Bishops Stand for Religious Freedom, Left Howls

from Stand Firm by David Fischler 

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty put out a Interfaith Alliance decided that it was the nineteenth century, and that playing the anti-Catholicism card was appropriate:

It is with great disappointment that I read the proclamation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on religious freedom. While I believe there are real threats to religious freedom in our nation today, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Catholic Church’s definition of religious freedom is one that is only concerned with its own beliefs and practices and makes no room for those whose views differ. In the democratic society in which we live, we are fortunate our government makes accommodations when necessary to protect our beliefs and practices, but the Constitution still trumps scripture in every case. In fact, it is because of this understanding that religion – all religion – has been able to flourish in the United States.

The doctrine of the Catholic Church should be given no more weight in the creation of public policy than should the views of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists or any of the many other religions that can be found in this country. This includes the many Christian denominations that hold a different interpretation of the teachings of Jesus than the Catholic Church. [Emphasis added.]

What the author of this screed, the Rev. Welton Gaddy, means when he says “the Constitution” is the interpretation of the First Amendment that he and his buddies at the ACLU and Americans United put on it, one that neither requires nor even allows for any accommodation of religious faith or practice by the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-encompassing state.

Speaking of Americans United, the Rev. Barry Lynn banged his spoon on his high chair in response as well to the bishops as well:

The Catholic bishops’ new “religious liberty” campaign jeopardizes the rights of all Americans, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Well, it jeopardizes the right of the state to tell believers what they must do that violates their conscience.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said, “The bishops’ campaign is thoroughly misguided. What they want is massive taxpayer funding of their ministries without complying with the fairness rules that everybody else observes. Maybe their two-week venture should be called a ‘Fortnight for Taxpayer Funding.’

“The bishops want to maintain their privileged status,” Lynn continued, “even if it means that other Americans’ freedoms are infringed. It is imperative that President Obama and Congress refuse to cave in to this outrageous assault on church-state separation.”

“When taxpayers are forced to support sectarian agencies that refuse to meet the needs of women, gay people and other communities,” concluded Lynn, “that’s a real violation of religious liberty. Public funds should go only to agencies that serve the public interest. If the bishops want to run sectarian social services, they ought to collect the money from their parishioners, not the taxpayers.”

So, what this amounts to is this: no organization that refuses to bow at the altar of Moloch and provide abortion on demand, or that refuses to bow at the altar of gay rights and put its stamp of approval on homosexual behavior, should be allowed to participate in any form of public service that involves tax money. In other words, no private organization that does not operate within the bounds of strict orthodoxy as defined by Barry Lynn and Welton Gaddy (not to mention NOW, NARAL, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, People for the American Way, the Human Rights Campaign, and the United Church of Christ) should be allowed to offer its services to a needy public. What Lynn and his friends want is not church-state separation, but creation of a de facto establishment between the state and the Church of Ethical Liberalism.

Three cheers for the bishops. Please be praying for their message to get out, and for Americans of good will from across the religious and non-religious spectrum to join them in their fight to keep the First Amendment from being adulterated with liberal cultural orthodoxy.