When Pope Benedict recently met with U.S. bishops at the Vatican, he strongly warned them against dangers of "radical secularism" pervading popular culture in the U.S. He spoke of the very real threat which extreme individualism poses when "detached from moral truth." He further warned of the type of secularism which takes the legitimate separation of Church and state too far through the limitation or outright denial of the freedom of religion.
Indeed, this type of limiting secularism is seen in the recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ruling on contraceptive coverage in health plans. No more is there room for objection based on one's personal conscience. Instead, "nonprofit employers who, based on religious beliefs, do not currently provide contraceptive coverage in their insurance plan, will be provided an additional year, until August 1, 2013, to comply with the new law" (HHS). What's worse is that the HHS believes "this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services." Apparently, an extra year to comply with an unjust law qualifies as an appropriate balance.
It is at this point that I return to the Pope's address to the U.S. bishops. During this same warning, he called for U.S. Catholics to become more engaged, articulate, and well formed. He argued that it is only through this preparation that Catholics can properly debate the hot button issues which will determine the future of American society. I believe this has become increasingly important as we near another presidential election and the issues of protecting life, human dignity, and legitimate human rights are once again brought to the forefront in debates.
Great blog, Miles. Here are a few thoughts about your topic of "freedom of religion". Jimmy Buffet had it right, “It’s my own damn fault”. We as a nation and as the human race are doing this to ourselves. Nobody is forcing us to abort our children and euthanize our elderly and disabled (at least not yet). Virtually every major Christian denomination now sees abortion as undesirable but acceptable. And those that don’t (like the Catholic Church) don’t really make a big deal of it at the parish level. We, as Christians have abdicated our role as the moral fiber of this nation by our apathy and our silence. Christians elected a pro-abortion president. So we must accept the consequences of our actions. We can’t assume that any religious freedom will exist in 5-10 years. But the truly wonderful thing is that our Christian faith is not something that is deeded to us by our civil government. It’s freely given to us by an all loving God. If we keep the faith we will muddle through somehow regardless of what those in authority over us decide is acceptable.
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