Monday, June 25, 2012

Louisiana Baptist Minister Leads Fight Against Catholic Church 's Fortnight For Freedom ( Religious Liberty )

That would be Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy President of  the INTERFAITH ALLIANCE and who ministers at  Northminster (Baptist) Church in Monroe, Louisiana.

SIGH.

There was a lot of internet activity over the weekend as the Interfaith Alliance started their pushback against the nation wide Fortnight of Freedom effort to protect Religious liberty.


I have to say looking at their web site they seem a tad all hat and no cattle.


Our colleagues in the Roman Catholic Church like many in the more evangelical traditions are seeking to reframe the meaning of this fundamental constitutional guarantee in a manner that provides religious freedom for some at the expense of providing religious freedom for all.

I am not sure the Bishops are "reframing" anything , butwant to go back to the State of the law as it was in the dark ages of 2011 before HHS issued their rule.That is of the prime concern.

There is no talk or apparent concern by the Interfaith Alliance about an unprecedented move in Federal Law move to limit what is "religious" . See
What is a Religious Institution? by Prof Michael Moreland. Also related see
Commonweal Symposium, U.S. v. Lee, and Rocky Mountain Religious Freedom Tour.

Further it ignore the substantial  Religious Freedom Restoration Act issues and if the HHS mandate runs afoul of it. For a detailed analysis of that see here The HHS Contraception Mandate vs. the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by Edward Whelan .

I am not sure of the Theology of "Religious Liberty" they are talkling about. Perhaps that will become clearer too.

They say:
But religious freedom does not mean that I am free to do whatever I like in the name of religion; my religious freedom extends only to the point at which my neighbor’s freedom begins.”

Are the Bishops really saying that? That is not what I get from their documents or in fact the legal documents filed as to this date.

It's an appealing web site that says some nice words. However  it appears at least as to what they producing now  they are not going to try to engage the real legal issues that impacts Americans of Faith or no Faith..







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