{"id":368,"date":"2012-06-22T06:05:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-22T06:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/scholars-say-hhs-dispute-pits-government-against-god\/"},"modified":"2012-06-22T06:05:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-22T06:05:00","slug":"legal-experts-say-hhs-dispute-pits-government-against-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/06\/legal-experts-say-hhs-dispute-pits-government-against-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal experts say HHS dispute pits government against God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Indianapolis, Ind., Jun 22, 2012 \/ 12:05 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The HHS contraception mandate shows the federal government asserting its own authority as a \u201crival\u201d to God, legal scholars warned, as the U.S. Church began two weeks of action for religious freedom.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cPower hates a rival, and allegiance to an all-embracing, monotheistic God poses a significant threat to power,\u201d University of Oklahoma law professor Michael Scaperlanda said during a June 21 panel discussion on religious liberty at the 2012 Catholic Media Conference in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe are told today that our nation is too diverse to be influenced by religious moral principles. But history reveals a deeper and darker reason for marginalizing religion,\u201d Scaperlanda said. \u201cSimply put, the state is jealous of the rival source of authority.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe University of Oklahoma professor offered his thoughts on the mandate, and related threats to the free exercise of religion, alongside Canon Law Society of America President Rita Joyce, and Professor Carter Snead of the University of Notre Dame Law School.<\/p>\n

\tTheir remarks to journalists and other media came as the U.S. bishops began the June 21-July 4 \u201cFortnight for Freedom\u201d campaign. The initiative seeks to rally Catholics against the mandate requiring religious employers to offer objectionable services, including sterilization and abortion-causing drugs.<\/p>\n

\tJoyce spoke about the 23 pending lawsuits that have been filed against the mandate by 56 different plaintiffs, including many Catholic dioceses. The canon law society president is also general counsel for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, which is among the local churches suing to block the mandate.<\/p>\n

\tShe stressed that the Church had been forced to defend itself by the Obama administration's denial of conscience rights. While the Church's own internal laws normally require compliance with civil law, the contraception mandate forces the Church to choose between obedience to God, or to the state.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cCanon law defers to civil law in those matters where it doesn't conflict with 'Divine law' \u2013 or God's law,\u201d Joyce said. \u201cCivil law, here, is conflicting with our law. It's conflicting with God's law, with the Church's law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe do need to resist it, from a canonical point of view, because civil law here is coming in conflict with canon law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tSnead, who specializes in public policy and bioethics at Notre Dame, stressed that the Obama administration had not followed through on a promise to \u201caccommodate\u201d employers with moral objections to contraception, sterilization, and abortion-causing drugs.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis is one of the great myths of this debate. There is no accommodation,\u201d Snead said.<\/p>\n

\tInstead, he explained, the president had made a \u201cpromise to try to find some form of accommodation by August 2013\u201d for groups with moral objections to the mandate.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThose of you who pay attention to politics might notice that that's significantly after the presidential election,\u201d Snead remarked.<\/p>\n

\tEven \u201cnon-cynical\u201d observers, he said, should ask themselves why the president would wait until after the election \u201cto resolve this very vexed controversy\u201d that involves the \u201cvery important voter population\u201d of U.S. Catholics.<\/p>\n

\tHe summed up the administration's message to concerned Catholics: \u201cDon't worry about this very serious problem that you're concerned about; I'll deal with it after the election's over, in a way that I'm sure you'll find satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Notre Dame professor described the mandate as a \u201cradical form of coercion\u201d against religious groups. He also rejected the notion that Catholics were seeking to restrict access to contraception, an objection raised by some activists who have sought to shift the debate away from religious freedom.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe very definition of 'coercion' has been perverted in this debate,\u201d Snead objected. \u201cPeople are saying that it's 'coercion' on the part of the religious institutions, to not pay for something that is available through other means.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt's not coercion for me not to pay for something for you that violates my religious tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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

Indianapolis, Ind., Jun 22, 2012 \/ 12:05 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The HHS contraception mandate shows the federal government asserting its own authority as a “rival” to God, legal scholars warned, as the U.S. Church began two weeks of action fo…<\/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-368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nLegal experts say HHS dispute pits government against God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Indianapolis, Ind., Jun 22, 2012 \/ 12:05 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The HHS contraception mandate shows the federal government asserting its own authority as a “rival” to God, legal scholars warned, as the U.S. Church began two weeks of action fo...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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