U.S. bishops issue hard-hitting statement on religious freedom, propose 'fortnight...

[Michie]

...of prayer' beginning June 21

Bishops Issue Statement on Religious Liberty

'An unjust law cannot be obeyed,' they state, in face of growing threats to freedom.

Archbishop William Lori is not counseling immediate civil disobedience, but said Americans may be faced with a Thomas More-like decision.

– Diocese of Bridgeport​

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]WASHINGTON — Marking a new era of intense church-state friction, the U.S. Catholic bishops issued a hard-hitting statement today that defended the free exercise of religious institutions in the United States and abroad.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In doing so, they opposed any “accommodation” with “unjust” laws and outlined plans for prayer and catechetical initiatives designed to strengthen an embattled constitutional right.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]“Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty,” issued by the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is a manifesto that celebrates the central role of religious freedom in democratic society and governance and expresses alarm about political and legal attempts to redefine, and ultimately constrain, the “first freedom.”[/FONT]

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]In the document, the conference unveiled plans for a “fortnight for freedom,” in which bishops in their own dioceses might arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending our first freedom.”[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The document proposes that “June 21 — the vigil of the feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More — to July 4, Independence Day, be dedicated to this ‘fortnight for freedom.’[/FONT]



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Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/bishops-issue-statement-on-religious-liberty#ixzz1rq3kgjwQ

 

[Michie]

Excerpts From 'Our First, Most Cherished Liberty'

New USCCB statement on religious liberty: 'What is at stake is whether America will continue to have a free ... society — or whether the state alone will determine who gets to contribute to the common good.'


Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/#ixzz1rs7i3gIT

 

[Mikey123]

Let's wait for the liberals to come in and tell how bad our Bishops are.

 

[Michie]

Let's wait for the liberals to come in and tell how bad our Bishops are.

I can see you are becoming accustomed to the usual routine.

 

[Mikey123]

I can see you are becoming accustomed to the usual routine.

Heh.....you have no idea.....

 

[Michie]

Heh.....you have no idea.....

I might.

 

[Michie]

Call To Action To Defend Religious Liberty

The U.S. bishops have issued a call to action to defend religious liberty and urged laity to work to protect the First Freedom of the Bill of Rights. They outlined their position in "Our First, Most Cherished Liberty." In this call to action the Bishops urge a strong lay involvement, outline threats to First Freedom at all levels of government and abroad - and call upon dioceses to pursue a religious liberty fortnight, June 21-July 4, 2012.
Full Story

 

[Fantine]

I am all in favor of protesting unjust laws. I protest unjust laws all the time.

I admired the tenacity of Occupy Wall Street in protesting unjust laws.

And so I will certainly follow the bishops' lead in taking a day to protest unjust laws....and I will take that time to support many of the priorities that they have let fall by the wayside during this temporary crisis.

And I am sure they will appreciate that (at least the bishops who see the "big picture," and fortunately, my bishop is a "big picture" person).

 

[Mikey123]

And by "big picture" you surely mean religious freedom. Good, glad we agree.

 

[Fantine]

I agree that the bishops are good, and I want to help them by focusing on all those priorities they have temporarily put on the back burner.

 

[Mikey123]

Religious freedom is not on the back burner. It's the whole point.

 

[Needing_Grace]

Religious freedom is not on the back burner. It's the whole point.

And here I thought it was all about stopping abortion and putting the gays in their place.

 

[AMDG]

And here I thought it was all about stopping abortion and putting the gays in their place.

Well you are wrong. It's about the government telling religious agencies what-to-do and how-to-believe.

 

[SonOfTheWest]

That they want to call this a freedom of religion issue is an unfunny joke.

 

[Fantine]

Well you are wrong. It's about the government telling religious agencies what-to-do and how-to-believe.

As opposed to churches telling everyone else what to do and how to believe.

 

[Mikey123]

As opposed to churches telling everyone else what to do and how to believe.

They don't tell everyone else. You really do like to make stuff up, don't you? It's their job to tell members what to do and how to believe, but not everyone else. All they want is to have the freedom to believe and act as they see fit.

 

[AMDG]

As opposed to churches telling everyone else what to do and how to believe.

Nothing is keeping a woman from going to any pharmacy, plunking down her $9.00 a month for artificial birth control pills; or going to a Title X clinic, and getting them for free; or going to the abortion, giant Planned Parenthood and getting them there; or going to a bar and getting some free condoms (schools give them out too); or simply go to some of the casual restaurants/bars restrooms and putting some coins in the vending machine there and buying condoms (seen some in colors there). What the government should not do is force Catholics to act against their Faith by having them pay for pills intended to purposely kill an innocent baby. Catholics should not be forced to formally and materially cooperate with evil. The artificial birth control pill has an abortifacient method of working PLUS there are the actual abortifacients, Plan B and Ella. (Yeah, I know, you believe that life doesn't start at the moment the ovum is fertilized so you don't believe that Plan B and Ella cause abortions, but they do and just off hand, I could have sworn that we weren't supposed to be funding abortions.)

The government has already forced Catholic adoption agencies to close because it wants to tell Catholics what to believe (approve adoptions to same-sex couples) and it has already stopped Catholics from helping to stop human sex trading.) If the government succeeds in its further attack of Catholics--if the government can force Catholics to violate their beliefs what's next? The government can force Muslims and Orthodox Jews to provide pork to their neighbors? It can tell people when, where, and how other religions are to worship God?

 

[Michie]

As opposed to churches telling everyone else what to do and how to believe.

I think thats what Churches are supposed to do. Shepherd & teach.

 

[Fantine]

Do you think that gay people wanting to get married think that the Catholic Church is interested in protecting their freedom? Particularly when the churches which they might be members of have no objections to their marriage?

That's an example.

It is very easy to demand that laws be passed restricting the freedom of others because they are not conforming to the edicts of your own religion.

Personally, I don't think we can talk about freedom of religion without recognizing that the freedom of one religion can restrict the rights of those of other religions, or those who have no religion at all.

I do believe that the Church should be free not to pay for contraceptives....it's small potatoes, and it doesn't interfere with the rights of others. (I do believe that Viagra and Cialis should also be unpaid for if contraceptives are--let women AND men cover things like that out of their entertainment budgets.)

I do think that churches should be free not to join same sex couples in marriage--but I think that civil unions are something completely different.

I do think that gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military, and if chaplains are unhappy about it, that's their problem.

I hate the hyperfocus of churches on sexual sins as if they are the only sins out there, or somehow worse than any others.

 

[Michie]

Do you think that gay people wanting to get married think that the Catholic Church is interested in protecting their freedom? Particularly when the churches which they might be members of have no objections to their marriage?

That's an example.

It is very easy to demand that laws be passed restricting the freedom of others because they are not conforming to the edicts of your own religion.

Personally, I don't think we can talk about freedom of religion without recognizing that the freedom of one religion can restrict the rights of those of other religions, or those who have no religion at all.

I do believe that the Church should be free not to pay for contraceptives....it's small potatoes, and it doesn't interfere with the rights of others. (I do believe that Viagra and Cialis should also be unpaid for if contraceptives are--let women AND men cover things like that out of their entertainment budgets.)

I do think that churches should be free not to join same sex couples in marriage--but I think that civil unions are something completely different.

I do think that gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military, and if chaplains are unhappy about it, that's their problem.

I hate the hyperfocus of churches on sexual sins as if they are the only sins out there, or somehow worse than any others.

Believe it or not, we are on the same page on these issues at least.