{"id":10720,"date":"2012-02-04T14:23:30","date_gmt":"2012-02-04T20:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=10720"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:34:36","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:34:36","slug":"radicalism-and-maliciousness-are-at-work-in-obamas-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2012\/02\/radicalism-and-maliciousness-are-at-work-in-obamas-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"“Radicalism and maliciousness are at work in Obama’s decision…”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Compelling words on the HHS ruling from columnist (and former Bush speechwriter) Michael Gerson in the Washington Post: <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

There would have been no controversy at all if President Obama had simply exempted religious institutions and ministries. But the administration insisted that the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary\u2019s Hospital be forced to pay for the privilege of violating their convictions.<\/p>\n

Obama chose to substantially burden a religious belief, by the most intrusive means, for a less-than-compelling state purpose \u2014 a marginal increase in access to contraceptives that are easily available elsewhere. The religious exemption granted by Obamacare is narrower than anywhere else in federal law \u2014 essentially covering the delivery of homilies and the distribution of sacraments. Serving the poor and healing the sick are regarded as secular pursuits \u2014 a determination that would have surprised Christianity\u2019s founder.<\/p>\n

Both radicalism and maliciousness are at work in Obama\u2019s decision \u2014 an edict delivered with a sneer. It is the most transparently anti-Catholic maneuver by the federal government since the Blaine Amendment was proposed in 1875 \u2014 a measure designed to diminish public tolerance of Romanism, then regarded as foreign, authoritarian and illiberal. Modern liberalism has progressed to the point of adopting the attitudes and methods of 19th-century Republican nativists.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read it all. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Compelling words on the HHS ruling from columnist (and former Bush speechwriter) Michael Gerson in the Washington Post: There would have been no controversy at all if President Obama had simply exempted religious institutions and ministries. But the administration insisted that the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary\u2019s Hospital be forced to pay for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-pro-life"],"yoast_head":"\n"Radicalism and maliciousness are at work in Obama's decision..."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Compelling words on the HHS ruling from columnist (and former Bush speechwriter) Michael Gerson in the Washington Post: There would have been no\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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