April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
PERSPECTIVE
It can't happen here, can it?
This year, they cited several countries around the globe where religious liberty is threatened. Some people might say, "That's 'over there;' it doesn't affect us," or, "It can't happen here."
Is it possible that we are facing an insidious attack on the Church and on religious liberty and freedom, right here in the "land of the free and the home of the brave"?
For this year's Fortnight for Freedom, the bishops zeroed in on several issues where churches are being forced into situations which run counter to their beliefs, threatening religious freedom and liberty in the U.S. Go to www.rcda.org/fortnight to access the fact sheets prepared by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In a topsy-turvy world where white can be black, men can be women and Elsa of the Disney movie "Frozen" can sing to children that there is "no right, no wrong, no rules for me; I'm free," can we take our religious freedoms and liberty for granted anymore?
In addition to the domestic threats to religious liberty identified by the U.S. bishops, there have been numerous occasions where the Church or faith in general have been threatened, including:
• the U.S. Army's attempt to impose a gag order to prevent a pastoral letter from the Archbishop for the Military Archdiocese of the U.S. from being read during Masses on military posts;
• uproars over state versions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was originally signed into law in 1993 by President Clinton;
• our president's reluctance to use "Christian" to describe victims of ISIS attacks, but using the term to disparage the faithful, as he did during an Easter breakfast at the White House;
• the impact of administrative mandates implementing the Affordable Care Act on Catholic hospitals, schools and other public and private institutions and businesses;
• attempts to redefine "marriage," with the implication that churches will be force to follow suit lest they be sued for discrimination;
• New York State's failure to cover the costs incurred by Catholic and other private schools in complying with state administrative mandates, so that they are now owed more than $300 million, threatening their financial sur-vival; and
• challenges raised in the State Legislature threatening the right to life at both ends of the spectrum: Gov. Andrew Cuomo's failed 10th plank of the Women's Equality Act (guaranteeing rights to an abortion) and several recently-introduced bills advocating assisted suicide (termed "death with dignity").
Most of these stories have been ignored by the secular media or, like the "war on Christmas," made the butt of jokes and ridicule. Check the stories out on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' site, www.fortnight4freedom.org; on the New York State Catholic Conference's site, www.nyscatholic.org; and on the websites of the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment (www.nchla.org) and the Catholic League (www.catholicleague.org).
In ISIS-controlled territories, militants have brought back an old Islamic practice: If you aren't a Muslim and you don't convert to their faith, you must pay a tax to remain as you are. However, women have been raped and children sold into slavery even after paying this "tax." In Canada, Christians have been sued and fined for "hate speech" when they are quoting from the Bible.
How long until we in the United States will face similar constraints on the free practice of our faith - despite the so-called "separation of church and state" guaranteed by a Constitution which seems to be ignored at will by our leaders? Will my children, or theirs, be able to have the freedom to bear witness to the truth of the Gospel?
It can't happen here -- or is it happening already?
(Mr. Mawn is director of catechist formation and respect life at the Albany Diocese's Catholic Schools Office.)[[In-content Ad]]
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