Blair: Give Me Liberty
By Peter Blair, Staff Columnist
Published on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
This past June, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed one of the harshest immigration laws in the country, making it illegal to transport or “harbor” illegal immigrants. Because the language in the provisions is so vague, religious institutions across the spectrum in Alabama — Methodist, Episcopalian and Catholic — fear that many of the charitable and religious services they provide to immigrants will be considered crimes under the new law.
Last March, a couple in England was prohibited from becoming foster parents. Although they had previously fostered children in the 1990s, they were denied the right to be foster parents again because they insisted they had the right to say a homosexual lifestyle was unacceptable. In addition, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently issued a controversial mandate that insurance companies must provide coverage of contraception for employers, including Catholic hospitals and schools that may morally object to their use.
In the last case, the government has recently announced a compromise, but what it offers is just as bad as the original policy. Although the content of the compromise is still exceptionally vague and unclear, it seems that the upshot consists of the following proposal: Religious groups that object to contraception would be required to purchase insurance plans that do not explicitly list contraception as one of the services covered by the plan. The insurance company would then contact the employees to tell them that they can receive insurance under this plan, even though the plan does not explicitly list contraception as a service, and the insurance company will provide it for free to any employee who wants it. Of course, there’s no such thing as a free medical service in this world, and the cost of the contraception will just get shifted onto the employer-paid premiums. The only difference is that insurance companies, instead of the religious employers, will be the ones to tell the employees that contraception is covered. The compromise amounts, then, to nothing more than a sleight of hand, intended to distract its opponents.
This, however, is a secondary issue. All of the above examples demonstrate a single fact: It is gradually becoming impossible for religious people who hold unpopular beliefs to fulfill their committment to social justice. If you are an Orthodox Catholic in America who believes what the Church teaches and wants to dedicate your life to caring for the poor or for orphans, watch out. Your type is not allowed.
The folly of crippling the Catholic Church, when it is one of the largest providers of social services in this country, is obvious. By forcing religious institutions to choose between caring for the poor — but violating their conscience in the process — and honoring their conscience while shutting down their social justice work, the American government is creating an impossible dilemma. A nation cannot be healthy if it is full of citizens who regularly do things they believe to be deeply immoral. Furthermore, a nation cannot be just if it does not care for its poor. The closure of Catholic charities would be an irreparable loss to social justice in this nation.
The above are some of the ways that the nation would be damaged if religious people with unpopular beliefs were forbidden from service work. The most frightening outcome, however, is the precedent effect. Martin Niemoller’s statement has become cliche, but it still rings true: “First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Religious organizations, because of their unpopular beliefs, have become an easy object for exclusion from the public life of our nation. But once you cede to the government the power to force people to do things they think are deeply immoral, there’s no way to limit, in principle, the damage done. Today, it’s religious organizations. Who knows who it will be tomorrow?
This is so shortsighted and naive it’s absurd. This new Fox News attitude of the ‘War on Christianity’ in America is just a disgusting final move from the quickly-dying GOP. Terrible article.
By come on on Feb 21 | 1:46 am
The whole contraception example is a red herring and distracts from your main thesis.
The immigration issues in Alabama and Arizona fostered by Republican hatemongers are serious issues for everyone and not just for religious groups (religious orgs do not have a monopoly on helping the underprivileged), so please focus on the roots of the problem.
By Anonymouse on Feb 21 | 11:02 am
Peter is right, only the government has already trampled on the people’s rights. The latest years of government assault on the people should cause all of us to stand up for ourselves and “Give Us All Liberty.”
By Anonymous on Feb 21 | 11:12 am
Haven’t you ever heard of Godwin’s law – whoever compares their opponent to Nazis loses the debate. Please don’t compare people who are worried that their fellow citizens have access to medical care with people who send their fellow citizens to gas chambers – it’s not a valid comparison.
By Leah ‘12 on Feb 21 | 12:24 pm
Excellent article! Without freedom of conscience, we truly have no other freedom. Let us speak out against an effort to expand federal power at the cost of our liberty and our ability to care for “the least of these.”
By Alum on Feb 21 | 12:25 pm
When you don’t have a point to make like “come on on,” you are reduced to saying things like “naive and absurd” combined with “Fox News” and “disgusting final quickly dying GOP” “terrible.” That is as pathetic a comment as I’ve read in the D. The second comment calling religious liberty a “Red herring” is equally moronic. “Immigration issues fostered by Republican hatemongers” is about as factual as we get in these two “terrible” comments. What we have here is the pure name calling attack of the idiot left, no facts, no argument, no substance, just bile, spouting, drooling and general mindlessness. Time to empty your diapers, eh 1:46 am and 11:02 am?
By Bobo on Feb 21 | 12:33 pm
People who are worried about their fellow citizens access to healthcare, who have as their solution, forcing everyone into an already bankrupt system that does an expensive and bad job of providing anything, are proving that they don’t care about their fellow citizens or anything else and they are stupid, forget about the Nazis, all they care about is not having to do anything, feeling good about themselves and the concentration of power over whether we live or die in the hands of a few corrupt government potentates. Sounds good, can I join up? Where is the nearest Obama Brigade?
By Kim on Feb 21 | 3:53 pm
Harsh? That is really harsh, making it illegal to be an illegal alien is just like a bunch of hatemongering GOPers. We lefties follow whatever laws we please and disregard anything that we don’t agree with, we even sue states who are enforcing the law, for enforcing the law. That’s what we call “good” and it’s how we roll.
By anonymous on Feb 21 | 8:01 pm
Dear Bobo,
Fact #1: Arizona “Republican” Brewer came into the national spotlight when, on April 23, 2010, she signed the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act. The act makes it a state misdemeanor crime for an alien to be in Arizona without carrying registration documents required by federal law, authorizes state and local law enforcement of federal immigration laws, and cracks down on those sheltering, hiring and transporting illegal aliens.
Fact #2: Author quote: “Alabama’s "Republican” Governor Robert Bentley signed one of the harshest immigration laws in the country."
Sorry about the guilt by association theme, but the fact is both are Republicans and their actions are widely applauded by the Republican base. I will drop the hate-mongering charge. They just know its a good way to stir nativist sentiments for their short-term political advantage.
Republicans are also vehemently against the Dream Act. Lets all pretend that race has nothing to do with this situation. The irony is that almost everyone in America is or is descended from an immigrant.
Author’s quote: “This, however, is a secondary issue.” Exactly why it (the contraception issue, not religious liberty) is a red herring. Author dedicates a large chunk of space to talk about an issue associated with the current Obama administration that has nothing to do with the immigration issues nor limits the ability of Catholics to serve or help the poor (of any legal status). Sure the compromise was half-assed, but it was a compromise and no catholic org is paying for the contraception directly. There is no limitation imposed on the Catholic church or other religious group’s ability to enforce “social justice”.
The US is not a Christian or Catholic country. Religious liberty is the freedom to personally believe what you want, not the right to force others to believe what you do.
As for the solution to some of these problems, religious group leaders and non-religious group leaders alike, should nonviolently follow the brave steps of Rev. Martin Luther King, and court arrest for openly helping immigrants.
Thank you for the kind reminder to change my diapers. Bobo, please remember to stay hooked on that phonics thing.
By Anonymouse on Feb 22 | 2:52 pm
If you had answered anything I wrote, (and you haven’t) I would spend some time responding. Since you didn’t, I don’t feel the need. Illegal has no meaning for you and that’s just great. Love and kisses.
By Bobo, Anonymouse Not on Feb 26 | 12:32 pm
Ok, one. “Not paying for the contraceptives and abortions directly.” No one pays for what insurance pays for directly. That’s why they call it insurance. The fact that religious organizations are going to pay the premiums while the president fantasizes that the insurance companies are going to pay it free, by dint of his fiat announcement shows that he is one large liar/idiot. Anyone who repeats his lie/idiocy on this subject is running right up there with a regular sycophant toad. The only one forcing anyone to do anything is the president forcing the religious to pay for something they don’t believe in….by imagining that he can conjure things out of think air…free. Even you don’t believe what you wrote.
By Bobo on Feb 26 | 8:21 pm