Has anyone noticed something as of late? Isn't it peculiar that as we approach Obama's potential reelection (or rather, 'ousting'), it somehow requires the attacks on Christianity in America to ramp up? And our President, you know, the man who proclaims his Christian faith while mocking it, seems rather comfortable with these secularist sandstorms. I know these battles have been waged throughout my lifetime and well before in this nation, but I can't help noticing how odd these culminations are as we draw closer to this coming election (just look over this blog's past week of posts...and I haven't even addressed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision!).
The HHS mandate on Catholic institutions has been the latest of many. And speaking to that, CBSNewYork reports that Cardinal-Designate Timothy Dolan, leader of the New York Archdiocese, picked up support from Speaker John Boehner, who said if Obama doesn't reverse the policy, the House will....
(You caught that Carney quote at the end, pointing right at the previous post, right?)
Cardinal-Designate Dolan also expressed to CBS that he no longer trusts Obama. (I'd say not!)
As to Dolan's newfound distrust of Obama, I'd offer this thought & alternative, via the Canada Free Press:
In a recent interview with Hugh Hewitt, Rick Santorum, a practicing Catholic, levelled some very harsh words at the Conference of Catholic Bishops. While siding with the bishops’ recent opposition to President Obama’s imposition of abortion upon Catholic hospitals, Santorum nevertheless stated bluntly that the Church “had it coming.” Not only was Santorum right in saying so, but his words ought to initiate a more open public debate among Catholics regarding their leaders’ consistent support of the political Left. The fundamental issue here is not abortion, but rather Christianity’s position on the proper role of government.
"I’ve talked about it in every speech I’ve given today…. I said that I took issue with the Catholic Bishops Conference, because… you may remember, they embraced Obamacare..."
"They embraced it and… here’s what I said to them. Be careful when you have government saying that they can give you rights, that you have a right to health care, and government’s going to give you something, because once you are now dependant on government... not only can they take that right away, they can tell you how to exercise that right, and you can either like it or not. And that’s the problem. That’s what the Catholic Bishops Conference didn’t get, that there’s no free lunch here, folks. If you’re going to give people secular power, then they’re going to use it in a secular fashion. And that’s why, you know, I hate to say it, but you know, you had it coming. And it’s time to wake up and realize that government isn’t the answer to the social ills. It’s people of faith, and it’s families, and it’s communities, and it’s charities that need to do this as it has [been] in America so successfully for so long."
Right on! And now Mega-Church Pastor, Rick Warren, who delivered Obama's inaugural invocation says he stands in solidarity with his Catholic brothers and sisters and would "go to jail rather than cave in to a government mandate that violates what God commands us to do."
So how's the Left taking this news? Typically. The Washington Examiner reports that the ACLU has stated in an email that religious groups opposing President Obama’s mandate to provide contraception "are using the right to religious liberty as a way to discriminate against women." Yep, you've got it, it's Christian discrimination, not governmental overreach. Unbelievable, but still typical behavior from the Left. Top that off with Senate Democrats cheering on Obama's “reinforced” stance on the mandate, and I'd tend to agree with Weasel Zippers, "He’s digging his own political grave and they’re cheering him on. Not that I’m complaining."
But the long arm of secularism never stops at a single issue. Every subtlety seems to be placed under the liberal secularist's microscope (with mainstream media in tow), whether that be a patch...
...a prayer...
...or a small monument that the brunt of law derives from.
ADDENDUM: Regarding the Senate Democrat portion of this post, it's looking like five of them may have found a conscience. HotAir reports, "ABC says Lieberman, Manchin, Casey, and both Nelsons (Bill and Ben) have headed for the lifeboats..." John Kerry thinks the new HHS rule “needs to be compromised, adjusted.” ABC also reports that "The Vice President and others argued that this wouldn’t be seen as an issue of contraception – it would be seen as an issue of religious liberty." Umm, IT IS! There's no 'seeing' to it. But knowing Obama, you can bet that he and his top statists are trying to figure out a way to back-peddle with Catholics (nevermind this offends other denominations & other religions) while continuing to evade government's limitations instilled in the First Amendment, instead of just abiding by our Constitution (one in which they do not believe in).
