The Defense of Religious Freedom

I am not a Catholic, but I am appalled that Obama and his administration have the audacity to insist that it is their duty to trample upon the religious rights of Catholics and the people of this country. Our country was founded on religious freedom. Our forefathers were religious men and it was clearly their intent to preserve and protect the religious freedoms of the people of the United States of America. So important to them was this, that when writing the Bill of Rights, it was number one on their list of things to add to the Constitution as evidenced by the fact that it is the first sentence of the First Amendment.

Amendment I: 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.

That rumble you heard was our forefathers collectively rolling over in their graves.

Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise (of religion). This administration is bound and determined to undermine the Constitution and prohibit the free exercise of religion. Today it is the Catholic church, who will be the target tomorrow?

There have been references made to Pastor Martin Niemöller’s statement:

“In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

--Martin Niemöller, 1945

Obama may stand up and say he is a Christian, say he supports Christianity, say he is not anti-religion, but his actions say otherwise. We cannot stand by and allow this administration to run roughshod over religion. Where will it end? How can anyone agree with what they are doing?

The Catholic Church does not believe in the use of contraceptives. I, personally, do not agree with that belief. What I do believe, however, is that the Catholic Church has the right to believe that. I do not believe that the Catholic Church, and their businesses, even if they are hospitals, should be required to provide contraception, it goes against its belief.

I keep hearing from those who support this measure that the measure is needed so that everyone who wants contraceptives has access to contraceptives and that this measure is the only way to guarantee it. This is where I cry Bull Sh*t!

Let me lay it out for you:

1. Those who work for a Catholic organization are aware it is a Catholic organization that follows Catholic beliefs when they were hired. If you don’t like it, work for someone else. I worked for a Seventh-Day-Adventist hospital, and I knew that every day I would hear the daily prayer over-head, it was a given. If you agree to work for a religious organization, you agree to work under guidelines set forth by the beliefs of that religion.

2. Your job is not the only place to receive contraception.

3. Patients have options too, mostly the same as the employees, go somewhere else.

I don’t care where you live; you cannot tell me that a Catholic Hospital or organization is the only means to receiving contraception. It’s not.

As for those with an aversion to Catholic hospital services, if there was such a great demand non-Catholic hospital services, there would be non-Catholic hospital services. If so many people disagreed with and would not go to a Catholic run hospital, the hospital would close or be bought out. Trust me, hospitals change hands every day. There is a hospital in my area that has been owned by 3 different organizations in the last 20 years.

Let me tell you about my Great Grandfather Newman Dube.

My mother’s mother, my grandmother, Judy, was Newman Dube’s daughter. My mother was very close to her grandfather Newman and grandmother Jenny and even lived with them for a while. My grandmother had 4 brothers and 1 sister. My grandmother's sister died at the age of 16 from the Spanish flu. Great-grandpa Newman didn’t sit back and complain that the government should have provided a hospital for her he said, there needs to be a nearby hospital. He gathered up his friends and founded Israel Zion Hospital of Boro Park in Brooklyn, New York. Great-grandpa Newman was the first president. His son, Daniel, my 103 year old great-uncle, still is involved with what is now Maimonides hospital.

For more on my Great-grandpa Newman Dube

Now, Great-grandpa Newman didn’t complain that others didn’t provide for him and his daughter, he saw a problem and he fixed it. You want contraception, go get it.

We must stop Obama here and now, for who knows how far it will go? Will it stop at contraception? Will Cedars-Sinai hospital be required to serve pork? Will it then move outside the hospital setting? Will kosher delis be required to serve bacon on Saturday morning, or Southern Baptist Churches required serving beer at the Friday fish fry or Jehovah’s Witness’ required to celebrate their birthdays? Will there then become a national religion, the religion of Obama?

It is unconstitutional! It should never have gotten approved in the first place. Let’s stop it now.

Marco Rubio has introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 and in a statement today said:

This is very straight forward. This is about whether the government of the United States should have the power to go in and tell a faith-based organization that they have to pay for something that they teach their members shouldn’t be doing. It’s that simple, and if the answer is yes, then this government can reach all kinds of other absurd results.

I think the vast majority of Americans, whether on the left or the right, will tell you that the government of the United States should not have the power to be able to go in and tell a church based organization that they must pay for something that that faith teaches their members not to do. And that is what this issue is about, and that is why you have commentators on both the left and the right saying that this is wrong. That is why I think you have people in the White House uncomfortable with it.

So here is the solution in my mind. The solution is for the President to come back and say ‘You know what, maybe we over reached. Maybe we went too far. We’ve heard from a lot of people, we are going to reconsider this decision.’ There is nothing wrong with that.

“We have plenty of other issues to argue with this President about. We have plenty of other issues to take to the American people throughout the year and in the next November election. This does not have to be one of them. And all the President has to do is basically reconsider the decision they made and acknowledge that maybe they went too far and maybe they did not think about it all the way when they made it. And I hope that is what will happen. If it doesn’t, then I hope that this Senate and that House will act on it, as well, because the American people are asking us to, and I think that’s an important issue.

http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=f11959a9-0a60-4c5b-bb6c-bf0372224de8

Rubio is giving Obama an out and perhaps too much credit. Obama went way over the line, the war on religion in his attempt to make this a socialist nation. While Obama was able to sway the people into electing him President of the United States, he is losing his hypnotic ability. While there are those who still believe the great words spewed forth by Obama, there are even more who once believed who do not. This also may have pushed those who were on the fence firmly to side against Obama. This is because Obama made a crucial mistake, he deiced to go against something that is so ingrained in the thoughts of the people that he will not sway them. Our country was founded on religious freedom, it is what the founding father's believed in and it is clearly stated in the first amendment. It is the belief of religious freedom that is ingrained in every American's psyche. Even Atheists and those who claim no religion, believe in the principle that the government should not dictate religious beliefs. This is why Obama will ultimately fail.

I defend religious freedom.