Stewards of Religious Liberty

From Dan Conway’s The Good Steward, June 2012

My guess is that most Catholics in the Unites States don’t know what to make of the quarrel between the leaders of our Church and the Obama administration. Especially since this is taking place during an election year that involves an ever-escalating course of accusations and counter-accusations by representatives of different political parties and interest groups within those parties.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan is president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and he doesn’t mince words. Speaking as the head of one of 43 Catholic organizations that have filed suit against the Obama administration’s infamous mandate, Cardinal Dolan said, “We have tried negotiation with the Administration and legislation with Congress—and will keep at it—and there’s still no fix. Time is running out and our precious ministries and fundamental rights hang in the balance, so we have to resort to the courts now.”

The New York Times calls the lawsuits “An attack on access to contraception based on bogus claims of religious freedom.” In two fierce editorials, the Times dismissed out of hand the Church’s right to defend its religious freedom. The lawsuits are called “bogus” and “a dramatic stunt, full of indignation but built on air.”

As has now become common in the news media, attention is drawn to the number of American women, including many Catholics, who use artificial contraceptives. The issue of religious liberty is set aside as “built on air” while the fundamental constitutional issues are not even discussed …

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