The New Caesar, the HHS Accommodation and the Attack on Religious Freedom

2/6/2013

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man - must first be structured under Section 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Code - or be recognized by the Federal Government as a church or religious organization?

What about businesses or associations which are not structured as non-profit organizations intentionally but are just as dedicated to the religious and moral principles of their faith? At the time of the drafting of the Bill of Rights there was no such thing as an Internal Revenue Service and no 501 c3 organization status.

The more one looks into this "accommodation" the more it looks like same-old, same- old. Out of deference and respect, I will await the release from the US Bishops before going any further. However, one of them, Archbishop Charles Chaput, offered some insights in an article entitled Making Sense Out of Another Ambiguous Compromise in the Catholic Philly which is set forth below.

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Making sense of another ambiguous 'compromise'
Archbishop Charles Chaput

To live well is nothing other than to love God with all one's heart, with all one's soul and with all one's efforts; from this it comes about that love is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence).
- Augustine

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that prudence is the auriga virtutum, the "charioteer of virtues." It is "right reason in action," the guide to correctly applying all other virtues. Rash action, no matter how well intended, violates prudence and usually does more harm than good. God gave us brains. He expects us to use them to judiciously pursue the highest moral good for others and for ourselves.

At the same time, the Catechism warns that prudence should never be used as an alibi for "timidity or fear, duplicity or dissimulation." Real prudence has a spine called fortitude, the virtue we more commonly know as courage. And courage, in the words of C.S. Lewis, "is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality."

Here's why both these virtues are vital in the weeks ahead. On Friday, February 1, the Obama administration issued for public comment a set of revised regulations governing the HHS "contraceptive mandate." At first glance, the new rules have struck some people as a modest improvement. They appear to expand, in a limited way, the kind of religiously-affiliated entities that can claim exemption from providing insurance coverage for contraceptive and abortion-related services under the new Affordable Care Act.

White House apologists and supporters have welcomed the proposal. The New York Times called it "a good compromise." Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and NARAL Prochoice America have praised it. And at least one Washington Post columnist implausibly called it a victory for America's Catholic bishops.

The scholar Yuval Levin has stressed that the new HHS mandate proposal, "like the versions that have preceded it, betrays a complete lack of understanding of both religious liberty and religious conscience." In reality, despite the appearance of compromise, "the government has forced a needless and completely avoidable confrontation and has knowingly put many religious believers in an impossible situation."

The trouble is, the new rules are very complex. And they may actually make things worse. In the words of Notre Dame Law Professor Gerard Bradley: "Gauging the net effect of the new administration proposal [is] hazardous. But one can say with confidence the following: (1) religious hospitals are, as before, not exempt 'religious employers'; (2) religious charities are very likely not exempt either, unless they are run out of a church or are very tightly integrated with a church. So, a parish or even a diocese's Saint Vincent De Paul operations would probably be an exempt 'religious employer,' whereas Catholic Charities would not be; (3) the new proposal may (or may not) make it more likely that parish grade schools are exempt 'religious employers.' But Catholic high schools are a different matter. Some might qualify as 'religious employers.' Most probably will not.

"It is certain that Catholic colleges and universities do not qualify as exempt 'religious employers.' The new proposal includes, however, a revised 'accommodation' for at least some of these institutions, as well as some hospitals and charities. The proposal refines the administration's earlier efforts to somehow insulate the colleges and universities from immoral complicity in contraception, mainly by shifting - at least nominally - the cost and administration of the immoral services to either the health insurance issuer (think Blue Cross) or to the plan administrator (for self-insured entities, such as Notre Dame). This proposal adds some additional layering to the earlier attempts to insulate the schools, but nothing of decisive moral significance is included."

The White House has made no concessions to the religious conscience claims of private businesses, and the whole spirit of the "compromise" is minimalist.

As a result, the latest White House "compromise" already has a wave of critics, including respected national religious liberty law firms like the Becket Fund and the Alliance Defending Freedom. And many are far harsher than Professor Bradley in their analysis.

One of the issues America's bishops now face is how best to respond to an HHS mandate that remains unnecessary, coercive and gravely flawed. In the weeks ahead the bishops of our country, myself included, will need both prudence and courage - the kind of courage that gives prudence spine and results in right action, whatever the cost. Please pray that God guides our discussions.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: HHS, Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama, Archbishop Chaput, Cardinal Dolan, HHS Mandate, Accomodation, Deacon Keith Fournier

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1 - 10 of 14 Comments

KarlVDH
4 months ago
Vancce, come on. The "liberal establishment" didn't put us where we are today. WE DID, by supporting Repoublican candidates no matter who or what they really were just because they haf that little "R" by their name. We abdicated our OWN reponsibility and allowed our government to be turned into a team sport, and now you're whining because the other team is winning.... when what we SHOULD be doing is working to make the party into what WE expect it to be, or abandoning it altogether in favor of our OWN.
vance
4 months ago
Robert, again I agree with you. We are reaping what has been sown for the last 50 years. I hope and pray that all the Bishops and priests will wake up and smell the coffee and start challenging the Liberal Establishment who put us where we are at today.
KarlVDH
4 months ago
Know why the rest of the country doesn't take us seriously? It's because instead of making cogent arguments and doing the hard work of changing or remodeling the GOP, we ettle for grand gestures, symbolism and silly hyperbole like "the new Caesar."
Don't like how America]s going? Well, if this nonsense is the best we can do, and this is as organized as we're going to get, and this is the sum of our argument... shame on us. We deserve what we've got.
Emily
4 months ago
Thank you Tom McGuire. That's exactly what I was thinking.
Irma
4 months ago
A licence to kill and why should we pay for it. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.Matthew 10:28
Sum Nemo
4 months ago
Our tax dollars are used in morally questionable endeavors on a daily basis and the same is true for our consumer dollars. One item that comes to mind immediately was George W. Bush's war in Iraq that the Vatican would not sanction as a just war, yet I barely remember a whimper of protest at this website. We support organizations that are offensive to the Christian conscience daily with our consumer dollars. If we are going to scrutinize the morality of our health care consumer dollars, we need to scrutinize all organizations that we support with our dollars or none. Otherwise, it is just hypocrisy. There are many other evils in our society besides abortion.

Also, consider that our consumer dollars fund family planning and abortions if we consume products from businesses that provides health benefits to their employees. Are we going to boycott Apple because they provide health insurance benefits to their employees that includes family planning and abortions (How many of you can exist without your iPhone?)? What about the major television networks? What about the grocery stores? And the list goes on....
Ruth
4 months ago
All I know is that I can no longer buy a product that pays for contraception and abortifacients. For the first time in my life I am without health insurance and will remain so until this is changed. I would rather have insurance!

This issue is no difference than in the 200's when all citizens of the Roman Empire were required to burn incense to the Idols and to Ceasar. They either personally had to do or pay a servant to do it for them after which they received a certificate proving that they had done it. Many, Many Christians were stripped of their belongings and/or were martyred rather than publically worship something they did not believe in. There were quite a few Lapsi too who if they repented had up to ten years of penance to be received back into the Christian faith.

If the martyrs did right disobeying a law that contradicted the first commandment, how can I do right by obeying a law that contradicts the fifth?
Bill Sr.
4 months ago
Emma
You have cut to the core, again.
It would be wonderful if all Catholics, especially the men, came to their senses and realized who and what they are once and for all.
We are free men in a free society, at least for now, but we have lost our bearings listening to those mortals of corrupted ideology manipulating our understanding of ourselves.
It is imperative that we get hold of our being in order to think, do, and say what is necessary to salvage the two things we all possess that are of any real importance.
We have our life and our faith.
I can say for myself that as a sane married Catholic American male equipped with proper knowledge of the faith that I must personally bear responsibility for what I think, do, and say each day of my life and there is a simple prayer we should say each day which I hope we all know that goes along with that understanding. It must be clear to all of us, as it is to me; we live and have accepted life under two sets of laws. The laws of our government as wisely ordained by the Declaration of Independence which guided the founders to set our nation on the firm foundation of our national Constitution providing us with religious freedom. That declaration with its constitution gave us the right and ability to live the life of faith which we as Christians acknowledge as the essence of our very existence.
Hence, it is up to me and my free will graciously given by God to determine what I make of my life and how it may influence the world in which we live and in reality the only two people on earth who I yeld absolute power to influence or control what I think, do, or say are the Pope and my loving wife. This is the line in the sand where Catholic men of faith must make their stand.
Emma
4 months ago
Why is government dictating how we practice our religious beliefs? It inserts itself not boldly but in an occult manner at the beginning. People think it's good. Then, they question. We speak out in the public square and coverage of these acts is suppressed. It is now that those in public office are beginning to take off their masks and shed the personae employed to deceive the populace. Obama now grants to himself authority with impunity under the guise of mandates, edicts and executive orders. The people watch as one by one their neighbors are loaded into boxcars and they do not speak out. They call Christians "sheep ", mocking, belittling. It is they who are the sheep blindly worshipping this man. Willing to give to him their freedom. Long before I was Catholic, I stood with the Catholic Church. Why? As I said then, "In the neighborhood we knew : if you want to gain turf, you put a green light out on the leader. You take out the meanest, toughest of the opposition. The rest then fall in line. "
The Catholic Church is the strongest opponent this administration has. Take out the Catholic Church, the rest will fall in line. We can't back down on this. This is the line in the sand that we must not allow our government to cross!
Patricia L. Cataldi, MD
4 months ago
As a physician I wish that true preventive care for women was free. Pregnancy is not a disease. Cancer is. There is a direct link between abortion and breast cancer but the studies are not publicized for obvious reasons. When one considers the side effects of contraceptives and the complications, it is again cause for concern. Should not mammograms, etc be provided free as a preventive if one is truly concerned about women's health. What about screening for ovarian cancer? Why are we not doing more for all people, not just women, who need treatment for actual disease entities, eg. heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, mental illness, etc. and have problems financing their treatment?

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