Breakpoint<\/a> | Charles Colson<\/p>\nI\u2019ve told you that the Obama Administration is intentionally restricting religious freedom. I\u2019ve told you we are in danger of losing the right to exercise our faith in public.<\/p>\n
Well, maybe I\u2019ve been too understated. The attack is relentless.<\/p>\n
Just recently, the Obama Administration announced that the Affordable Healthcare Act, otherwise known as ObamaCare, requires that employers pay for contraception, including abortifacients, and that Catholic institutions are not exempt from this requirement.<\/p>\n
Well, Catholic Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh and other bishops are blowing the trumpets on the ramparts. And my hat\u2019s off to them. They see the Administration\u2019s actions for what they truly are.<\/p>\n
In an open letter released last week, Zubik said that, \u201cKathleen Sebelius and through her, the Obama administration, have said \u2018To [H-] with You\u2019 to the Catholic faithful of the United States. To [H-] with your religious beliefs, to [H-] with your religious liberty, to [H-] with your freedom of conscience.\u201d I\u2019ll leave it to your imagination what the H- stands for.<\/p>\n
In the administration\u2019s twisted way of thinking, contraception is \u201cpreventive care\u201d that helps prevent illness in the same way that cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes screening do \u2014 even though pregnancy is the means by which life is perpetuated and the species\u2019 existence continued.<\/p>\n
Even worse is the willful refusal to accommodate the beliefs of the nation\u2019s largest religious body.<\/p>\n
Sibelius defended the decision as \u201cstriking the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.\u201d This is the same Kathleen Sibelius who told the crowd of abortion supporters at a NARAL fund-raiser, \u201cwe are at war\u201d over the \u201cpregnancy prevention\u201d issue.<\/p>\n
This the same Kathleen Sibelius whose department has issued hundreds of waivers for plans that fail to meet other Health and Human Service standards, including those offered by McDonalds. \u201cAppropriate balance,\u201d my foot!<\/p>\n
Every Christian, not just Catholics, should be outraged by the Obama Administration\u2019s decision. The regulations represent a move to define religious liberty in the narrowest possible terms. As one wag put it, the exemptions in these regulations are so narrow Jesus would not have been able to get through them.<\/p>\n
Given the Catholic presence in areas such as health care, education and other social services, this is folly. Think of the public services that won\u2019t be delivered to people in need. And, Catholics are being asked to make a choice no Christian should ever be forced to make: heeding your conscience or serving your neighbor.<\/p>\n
Folks, we\u2019ve got to stand with all Christians and protest the Administration\u2019s outrageous assault on religious liberty. Our religious freedom is in grave peril. Today, now, I want you to go to BreakPoint.org. We will link you to Bishop Zubik\u2019s letter. I want you to read it and then send it to everyone you know.<\/p>\n
And then today, as well, go sign the Manhattan Declaration<\/a>. Again, we\u2019ll link you to it. In the coming months, you will be hearing much more from us on efforts to defend life, marriage, and religious liberty, for we have no time to lose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the essay: Every Christian, not just Catholics, should be outraged by the Obama Administration\u2019s decision. The regulations represent a move to define religious liberty in the narrowest possible terms…Given the Catholic presence in areas such as health care, education and other social services, this is folly. Think of the public services that won\u2019t be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1784],"tags":[1359,11,48],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11444"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11444"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11446,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11444\/revisions\/11446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/charles-colson-150x150.png\" "\\"Charles")
<\/a>From the essay:<\/p>\n