Religious freedom is under serious attack in this country – most notably and brazenly by Obamacare. John Locke Foundation Vice President for Outreach, Becki Gray, writes about the assault on religious freedom in today’s column.
But the greatest threat to religious freedom in our nation is in the implementation of Obamacare and its mandate requiring all insurance plans to cover birth control, regardless of religious objections. At last count there were 28 separate lawsuits involving the mandate with 80 separate plaintiffs including Catholics, and evangelical Protestant institutions, along with Jewish, Mormon, and Muslim leaders.
Why all this fuss about the right to exercise our religious freedom?
It goes to the very heart of individual freedom. We can’t separate our faith from our religion — how or if we practice it from who we are and how we live our lives. During the recent elections, the presidential and gubernatorial candidates were asked: How important is faith to you, and how does it affect decisions you make? But it doesn’t stop with us as individuals. No one practices religion solely as a solitary act.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has excellent resources on religious liberty here.
