Over the past few decades, attempts to
limit religious freedom in the public square have expanded into what is nearing
a hostile exile. This hostility led the
then-sitting U.S. Congress to overwhelmingly enact the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to
further protect 1st Amendment freedoms. And
it is what has now led a much smaller number in Congress to introduce the Health Care Conscience Rights Act to
further protect those freedoms against Obamacare’s abortion-pill mandate and
other dictates that threaten freedom of conscience. But the abortion-pill decree is perhaps the
most serious and recent incarnation of the Obama Administration’s hostility to
religion.
In President Obama’s weekly address of
15 Sept 12, he stated, “We stand for religious freedom. And we reject the denigration of any
religion.” And in his proclamation (16
Jan 13) declaring “Religious Freedom Day” … Obama stated “Each of us has the
right to practice our faith openly and as we choose.” But despite this claim, throughout his Administration,
countless Christians, Jews and others have become prisoners of administration
policy that contradicts this proclamation.
With the campaign slogan ‘Forward,’
the Obama Administration has taken American liberty backward with public
policy, and its limit on conscience resembles the oppressive, atheistic rule of
totalitarian ages past. The president’s
policies reflect a rejection of the God-given freedoms our Founding Fathers
enshrined in the U.S. Constitution —
in particular, religious freedom.
The Obama Administration’s many
attacks on religious freedom include: allowing U.S. taxpayer dollars to be
transferred to non-governmental agencies that perform abortions abroad;
defunding successful efforts to halt sex trafficking for advocates opposing
abortion; discontinuing the White House tradition of sponsoring an event on
National Prayer Day; ordering the Justice Department to stop defending the federal
Defense of Marriage Act … just to
name a few.
Just take the marriage arena. Not too long ago, activists seeking to
redefine marriage were content with branding Christians who believe in a
biblical worldview regarding sexual behavior as “bigots.” Now, advocates of the homosexual legal agenda
want the courts and legislatures to make all those who dare oppose their
demands to pay a price — whether it be going out of business, losing their jobs,
remitting a hefty fine, or going to jail for “hate speech.” (Refer to my previous blogs on the Christian
photographer in New Mexico, the florist in Washington State, and the T-shirt
manufacturer in Kentucky.)
Colleges and universities have also
abandoned their prestigious origins as institutions dedicated to truth, marking
a dramatic shift in recent years in how they deal with religious expression on
campus, by unjustly denying Christian students and groups access to the same
rights, funding and privileges as other non-religious individuals and
groups. And on some campuses this
attempt to limit religion on campus has turned into a full-scale expulsion of
religious conviction. Eastern Michigan University, for
example, expelled a counseling student, out of its master’s program and denied
her a degree simply because she followed standard procedure and referred a
potential patient wanting to improve her same-sex relationship to another
counselor.
As Charles Carroll of Maryland, the
only Catholic signatory to the Declaration
of Independence, wrote, “Without morals a republic cannot subsist any
length of time; they, therefore, who are decrying the Christian religion, whose
morality is so sublime and pure … are undermining the solid foundation of
morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.”
President Obama’s platitudes for
religious freedom appear never-ending. They
cover up the stark reality of his rejection of our 1st Amendment as it was originally
intended by our Founders.
It is time for the Obama Administration
to do what it says it will do — to abandon mere rhetoric, halt the attacks and
promote public policy that preserves America’s heritage and restores religious
freedom to its rightful place. It is
time to set people of faith free.
Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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