{"id":227,"date":"2012-06-05T08:26:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-05T08:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/religious-freedom-movement-holding-new-national-rallies-june-8\/"},"modified":"2012-06-05T08:26:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-05T08:26:00","slug":"religious-freedom-movement-holding-new-national-rallies-june-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/religious-freedom-movement-holding-new-national-rallies-june-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious freedom movement holding new national rallies June 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Chicago, Ill., Jun 5, 2012 \/ 02:26 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- On June 8, Stand Up For Religious Freedom will hold its second round of national protests against the contraception mandate, continuing the movement that drew tens of thousands of protesters in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re up to 154 rallies across the country now, which is about 10 more than we had last time on the rally day,\u201d said Stand Up For Religious Freedom\u2019s communications director Matt Yonke. The group is \u201cexpecting a few more (cities) to trickle in before Friday,\u201d when the events begin at noon local time. <\/p>\n

Organized in response to the Obama administration\u2019s denial of conscience rights to religious institutions, the first set of rallies included 28 Catholic bishops as well as other Christian and Jewish leaders. This time around, Yonke said, publicity and group endorsements have \u201conly been bigger.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had 64,000 (people) last time,\u201d he recalled, noting the attendance tally from the first round of coast-to-coast demonstrations that took place March 23. \u201cI definitely think we\u2019re going to top that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Under the leadership of national co-directors Eric Scheidler and Monica Miller, Stand Up For Religious Freedom has built a coalition that includes 96 Catholic and non-Catholic religious and civil rights organizations. <\/p>\n

Stand Up For Religions Freedom\u2019s first nationwide rally took place on the anniversary of Patrick Henry\u2019s \u201cGive Me Liberty of Give Me Death\u201d speech. Its upcoming event coincides with the 223rd anniversary of James Madison\u2019s introduction of the Bill of Rights to the first U.S. Congress. <\/p>\n

The new wave of protests comes as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on the 2010 health care law, under which the contraception mandate was drafted and finalized. The mandate requires employers to
purchase plans that include coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so goes against their beliefs.<\/p>\n

Soon after the June 8 protests, U.S. Catholics will join with their bishops in a \u201cFortnight for Freedom\u201d dedicated to religious liberty.<\/p>\n

The forthcoming Supreme Court decision, Yonke explained, is \u201cone of the reasons we wanted to do the rally when we\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That way, he said, \u201c(whichever) way the ruling goes, we\u2019ve got people who are engaged, and active, and ready to move on to the next step of the fight\u201d for the free exercise of religion.<\/p>\n

No matter what the future of U.S. health care brings, Yonke said Catholics and other religious believers \u201cneed to have a significant place at the table.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Church has \u201cbeen doing health care for thousands of years now. And we have something to say about it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Yonke said the dispute over conscience rights had intensified in recent months, as the Obama administration \u201cdug in its heels\u201d and refused to reach a mutually-acceptable agreement with critics of the contraception mandate. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Stand Up For Religious Freedom\u2019s message has \u201cspread farther and wider,\u201d building popular momentum against the federal rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are new people getting informed all the time. And the more they get informed about it, the more they\u2019re getting upset about it,\u201d Yonke noted. \u201cSo the opposition is only growing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Some activist groups have accused opponents of the mandate of fighting a \u201cwar on women,\u201d or using the cover of religious freedom to advance a partisan agenda. But Yonke disagreed, citing well-known allies of the president who have broken ranks over their disagreement with the contraception rule.<\/p>\n

Prominent commentators and thinkers, including National Catholic Reporter columnist Michael Sean Winters and former U.S. ambassador to Malta Doug Kmiec, have found the mandate to be \u201ca bridge too far,\u201d he pointed out. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is far from a partisan effort,\u201d said Yonke. Rather, it is simply an attempt to stop \u201cthe government imposing itself on our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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