{"id":24375,"date":"2013-07-02T18:31:48","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T22:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=24375"},"modified":"2016-09-30T16:03:24","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:03:24","slug":"bishops-religious-leaders-issue-letter-calling-for-conscience-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/07\/bishops-religious-leaders-issue-letter-calling-for-conscience-protections\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishops, Religious Leaders Issue Letter Calling for Conscience Protections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From CNS:\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A diverse group of religious leaders, including Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals and a representative from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, issued an open letter July 2 urging the U.S. government to \u201cexpand conscience protections\u201d in its Health and Human Services contraceptive mandate.<\/p>\n

The letter, which said the country\u2019s \u201cdelicate liberty of conscience is under threat,\u201d called on HHS to provide conscience protections to \u201cany organization or individual that has religious or moral objections to covering, providing or enabling access to the mandated drugs and services.\u201d<\/p>\n

The signers also asked Congress to \u201cconsider how it might prevent such offenses from occurring in the future,\u201d noting that any policy \u201cthat falls short of affirming full religious freedom protection for all Americans is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter, \u201cStanding Together for Religious Freedom,\u201d was signed by 58 faith representatives and released during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington.<\/p>\n

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, chairman of the U.S. bishops\u2019 Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, was among the signatories and spoke about it at the afternoon news conference.<\/p>\n

He said a key aspect that the Catholic Church is looking at in its \u201cintense study\u201d of HHS\u2019 final rules issued June 28 is the three-tiered distinction the government made with religions: exempt houses of worship; the accommodated organizations; and private business owners with religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

He told reporters that Catholics do not see a distinction between what people do in church and how they serve their neighbors or run a business. \u201cThe faith by which we worship on Sunday is the very same faith by which we act in the world the other six days of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell D. Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention\u2019s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, also signed the letter and similarly stressed that people of faith \u201ccannot accept\u201d the government\u2019s message that religion is just for our services \u201cor what we hide in our hearts or sing in our hymns.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

And read the full text of the letter, and statements made at the news conference, at this link<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From CNS:\u00a0 A diverse group of religious leaders, including Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals and a representative from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, issued an open letter July 2 urging the U.S. government to \u201cexpand conscience protections\u201d in its Health and Human Services contraceptive mandate. The letter, which said the country\u2019s \u201cdelicate liberty of conscience is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bishops","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\nBishops, Religious Leaders Issue Letter Calling for Conscience Protections<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From CNS:\u00a0 A diverse group of religious leaders, including Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals and a representative from the International Society for\" \/>\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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