President Obama pays tribute to religious freedom
January 17, 2013
Amid dozens of lawsuits asserting that the Obama administration’s HHS mandate is an unconstitutional attack on religious freedom, President Barack Obama paid tribute to religious liberty in a presidential proclamation for Religious Freedom Day. The day, observed on January 16, commemorates the anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.
“Because of the protections guaranteed by our Constitution, each of us has the right to practice our faith openly and as we choose,” the president wrote. “As a free country, our story has been shaped by every language and enriched by every culture. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, Sikhs and non-believers. Our patchwork heritage is a strength we owe to our religious freedom.”
“Today, we also remember that religious liberty is not just an American right; it is a universal human right to be protected here at home and across the globe,” he added. “This freedom is an essential part of human dignity, and without it our world cannot know lasting peace … let us honor it by forever upholding our right to exercise our beliefs free from prejudice or persecution.”
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Posted by: -
Jan. 17, 2013 2:27 PM ET USA
Where are our Bishops? Shouldn’t each local Bishop, and especially Bishop Dolan in his capacity as head of the US Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), be PUBLICALLY and PERSONALLY calling out the President on his obvious religious liberty hypocrisy? Where are the press conferences, the speeches, and the sermons from the pulpit decrying this president’s religious liberty duplicity? This lack of grit by many of the Bishops to boldly defend their flock, regardless of personal or political consequences, is an outrage, and displays a lack of moral conviction unfitting of a Bishop. It is time for the Bishops to stop thinking that through behind the scenes political discourse and persuasion, they can exert influence on our (radical) secular leaders and policy makers. They can’t, as the Bible and history have proved again and again – “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15), “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil….Not to speak is to speak….Not to act is to act” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).
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Posted by: Leferink557202 -
Jan. 17, 2013 1:44 PM ET USA
What. A. Hypocrite.
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Posted by: williiam ronner -
Jan. 17, 2013 11:31 AM ET USA
He's now publically mocking the Catholic Church and more specifically Cardinal Dolan. When is enough enough?
