Sunday, July 01, 2012
To: The Canton
Observer
Re: “Attacking
religious freedom”, Letter to the Editor, June 28, 2012
In the letter “Attacking religious freedom”, June 28, it
appears that yet another letter writer
seems to confuse our First Amendment right to practice whatever religious faith
we wish without any government interference with imposing our religious beliefs
and practices on others who may not share our beliefs and practices.
Catholic institutions service Catholics and non-Catholics.
They also employ Catholics and non-Catholics and therefore are public
institutions run by Catholics. As institutions that service and employ a
variety of individuals, some who may even be non-religious, they are bound to
respect and follow the laws of the land that govern such institutions.
The new Obama health insurance rules governing certain employers
mandate coverage for specific health related issues which happen to include
paying for contraception (birth control pills, etc.).
Catholic leaders preach against any and all means of
contraception and have for some time now and that is well and good as long as
they demand obedience to their views from their fellow Catholics and not of
non-Catholics or non-religious individuals
and that is why churches such as the Catholic Church, are not bound by rules such as the new
healthcare rules but as institutions that cater to and employ non-Catholics,
they are bound by the same rules and regulations as all similar institutions
are.
To accuse President Obama of attacking religious liberty in
general and the Catholic Church in particular, is patently absurd and speaks to
the ignorance and confusion of many people who believe their religious freedoms
are under attack while at the same time do not recognize the freedom of others
not to be bound by someone else’s religious beliefs; yes freedom from religion
is a right!
The Catholic bishops, who are behind this campaign of
misinformation and blatant deceit against the Obama administration, should
concentrate on convincing their own membership to follow their pronouncements
on contraception since most do not, instead of trying to force their beliefs on
non-Catholics or Catholics that do not subscribe to or follow the Vatican ’s
unrealistic and misguided views on contraception.
Janusz M Szyszko
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