{"id":2565,"date":"2012-06-04T09:58:17","date_gmt":"2012-06-04T13:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tmatt.net\/?p=2565"},"modified":"2012-06-04T09:58:17","modified_gmt":"2012-06-04T13:58:17","slug":"freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom of “worship” vs. “religion” — again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

With the sounds of protests echoing across the campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame<\/a> would have to mention the religious issues that divided his listeners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what He asks of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

With this sweeping statement Obama essentially argued that religious faith contains no rational content and, thus, offers no concrete guidance for public actions, noted Thomas Farr, director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University. This would shock America\u2019s founding fathers or anyone else who has used religious doctrines and arguments in favor of human equality or in opposition to tyranny.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s views were even more troubling when combined with remarks weeks earlier at Georgetown<\/a> by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said Farr, during a conference sponsored by the American Religious Freedom Program of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. The daylong event<\/a> drew a variety of scholars and activists including Catholics, evangelical Protestants, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mormons<\/a> and others.<\/p>\n

Clinton\u2019s speech contained repeated references to freedom of \u201cworship,\u201d but none to freedom of \u201creligion.\u201d She also argued that \u201cpeople must be \u2026 free to worship, associate, and to love in the way that they choose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, the secretary of state raised sexual liberation to the status of religion and other central human rights, said Farr. This evolving political doctrine is now shaping decisions in some U.S. courts.<\/p>\n

\u201cPowerful members of our political class are arguing,\u201d he noted, \u201cthat there is no rational content of religion; that religious freedom means the right to gather in worship, but not to bring religiously informed moral judgments into political life; that religious freedom must be balanced by the right to love as one chooses, and that to make religious arguments against that purported right is unconstitutional.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, argued Farr and other speakers, there is more to America\u2019s current debates about religious liberty than clashes between religious groups and the Obama White House over Health and Human Services regulations that require most religious institutions to offer health-insurance plans that cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved forms of contraception, including so-called \u201cmorning-after pills.\u201d<\/p>\n

The larger civic argument, however, focuses on whether government officials can decree that \u201cfreedom of worship\u201d is more worthy of protection than \u201cfreedom of religion,\u201d a much broader constitutional concept. <\/p>\n

After all, the HHS mandate recognizes the conscience rights of a religious employer only if it has the \u201cinculcation of religious values as its purpose,\u201d \u201cprimarily employs persons who share its religious tenets\u201d and \u201cprimarily serves persons who share its religious tenets.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, \u201cfreedom of worship\u201d protects a nun when she prays for people with AIDS, but she may not be protected by \u201cfreedom of religion\u201d when caring for non-Catholics with AIDS in a ministry that hires non-Catholics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mandate \u2026 covers houses of worship, but leaves out the manifold ministries of charity that flow directly from that worship,\u201d stressed Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, in the conference\u2019s keynote address. \u201cThis is the first time that the federal government has compelled religious institutions to facilitate and fund a product contrary to their moral teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, on May 21, 43 Catholic dioceses and other organizations \u2014 including universities and institutions that don\u2019t fit the narrow HHS exemption \u2014 filed a wave of lawsuits against the federal government in 12 jurisdictions nationwide. A dozen or more Catholic and evangelical Protestant organizations had already filed similar lawsuits.<\/p>\n

Many bishops have warned that, if the lawsuits fail, Catholic schools, hospitals and charities may need to close. The New York Times editorial page responded by calling the lawsuits \u201ca dramatic stunt, full of indignation but built on air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Lori said the nation\u2019s bishops have decided to make another dramatic move \u2014 asking all Catholic churches to ring their bells at noon on June 21st and July 4th. The hope is that other houses of worship will join in.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Americans,\u201d he said, \u201cwe must learn about the legacy of the founding fathers. \u2026 As people of faith, we must mine our own religious traditions on religious freedom and share the treasures we find \u2014 not only with our own communities \u2014 but with society at large.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the sounds of protests echoing across the campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame would have to mention the religious issues that divided his listeners. \u201cThe ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is beyond our capacity as human beings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[97,226,426,729],"class_list":["post-2565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-godbeat","tag-barack-obama","tag-church-state-separation","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-religious-liberty"],"yoast_head":"\nFreedom of "worship" vs. "religion" -- again<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the sounds of protests echoing across the campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame would\" \/>\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\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Freedom of "worship" vs. "religion" -- again\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the sounds of protests echoing across the campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame would\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Terry Mattingly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-04T13:58:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/\",\"name\":\"Freedom of \\\"worship\\\" vs. \\\"religion\\\" -- again\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-04T13:58:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-06-04T13:58:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\"},\"description\":\"With the sounds of protests echoing across the campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame would\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Freedom of “worship” vs. “religion” — again\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\",\"name\":\"Terry Mattingly\",\"description\":\"On Religion\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\",\"name\":\"tmatt\",\"description\":\"Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He writes a weekly column for the Universal Syndicate.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/author\/tmatt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Freedom of \"worship\" vs. \"religion\" -- again","description":"With the sounds of protests echoing across the campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame would","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Freedom of \"worship\" vs. \"religion\" -- again","og_description":"With the sounds of protests echoing across the campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame would","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/","og_site_name":"Terry Mattingly","article_published_time":"2012-06-04T13:58:17+00:00","author":"tmatt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tmatt","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/","name":"Freedom of \"worship\" vs. \"religion\" -- again","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-04T13:58:17+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-04T13:58:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1"},"description":"With the sounds of protests echoing across the campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame would","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2012\/06\/freedom-of-worship-vs-religion-again\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Freedom of “worship” vs. “religion” — again"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/","name":"Terry Mattingly","description":"On Religion","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1","name":"tmatt","description":"Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. He writes a weekly column for the Universal Syndicate.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/author\/tmatt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}