Written by Don Byrd
The Republican Party platform adopted yesterday includes a section on religious liberty, repeating the claim that the Obama Administration has engaged in a “war on religion.”
Here’s a snippet:
The most offensive instance of this war on religion has been the current Administration’s attempt to compel faith-related institutions, as well as believing individuals, to contravene their deeply held religious, moral, or ethical beliefs regarding health services, traditional marriage, or abortion. This forcible secularization of religious and religiously affiliated organizations, including faith-based hospitals and colleges, has been in tandem with the current Administration’s audacity in declaring which faith-related activities are, or are not, protected by the First Amendment…. We pledge to respect the religious beliefs and rights of conscience of all Americans and to safeguard the independence of their institutions from government. We support the public display of the Ten Commandments as a reflection of our history and of our country’s Judeo-Christian heritage, and we affirm the right of students to engage in prayer at public school events in public schools and to have equal access to public schools and other public facilities to accommodate religious freedom in the public square. We assert every citizen’s right to apply religious values to public policy and the right of faith-based organizations to participate fully in public programs without renouncing their beliefs, removing religious symbols,or submitting to government-imposed hiring practices.
Meanwhile, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging that controversial provision of the health care law, arguing that the contraception mandate amounts to a war on the religion of Wheaton College. The judge noted rightly that religious institutions like Wheaton will not face the coverage requirement for another year and even then may be exempt once the Administration’s religious accommodation policy is finalized. No need to let the facts get in the way of a good story, though I guess.
