Independence Day 2013

America: Land of the free, home of the brave.  Or is it?  Religious freedom is under assault in our country.  Now that the Supremes have cast aside the duly enacted Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 13 States where gay marriage is legal, will surely proceed to take legal action against anyone who speaks against it.  This is already happening in Canada where a bishop, several priests and ministers have all been taken to court for expressing their religious believe that gay marriage violates natural law.  So much for the freedom to express religious belief.  Coming soon to a state near you!

Perhaps the most egregious attack on religious freedom has been underway in the courts for quite some time already, although it never gets reported by the mainstream media.  Sixty lawsuits have been filed by employers seeking relief from the HHS mandate that every employer must provide unlimited, free access to contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs, and surgical sterilization.  Thirty-two of these lawsuits have been brought by for-profit employers, and twenty-eight by church-affiliated schools and social service agencies.  The Obama administration has filed legal briefs asserting that for-profit “secular” employers have no right to an exemption from the HHS mandate.

A number of lower courts have agreed with the Obama administration, subjecting these employers to fines of $100 per employee per day for non-compliance.  The largest employer to have filed such a lawsuit and lost is Hobby Lobby.  However, last week an appeals court overturned the decision and granted Hobby Lobby relief from the fines which, in their case, amount to $1.3 million a day.   In fact, in 21 of 28 cases litigated so far, the courts have determined that employers are indeed entitled to exemptions on the grounds that compliance would force them to decide between violating their moral beliefs or the law.  It’s only a matter of time before one or more of these cases work their way up to the Supreme Court.  In the meanwhile, the Obama administration continues to litigate against employers seeking exemptions.  It seems president Obama was just kidding when at the Notre Dame University commencement several years ago, he promised strong conscience protections under Obamacare, even writing a now all but forgotten executive order to that effect, in order to get the law passed.

Happy Independence Day.  Let’s celebrate what little freedom we have left before it is all replaced with the new sexual ethic in which “anything goes” including babies who are mistakes, and people who disagree with the new morality that uses tax dollars to fund abortions and give marital tax credits to gay spouses.