt against religion needs to stop!

I am a firm believer that in a country as wealthy as ours, something needs to be done about the out of control cost of health care. To live in a country that develops a majority of the procedures and medications that save lives but at the same time are out of reach of a majority of American is unconscionable. But I am not willing to trade my religious freedom either. There is no Constitutional right to health care but there is a Constitutional right to the free exercise of religion.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, President of the United States Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops, said at a recent press conference held on this topic, “Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience.” He continued, “This shouldn’t happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights.”

Roman Catholics are not the only ones speaking out on this issue. In December the National Association of Evangelicals sent a letter to President Obama expressing their dissatisfaction with this mandate; “the Federal government is obligated by the First Amendment to accommodate the religious convictions of faith-based organizations of all kinds.”

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Notice that the 1st Amendment starts with the freedom of religion. The framers of the Constitution placed this first even before freedom of speech, press, or assembly of the people! Religion was protected first, until the Obama Administration decided to throw it out the window and attack.

This is a direct attack on religious freedom in American and the start of a slippery slope to more regulations attacking the faith of Americans. In recent years it has become totally acceptable to attack religion and if we, the religious people in America, do not stand up and make our voice heard, including the Orthodox Bishops in America, we will see our rights eroded away. This is only the start of a change in America that I cannot accept.

Obama’s Assault on Religious Liberty

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Source: The Voice Blog | Chris Banescu

– President Barack Obama, a life-long Champion for Abortion, is hell-bent on forcing religious institutions to pay for birth control and abortion drugs coverage for their employees. New regulations implemented by the Obama administration mandate that sterilization options, abortifacients (abortion drugs), and contraception services must be included in virtually all health plans, including those offered by Christian charities, church-based hospitals, Christian universities, and other faith-based social services agencies. Obama now demands that his anti-life and pro-abortion agenda must be supported not only by our tax dollars, but also by the donations of Christians who consider the destruction of human life morally abhorrent and an abomination. Abortion is held in such high regard by President Obama that he is willing to violate the First Amendment religious rights of millions of Americans in order to impose and fund his agenda.

On January 20, 2012, the Health and Human Services (HHS) department, under the direction and influence of the Obama administration, issued a final rule that requires health insurance plans, including those of religious institutions, “cover preventive services for women including recommended contraceptive services without charging a co-pay, co-insurance or a deductible.” HHS’ rule further states that plans must cover the “full range of the Institute of Medicine’s recommended preventive services, including all FDA – approved forms of contraception.” The FDA’s list of approved methods of contraception includes abortifacients, abortion drugs prescribed to kill life in the womb after conception.

Pro-Abortion Groups Cheer and Praise Obama

Confirmation of the wrongness and immorality of this mandate came directly from the head of NARAL, a militantly pro-abortion organization. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL, praised the Obama administration for its courage and stead-fast support of this government policy. “The administration stood firm against intensive lobbying efforts from anti-birth-control organizations trying to expand the refusal option even further to allow organizations and corporations to deny their employees contraceptive coverage,” she said. “As a result, millions will get access to contraception—and they will not have to ask their bosses for permission,” she continued.

On its website, NARAL proudly touts its intense pro-abortion lobbying efforts. “NARAL Pro-Choice America activists sent 135,543 messages to the Obama administration calling on the White House to stand strong in support of no-cost coverage of contraception. This latest activism adds to the list of actions it has taken to make no-cost birth control a reality for all American women.” Clearly, Obama listened and agrees with their stance. As a result, his rules not only force faith-based organizations to cover these abortion services, they must also offer them for free, with support from donations and dues from their members whose religious beliefs and views emphatically oppose abortion.

Catholic Organizations Condemn the Mandate

Reaction from the Catholic Church, its bishops, several Catholic universities, and many other Catholic leaders has been swift and categorical.

Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, sharply criticized the president’s decision and denounced the rule as unconscionable. “Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience. This shouldn’t happen in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the Bill of Rights,” Cardinal-designate Dolan said. “The government should not force Americans to act as if pregnancy is a disease to be prevented at all costs,” the archbishop emphasized.

“This is nothing less than a direct attack on religion and First Amendment rights,” said Franciscan Sister Jane Marie Klein, chairperson of the board at Franciscan Alliance, Inc., a system of 13 Catholic hospitals. “I have hundreds of employees who will be upset and confused by this edict. I cannot understand it at all.”

Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society, a Catholic university watchdog group, denounced the “cult of choice” agenda of the Obama administration. “The White House has sold the First Amendment for a few pennies of political support from the ACLU and the abortion lobby,” he said.

Despite the strong denouncements and intense opposition from Catholic groups, Obama only agreed to delay this mandate until 2013. This transparent “compromise” is obviously intended to help his re-election efforts and deflect the full effect of the controversy until after the November 2012 elections. Luckily, these political games have little traction with the Catholic Church. “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan. “The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented line in the sand,” he said. “The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation.”

Archbishop Dolan and the Catholic Church understand the seriousness and severity of this latest attack on all faith-based organizations. Obama’s mandate sets a dangerous precedent for our democracy and undermines our Constitution. It is a wholesale assault on the specific protections of religious liberties afforded to all Americans by the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” If this obamination is allowed to stand, then the religious liberties of all Americans will be endangered, not just Christians and Catholics. Such an unconstitutional and tyrannical policy must be opposed and defeated if liberty is to survive in the “land of the free and home of the brave.” Silence is not an option, now more than ever.

Pope to American Bishops: Secularism Threatens Liberty, Church Must Respond

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Pope Benedict

Freedom detached from moral truth, said Pope Benedict XVI in a recent address to American Catholic Bishops, reflects an “extreme individualism” that requires response from the (Catholic) Church. This is an argument not limited to Catholics alone (see: “Has Europe Lost its Soul” by Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks) and includes the Orthodox as well (see: “With the Rise of Militant Secularism, Rome and Moscow Make Common Cause“).

“The Gospel,” said Pope Benedict, “proclaims unchanging moral truths,” as indeed it does. If those truths are not proclaimed, particularly in the cauldron of moral confusion that characterizes Western Culture today, then we can conclude that fidelity to the Gospel does not exist. This is a hard saying but true: if religious leaders remain silent on the moral issues that have become flashpoints in the culture, then it is time to question whether they really comprehend this gospel that they say they guard.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be conflated to a political ideology or any other human contrivance. If any structure seeks to contain the Gospel — to claim the Gospel as the justification for whatever the goals of that structure might be, then that structure will face obliteration. The rock falls and crushes anyone who seeks to possess it. This includes ecclesiastical structures as well. If a Church leaves off the Gospel and seeks instead its self-perpetuation and the inevitable accommodation with the dominant culture that this calculation requires, it will face judgment. If it remains unrepentant, it will die.

Source: The Vatican

Thursday, 19 January 2012

Dear Brother Bishops,

I greet all of you with fraternal affection and I pray that this pilgrimage of spiritual renewal and deepened communion will confirm you in faith and commitment to your task as Pastors of the Church in the United States of America. As you know, it is my intention in the course of this year to reflect with you on some of the spiritual and cultural challenges of the new evangelization.

One of the most memorable aspects of my Pastoral Visit to the United States was the opportunity it afforded me to reflect on America’s historical experience of religious freedom, and specifically the relationship between religion and culture. At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not, is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for human flourishing. In America, that consensus, as enshrined in your nation’s founding documents, was grounded in a worldview shaped not only by faith but a commitment to certain ethical principles deriving from nature and nature’s God. Today that consensus has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such.

For her part, the Church in the United States is called, in season and out of season, to proclaim a Gospel which not only proposes unchanging moral truths but proposes them precisely as the key to human happiness and social prospering (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10). To the extent that some current cultural trends contain elements that would curtail the proclamation of these truths, whether constricting it within the limits of a merely scientific rationality, or suppressing it in the name of political power or majority rule, they represent a threat not just to Christian faith, but also to humanity itself and to the deepest truth about our being and ultimate vocation, our relationship to God. When a culture attempts to suppress the dimension of ultimate mystery, and to close the doors to transcendent truth, it inevitably becomes impoverished and falls prey, as the late Pope John Paul II so clearly saw, to reductionist and totalitarian readings of the human person and the nature of society.

With her long tradition of respect for the right relationship between faith and reason, the Church has a critical role to play in countering cultural currents which, on the basis of an extreme individualism, seek to promote notions of freedom detached from moral truth. Our tradition does not speak from blind faith, but from a rational perspective which links our commitment to building an authentically just, humane and prosperous society to our ultimate assurance that the cosmos is possessed of an inner logic accessible to human reasoning. The Church’s defense of a moral reasoning based on the natural law is grounded on her conviction that this law is not a threat to our freedom, but rather a “language” which enables us to understand ourselves and the truth of our being, and so to shape a more just and humane world. She thus proposes her moral teaching as a message not of constraint but of liberation, and as the basis for building a secure future.

The Church’s witness, then, is of its nature public: she seeks to convince by proposing rational arguments in the public square. The legitimate separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues, nor that the State may choose not to engage, or be engaged by, the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation.

In the light of these considerations, it is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of ecclesial life. Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.

Here once more we see the need for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society. The preparation of committed lay leaders and the presentation of a convincing articulation of the Christian vision of man and society remain a primary task of the Church in your country; as essential components of the new evangelization, these concerns must shape the vision and goals of catechetical programs at every level.

In this regard, I would mention with appreciation your efforts to maintain contacts with Catholics involved in political life and to help them understand their personal responsibility to offer public witness to their faith, especially with regard to the great moral issues of our time: respect for God’s gift of life, the protection of human dignity and the promotion of authentic human rights. As the Council noted, and I wished to reiterate during my Pastoral Visit, respect for the just autonomy of the secular sphere must also take into consideration the truth that there is no realm of worldly affairs which can be withdrawn from the Creator and his dominion (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 36). There can be no doubt that a more consistent witness on the part of America’s Catholics to their deepest convictions would make a major contribution to the renewal of society as a whole.

Dear Brother Bishops, in these brief remarks I have wished to touch upon some of the pressing issues which you face in your service to the Gospel and their significance for the evangelization of American culture. No one who looks at these issues realistically can ignore the genuine difficulties which the Church encounters at the present moment. Yet in faith we can take heart from the growing awareness of the need to preserve a civil order clearly rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition, as well as from the promise offered by a new generation of Catholics whose experience and convictions will have a decisive role in renewing the Church’s presence and witness in American society. The hope which these “signs of the times” give us is itself a reason to renew our efforts to mobilize the intellectual and moral resources of the entire Catholic community in the service of the evangelization of American culture and the building of the civilization of love. With great affection I commend all of you, and the flock entrusted to your care, to the prayers of Mary, Mother of Hope, and cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of grace and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Pope Benedict XVI