{"id":2218,"date":"2012-12-28T17:56:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-28T17:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/12\/marc-barnes-brings-us-up-to-date-on-opposition-to-the-hhs-mandate.html"},"modified":"2012-12-28T17:56:00","modified_gmt":"2012-12-28T17:56:00","slug":"marc-barnes-brings-us-up-to-date-on-opposition-to-the-hhs-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/12\/marc-barnes-brings-us-up-to-date-on-opposition-to-the-hhs-mandate.html","title":{"rendered":"Marc Barnes brings us up to date on opposition to the HHS mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

As I\u2019ve said before<\/a>, I oppose the HHS mandate, because I believe it is a small step in the growing tendency to be tired of all this democracy and liberty garbage. \u00a0I\u2019ve also been honest that my sympathies for the American Church leadership<\/a>, that almost to a man supported Obama\u2019s healthcare overhaul as long as he didn\u2019t screw the Catholic Church, runs somewhat shallow. \u00a0After all, there were other aspects of the mandate that seemed to threaten individual liberties, and the same Bishops\u00a0ballyhooing\u00a0about their opposition to the HHS mandate thought nothing about throwing those other concerns under the bus (forgive me if I\u2019m wrong in this generalization, but I\u2019ve yet to have anyone point me to evidence to the contrary). <\/p>\n

Still, I do oppose the principles behind the HHS mandate. \u00a0And I see it as a small but crucial step in that movement toward a post-democratic American nation. \u00a0Marc Barnes does a fine job explaining to the ill-informed just why the Catholic Church is so ticked off about the whole mandate design<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, he misses one crucial point. \u00a0It\u2019s a point I notice is missing on several Catholic blogs that are invested in these debates. \u00a0There seems to be a general sympathy toward the more\u00a0progressive\u00a0in many Catholic\u00a0circles\u00a0 \u00a0Not that they all throw in with abortion rights or gay marriage or whatever, but their rage, their contempt, their anger, their righteous indignation seems only reserved for the\u00a0traditionalist,\u00a0 the\u00a0Protestant\u00a0Conservative, the Religious Right, and the issues that at times defined those\u00a0conservative\u00a0American\u00a0movements. \u00a0Therefore, there is a tendency in some Catholic blogs to turn a more\u00a0critical\u00a0eye toward the arguments of the American Conservative than the American Progressive. \u00a0Oh, they oppose gay marriage here or abortion there, but they don\u2019t unpack, they don\u2019t micro-analyze every jot and tittle of a progressive mandate the way they might a more conservative agenda.<\/p>\n

Thus, it appears that many Catholic bloggers have missed the fact that arguing against the HHS mandate by way of the First\u00a0Amendment\u00a0is an exercise in futility. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because American progressives have, in many cases, rewritten the First Amendment, thanks largely in part to the\u00a0Separation\u00a0of Church and State emphasis that has been placed on it over the decades. \u00a0To many,\u00a0Separation\u00a0of Church and State was the end all to the\u00a0Amendment,\u00a0 the reason it existed. \u00a0It was not a means to the end, a principle upon which religious liberty could be achieved. \u00a0It was the reason the Amendment was written.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for that to go its logical ways, with the last decade or so witnessing a growing tendency among Progressives to add to the Amendment\u2019s purposes, whether it be to keep people with the wrong\u00a0religion\u00a0out of government<\/a>, or to mandate a clear and obvious truth. \u00a0As Barry Lynn, of Americans United for\u00a0Separation\u00a0of Church and State<\/a> explains, it\u2019s not a case of\u00a0legislating\u00a0morality or advancing religious values, it\u2019s\u00a0mandating\u00a0Truth. \u00a0To embrace a particular view of religion, to advance gay marriage, to champion abortion rights or free contraceptives, therefore, are not moral views or values, they are Truth. \u00a0And not one person in the world opposes governments mandating Truth. <\/p>\n

So as much as I\u00a0enjoyed\u00a0 and appreciated, Mr. Barnes\u2019 take on the issue, I couldn\u2019t help but know it would fall on deaf ears, especially if those ears believe that the First Amendment exists to ensure that Truth (read: Progressive Values) becomes the law of\u00a0the\u00a0land, and not some archaic notion that it existed to ensure the right to practice religion freely.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I\u2019ve said before, I oppose the HHS mandate, because I believe it is a small step in the growing tendency to be tired of all this democracy and liberty garbage. \u00a0I\u2019ve also been honest that my sympathies for the American Church leadership, that almost to a man supported Obama\u2019s healthcare overhaul as long as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMarc Barnes brings us up to date on opposition to the HHS mandate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As I've said before, I oppose the HHS mandate, because I believe it is a small step in the growing tendency to be tired of all this democracy and liberty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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