{"id":287,"date":"2012-06-13T06:23:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-13T06:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/faith-leaders-decry-mandates-creation-of-religious-classes\/"},"modified":"2012-06-13T06:23:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-13T06:23:00","slug":"faith-leaders-decry-mandates-creation-of-religious-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/faith-leaders-decry-mandates-creation-of-religious-classes\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith leaders decry mandate’s creation of religious classes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Jun 13, 2012 \/ 12:23 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Nearly 150 leaders and supporters of faith-based service organizations have spoken out against the Obama administration\u2019s contraception mandate because it creates class distinctions for religious groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tThe mandate and its narrow exemption create a \u201ctwo-class scheme\u201d of religious organizations that \u201chonors acts of worship while burdening those whose faith leads them to service in our common life,\u201d they argued.<\/p>\n

\tIn a June 11 letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, the leaders voiced \u201cgrave concern\u201d over the two-class concept of religious organizations that was \u201cembedded in federal law\u201d in February, when the mandate was finalized in its original form.<\/p>\n

\tThe letter was organized by the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, a D.C.-based coalition that works to protect the religious identity and work of faith-based organizations throughout America.<\/p>\n

\tIt was signed by aid organizations including World Relief and the U.S. branches of the Salvation Army and World Vision, Inc.<\/p>\n

\tThe National Association of Evangelicals, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and the North American Baptist Conference were also represented in the letter, as well as law organizations such as Liberty Counsel and the American Center for Law and Justice.<\/p>\n

\tRepresentatives of several Catholic colleges also signed the letter, including the presidents of Aquinas College, DeSales University and Belmont Abbey College.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tThe letter criticized an insurance mandate issued by Sebelius that will require employers to offer health care plans that include coverage of contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.<\/p>\n

\tAlthough the mandate includes a religious exemption, it is extremely narrow. To qualify for it, nonprofit organizations must exist for the purpose of inculcating religious values and both serve and employ primarily members of their own faith.<\/p>\n

\tTherefore, while many houses of worship fall under the protection of the exemption, most other religious organizations, including schools, hospitals and charitable agencies, do not.<\/p>\n

\tThe signers of the coalition\u2019s letter note that they represent a variety of religious backgrounds, serve in different fields, and disagree about \u201cthe moral acceptability of the contraceptive drugs\u201d and procedures included in the mandate.<\/p>\n

\tThey also hold differing views about the adequacy of the future \u201caccommodation\u201d promised by the administration for non-exempt groups.
\n\t\u00a0\u00a0
\n\tHowever, they said, \u201cwe are united in opposition to the creation in federal law of two classes of religious organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tUnder the mandate, they explained, churches are deemed \u201csufficiently focused inwardly to merit an exemption and thus full protection from the mandate,\u201d while faith-based service organizations, which have a more outward focus, are \u201cgiven a lesser degree of protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAnd yet both worship-oriented and service-oriented religious organizations are authentically and equally religious organizations,\u201d they said, arguing that the federal government lacks the authority to define for religious communities \u201cwhat constitutes true religion and authentic ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe signatories acknowledged that the Obama administration has said that its narrow definition of \u201creligious employer\u201d is not intended to set a precedent in federal law.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYet these are only intentions,\u201d they said, and the narrow exemption finalized with the mandate \u201ccan only make it more likely to be used in additional federal policies.\u201d
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tThey also warned that creating classes of religious groups \u201cmoves us further toward an unconstitutional, unhistorical, and unhealthy naked public square.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFor these reasons, the signers of the letter said, the only adequate solution is to \u201celiminate the two-class scheme of religious organization\u201d that is currently present in the mandate.<\/p>\n

\tThey urged Sebelius to extend the exemption to all faith-based service groups in order to restore the government\u2019s \u201cfull respect\u201d for religious organizations as \u201cauthentic vehicles for religious service.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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