{"id":6022,"date":"2011-08-08T09:14:12","date_gmt":"2011-08-08T13:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=6022"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:40:06","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:40:06","slug":"when-the-government-decides-what-religions-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/08\/when-the-government-decides-what-religions-do\/","title":{"rendered":"When the government decides what religions do"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sister Mary Ann Walsh<\/strong><\/a> takes a look at what government will be doing with contraceptives \u2014 and the \u201creligious exemption\u201d \u2014 and isn\u2019t impressed:<\/p>\n

When it comes to church-state relations, both church and government historically have watched to keep the government out of church business. The U.S. Constitution acknowledged the significance of the role of the First Estate, when it declared that \u201cCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a clear message that government must not stick its proverbial camel\u2019s nose under the church tent. Now, however, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has gone beyond nuzzling its nose where it does not belong. It has plunked itself right in the middle of the sanctuary. It is trying to define what a religion does and does not do.<\/p>\n

This misguided move comes with a proposed HHS regulation to guide implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The regulation for the new health care reform bill demands that all health plans pay for contraceptives, sterilizations and education to use both.<\/p>\n

In a tacit acknowledgement that this violates the Constitution\u2019s cherished respect for religious liberty, HHS provides an exemption for religious employers \u2014 but with a catch. The church agency can only claim exemption if it primarily serves people of its own faith. It also must meet other requirements, such as employing mostly people of its own faith.<\/p>\n

This means HHS is setting itself up to determine what constitutes church ministry and who Jesus meant when he referred to serving \u201cthe least of my brethren.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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

Sister Mary Ann Walsh takes a look at what government will be doing with contraceptives \u2014 and the \u201creligious exemption\u201d \u2014 and isn\u2019t impressed: When it comes to church-state relations, both church and government historically have watched to keep the government out of church business. The U.S. Constitution acknowledged the significance of the role of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-great-links","category-pro-life"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen the government decides what religions do<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sister Mary Ann Walsh takes a look at what government will be doing with contraceptives -- and the "religious exemption" -- and isn't impressed: When it\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/08\/when-the-government-decides-what-religions-do\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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