RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES AT RISK

RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES AT RISK
by Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
The federal government’s intrusion into faith and conscience continues to be the most significant threat to our religious liberties. Christians need to be aware of the pending threats and what they can do to help turn back the tide.
Jesus taught us, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21b). This controversy over religious liberty will decide whether Caesar will have the power to trample conscience, religious liberty, and the things of God, or whether the constitutional restraints of the Founding Fathers will be respected and observed.

Religious liberty is under threat because of the federal government mandate in the new health care law.
Unfortunately, under the new health care reform law, the Obama Administration is mandating religious employers -- such as Christian schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, and other ministries -- to pay for insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, like the morning-after pill and the week-after drug (ella).
This anti-conscience Federal mandate would even force crisis pregnancy centers’ health care plans to cover such abortion drugs. This tramples upon the constitutionally guaranteed free exercise of religion.
This controversy is about whether the government can force Americans to violate their religious beliefs, and it represents one of the single greatest intrusions on religious liberty in American history.

The religious exemption under the Administration’s mandate is the narrowest ever, covering only houses of worship. The Administration has decided that only groups which employ and serve people of their own faith should be exempt. According to this logic, most religious based institutions -- including disaster relief agencies and faith-based non-profits ministering to anyone in need --do not qualify as religious.
Under this line of thinking, not even the ministry of Jesus and his disciples would be considered religious enough to qualify!

Washington D.C. dictates what insurers must offer, employers must cover, and individuals must buy. There is no way out.


With this Federal government mandate, religious groups that serve the poor, elderly, sick, orphaned,
and unborn will be forced to violate their conscience or face heavy fines from the government.
Of course, some Christian groups will not be able to pay these fines… and could be forced to close.
Christian business owners and individuals are alarmed because the mandate also applies to their insurance plans. Under this health care reform law, the government in Washington D.C. dictates what insurers must offer, employers must cover, and individuals must buy. There is no way out. Our religious liberty is an early casualty of the Federal government’s take over of our health care system.

Americans need and want better health care reform that respects religious liberty. All employers and individuals should be free to provide and purchase health plans consistent with their religious and moral beliefs and not be forced by the government to pay for plans that violate their conscience. All Americans should continue to enjoy the religious liberty guaranteed in the Constitution, which we have had throughout our history and stand to lose under this government enforced mandate.

Yet America’s Founding Fathers viewed religious freedom as our “first freedom.” That’s why they placed it at the top of the list of the Bill of Rights. It is now the responsibility of people of faith to defend this precious right we have taken for granted for over 200 years, or run the risk of having it lost for future generations.


Traditional Values Coalition is an inter-denominational public policy organization speaking on behalf of 43,000 churches.
For more information, call (202) 547-8570 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            (202) 547-8570      end_of_the_skype_highlighting. TVC 139 C Street, SE., Washington, DC 20003. www.traditionalvalues.org