{"id":15551,"date":"2016-08-17T23:43:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T23:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/critics-find-a-lot-to-doubt-about-hillary-clintons-pro-religious-freedom-claims-62512\/"},"modified":"2016-08-17T23:43:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T23:43:00","slug":"critics-find-a-lot-to-doubt-about-hillary-clintons-pro-religious-freedom-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/08\/critics-find-a-lot-to-doubt-about-hillary-clintons-pro-religious-freedom-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics find a lot to doubt about Hillary Clinton’s pro-religious freedom claims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Washington D.C., Aug 17, 2016 \/ 05:43 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has claimed to be a defender of religious freedom. But does it match the facts?<\/p>\n

Georgetown University professor Thomas Farr has his doubts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who believes that a President Hillary Clinton will support the religious freedom of Catholic elementary and high schools, colleges, refugee services, adoption agencies, homes for the aged poor, or any other private organization, is making a mistake,\u201d Farr told CNA. \u201cHer own words suggest that even churches will not evade her understanding of the kind of \u2018compelling government interest\u2019 that she considers abortion and same-sex marriage to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, addressed religious freedom in an exclusive editorial in the Utah newspaper The Deseret News.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Americans, we hold fast to the belief that everyone has the right to worship however he or she sees fit,\u201d Clinton said in the Aug. 10 essay. \u201cI\u2019ve been fighting to defend religious freedom for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans don\u2019t have to agree on everything. We never have,\u201d she added. \u201cBut when it comes to religion, we strive to be accepting of everyone around us. That\u2019s because we need each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinton, in her essay written largely for a Mormon audience, linked Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump\u2019s proposal to ban Muslim immigration to the U.S. to 19th century efforts to expel Mormons<\/a> from the state of Missouri and to limit Mormon immigration to the U.S.<\/p>\n

But Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, charged that Clinton \u201cfavors extremist policies that would punish charities like the Little Sisters of the Poor along with thousands of similar Catholic-inspired charities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinton\u2019s words come during a long legal fight against the Obama administration\u2019s mandate that Catholic and other organizations provide employee health coverage of sterilization and contraception, including some drugs that can cause abortions. There are also continuing controversies over the freedom of adoption agencies, relief agencies and religious schools to have policies in line with their beliefs.<\/p>\n

Both Burch and Farr noted Clinton\u2019s use of the phrase \u201cright to worship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe publicly opposes the long understood definition of religious freedom by hiding behind the euphemism of \u2018freedom of worship\u2019,\u201d Burch said. \u201cWhat this means is she supports the freedom of Catholics to pray inside of our churches, at least for now. But once outside we must embrace the orthodoxy of secular anti-Catholic progressives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farr, who directs the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown\u2019s Berkley Center, said that Clinton\u2019s focus on the \u201cright to worship\u201d relegates religion to the private sphere \u201cwith no capacity to influence public matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHer use of the term, and its deeper meaning, are quite consistent with her attacks on churches and religious organizations that oppose the progressive agenda of abortion on demand and same-sex marriage,\u201d he said. \u201cLast year she told an international conference that religious groups who oppose abortion are going to have to change. Some commitment to religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinton\u2019s editorial in the Utah newspaper has deeper significance in 2016. The state is a traditional Republican bastion and most of its residents are adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>, colloquially known as Mormons.<\/p>\n

However, Mormons\u2019 lack of support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may provide an opening for Clinton.<\/p>\n

In her editorial, Clinton said when she was Secretary of State she made protection of religious minorities a \u201ccornerstone\u201d of foreign policy, including Coptic Christians in Egypt, Buddhists in Tibet and Chinese Christians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stood up for these oppressed communities because Americans know that democracy ceases to exist when a leader or ruling faction can impose a particular faith on everyone else,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Farr, however, questioned this evaluation of U.S. foreign policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir approach was highly rhetorical and program-poor. Under her watch, the National Security Strategy\u2019s discussion of fundamental American values virtually ignored religious freedom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He pointed to the years-long vacancy in the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom position, charging that it was ultimately filled by someone \u201cwithout the qualifications to do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Farr, Clinton\u2019s narrow understanding of religious freedom helps explain why the Clinton State Department \u201caccomplished virtually nothing (other than a few fine speeches and reports) in the arena of religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there are other reasons for State\u2019s ineffectiveness under Secretary Clinton, one is quite clear: it is difficult to sell to others a product which you no longer understand, and in which you do not believe,\u201d Farr said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Washington D.C., Aug 17, 2016 \/ 05:43 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has claimed to be a defender of religious freedom. But does it match the facts?<\/p>\n

Georgetown University professor Thomas Farr has his doubts.<\/p>\n

“Anyon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nCritics find a lot to doubt about Hillary Clinton's pro-religious freedom claims<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Aug 17, 2016 \/ 05:43 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has claimed to be a defender of religious freedom. But does it match the facts? 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