Stand Up for Religious Freedom in Va. Beach: Thousands Gather Across U.S.A.

By Deacon Keith Fournier
6/11/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

This HHS Edict has given rise to a religious freedom movement which holds great promise for the future of our Nation and the free world.

I participated in the Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally at the Town Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. On a brilliant sunny Friday I had the privilege on emceeing the event and giving one of the addresses. I stood alongside of other Catholics, evangelical protestants, tea party activists, and many other people of faith and good will. We stood arm in arm to defend religious liberty and thus to defend the common good.The Rallies of Friday, June 8, 2012 were held in close to 200 Cities in the USA

We are serving notice on this Administration that the fundamental human right to the first freedom, Religious Freedom, cannot and will not be taken away. We will prevail because our cause is just and serves the true common good.

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VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. (Catholic Online) - I participated in the Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rally at the Town Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. On a brilliant sunny Friday I had the privilege on emceeing the event and giving one of the addresses. I stood alongside of other Catholics, evangelical protestants, tea party activists, and many other people of faith and good will. We stood arm in arm to defend religious liberty and thus to defend the common good.

The HHS Mandate which prompted our gathering was issued on January 20, 2012 by Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services. It would require all employers, including Catholic and other religious employers, to cover sterilization, abortion inducing drugs, and contraception in their health care plans. The unconstitutional and unjust edict threatens the foundations of freedom which have secured the American experiment in ordered liberty.

The exemption offered by the Obama Administration for religious employers did not cover hospitals, universities, soup kitchens, outreaches to the poor and many other vital expressions of our Catholic faith and mission. Clearly, the exemption would not cover the earthly ministry of Jesus as he reached out to all. He continues to do just that through the Church which is His Body, continuing His redemptive mission.

The 25th chapter of St Matthews Gospel records His sobering words. We will be judged by whether we recognized Him in the face of the sick, the poor, the imprisoned, and the marginalized. Catholics, along with other Christians, believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ demands a response which goes beyond the walls of our Church buildings. We are our brother and sister's keeper. We do not reach out to people in need because they are Catholic. We reach out to people in need because we are Catholic. We will not be prevented from doing so!

The "accommodation" offered by the Administration following the initial outcry over the mandate was a fraud, a shell game, which accomplished nothing. When the Mandate was recorded in the Federal Register, nothing had changed. This HHS Edict is a violation of the Free Exercise of Religion which is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF!

The Right to the Free Exercise of religion is called the "FIRST FREEDOM" in the American tradition for good reason. It is a foundation of all of our freedoms. The Birth Certificate of our Nation, the Declaration of Independence, affirmed the existence of inalienable rights and self evident truths. Those Rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness are endowed by our Creator and not conferred by civil Government. They cannot be taken away by civil Government.

Religious Liberty is at the heart of the Right to Liberty in the Western tradition. This HHS Mandate not only injures the Church and religious institutions it harms the common good of the entire Nation. The Federal Government of the United States is trying to compel us to act against deeply held religious convictions and to violate our formed conscience. It is also an unjust law.

The claim that it is an unjust law is rooted in the western understanding of the nature of law itself. It is the foundation upon which the American founders grounded their insistence that there are inalienable rights, endowed upon us all by a Creator, which cannot be taken away by any civil government. Positive law must reflect the Natural Law.

Saint Augustine said of an unjust law, "For it seems to me that an unjust law is no law at all." Saint Thomas Aquinas explained, "Human law is law only in virtue of its accordance with right reason: and thus it is manifest that it flows from the eternal law. And in so far as it deviates from right reason it is called an unjust law; in such case it is no law at all, but rather a species of violence." In doing so, they echoed Cicero, Aristotle and Plato and the entire Natural Law Tradition.

Martin Luther King, Jr., in his 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, gave this explanation of how one determines whether a law is unjust, "How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law."

This HHS mandate came one day after Pope Benedict XVI addressed a group of US Bishops during their visit. He warned them of the growth of radical secularism in the United States and the accompanying threats to the fundamental Right to Religious Freedom so integral to the American experiment.

The Rallies of Friday, June 8, 2012 were held in close to 200 Cities in the United States. I stood with Catholic ...

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1 - 8 of 8 Comments

Judy Claar
11 months ago
Jo Ann: Good Advice! Good to hear you again! Pray all is well w/you and yours. Blessings...
JoAnn
11 months ago
To the rest of my friends on this board: I see a lot of you complaining about not hearing sermons on abortion, homosexuality, etc. I say the same thing to you as I said to Robert. If you are not hearing what you think you should be hearing from the pulpit, it is time you speak up and ask your pastors why. You are speaking up on this board, maybe you should take it a step further and confront your pastors. If that doesn't get results, talk to your Diocese. Unfortunately, we have a lot of "rogues" who are in the positions of teaching the flock and mislead quite a few Catholics. Speak up and call them out on it. Don't be silent. "Not to speak, is to speak, not to stand, is to stand." God bless.
JoAnn
11 months ago
Robert: I hear it all the time in my parish. If you don't, maybe you should ask your pastor. If he is a left wing liberal, that could be the reason. God bless.
JoAnn G. Coules
11 months ago
Fatima.Today
We are all called by our baptism to go out & tell everyone about the Good News! Now! The word, communicated by mouth about something good > has always been known to be the most powerful way of getting things right! Now that you know all of what God wills for us! To Vote into office Ron Paul! Go OUT And Tell Everyone about it! DON'T HOLD BACK ANY LONGER! BECAUSE ALL Of OUR FREEDOMS IN THIS COUNTRY ARE AT STAKE HERE! THE TRUTH IS THE MOST POWERFUL THING TO HAVE AT TIMES LIKE NOW! USE IT FOR OUR ADVANTAGE AGAINST ALL EVIL GOING ON HERE IN THIS COUNTRY OF OURS! STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT! BEFORE GOD ALMIGHTY & DEMAND TO BE HEARD! UNITE FOR GOOD! GO OUT AND BE GOD'S CRUSADERS FOR THE GOOD OF ALL PEOPLE HERE ON EARTH ( LET'S START IN THIS COUNTRY! )! BE READY TO GO TO WAR AGAINST ALL THE LIES OF EVIL ABOUT ABORTION & FORCING US ALL TO USE CONTRACEPTION METHODS! EXPOSE ALL THE EVIL THAT COMES WITH THESE CHOICES! UNITE ALL OF YOUR SELVES > ALL WITH GOD'S REVEALED TRUTHS FROM HIS MOST HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH! TELL EVERYONE ABOUT HOW IF WE VOTE INTO OFFICE MITT ROMNEY WE WILL STILL LOOSE ALL OUR FREEDOMS & BECOME A SOCIALIST COUNTRY VERY SOON! THEN THERE WILL BE NO MORE VOTING INTO OFFICE! OUR ONLY OPTION WILL BE A DICTATOR & GOVERNMENT WILL CONTROL US ALL! STOP THIS EVIL & MADNESS BEFORE IT IS TO LATE! VOTE INTO OFFICE RON PAUL! TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS! AND EVERYONE YOU MEET ABOUT THIS! DO NOT HOLD BACK ALL THE TRUTH! PUT ON YOUR ARMOR OF GOD EVERYDAY & SAY PROTECTION PRAYERS FOR ALL OF US IN THIS GREAT SPIRITUAL WARFARE WE ARE ALL ENGAGED IN THIS DAY OF AGE, IN HISTORY THIS TIME OF MANKIND TODAY! TELL EVERYONE THE TRUTH REVEALED TO US THROUGH GOD'S HOLY CHURCH! GOD ONLY WANTS WHAT IS GOOD FOR US ALL! HE ALWAYS HAS & ALWAYS WILL! TELL EVERYONE ABOUT IT! TURN BACK TO GOD > THROUGH MARY! SHE IS THE EASIEST , SUREST, & FASTEST WAY TO GOD'S HEART! PRAY TO HER TO INTERCEDE FOR US ALL AT THIS TIME OF OUR CRISIS IN AMERICA! SAY THE ROSARY EVERYDAY! PADRA PIO SAID THAT THE ROSARY IS.. THE "WEAPON AGAINST EVIL! " HE BORE THE WOUND'S OF CHRIST FOR 50 YEARS! THEY CALLED HIM A LIVING CRUCIFIX! HE WAS A VICTIM SOUL! CHOSEN BY GOD TO HELP US ALL IN THIS BATTLE WE ARE ENGAGED IN BETWEEN GOOD & EVIL! ASK GOD > YOUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR AT YOUR CATHOLIC CHURCH > GOD'S REPRESENTATIVE PRIEST! WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP BRING GOD'S KINGDOM HERE ON EARTH? POPE BENEDICT XVI SAID " WE ALL SHOULD LEARN. LIVE & SPREAD THE MESSAGE OF FATIMA! GET THE BOOK " FATIMA FOR TODAY "! BY FR. ANDREW APOSTOLI! " TELL EVERYONE ABOUT IT! & HELP CONVERT SINNERS IN THIS WORLD BACK TO CHRIST! FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CONTACT ME AT my E-- MAIL AT > fatima.today@yahoo.com.
jpj
11 months ago
Robert, Diane, you are right-on. Our priests, bisphops must start speaking out.
We pray for the unborn but not many actually speak for them. All those issues are important, the media can not be trusted to speak the truth. Lets prayer all chruchs will find the courage to speak the truth.
Diane
11 months ago
Good article. I support this stand. I have to say though, until the Bishops excommunicate the public rebels in the Church, primarily Biden and Pelosi, they will still be sending a mixed message to many Catholics, especially young Catholics. The message is: these false Catholic politicians are part of creatng laws which take away our religious freedom, but that's ok, Jesus still wants them to recieve His Body and Blood in communion with those they persecute. Christ did not treat Judas that way. After Judas publicly betrayed Christ and refused to repent, Christ let him go. He let Him fall. Well, Bishops, take note.
Robert
11 months ago
Thank you for a great article. I have a question when was the last time your parish priest spoke about any of the following topics from the pulpit at your parish?

In no order:

Gay marriage
Abortion
Adoption
In vitro fertilization
Religious freedom
Contraception
Immigration
Illegal Immigration
Homosexuality
Pornography
Chastity
the meaning of tolerance
Martyrdom today
Persecution of Catholics in other parts of the world

How many sermons on "social justice"???

Pray for our priest that they may find courage.
Joe
11 months ago
Wonderful write-up. Thank you...

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