Written by Don Byrd
I posted earlier the view of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire’s Episcopal Diocese that religious liberty is not in fact under attack in America. Others, of course, disagree. Tonight, U.S. Catholic Bishops will begin what they are calling a “Fortnight of Freedom,” two weeks of focus on what they believe is a crisis of religious liberty led by the potential contraception coverage mandate in HHS rules implementing the Affordable Care Act. Despite exemptions for houses of worship and many types of religious organization, the Bishops maintain the mandate poses a significant threat to religious liberty.
At the Washington Post, Robert Jones points out, however, that not everyone is buying it. A majority of Catholics do not agree that religious liberty in America is being threatened. Of those Americans that do agree, only 6% believe contraception coverage is central to that threat. To be fair, the Bishops cite the coverage mandate as only one of many examples of threats to religious liberty.
It will be interesting to watch how broadly or how narrowly that issue is defined over the next two weeks.
