![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/85\/2011\/10\/HMS-Surprise.jpeg\" "\\"HMS")
<\/a><\/p>\nThough I\u2019m on leave<\/a>, I sheepishly came back aboard the good ship YIMCatholic<\/em> again to do some light housekeeping. And I was also looking for the keys to my Mustang. I found them hanging on the hook in my stateroom. Go figure.<\/p>\n So since I\u2019m here for a few minutes, I figure I\u2019d pop off a tiny post on stuff I\u2019ve seen on the HHS Mandate in between my break of deep reading and Lenten reflections. The first item to share is this great cartoon that I saw this morning. Bill Maher, and many others, don\u2019t see the truth is this,<\/p>\n But Mr. Maher has a problem with seeing transcendent truth in any form. Idea #1: Pray for him as a Lenten work of mercy.<\/p>\n For the benefit of Mr. Maher, who I hear is spilling the \u201ctrue\u201d reason why so many of us don\u2019t agree<\/a> on the latest naked power grab by the Administration regarding healthcare, I present the true story of the HHS Mandate in a form that perhaps he can appreciate. Framed in the manner that folks of his ilk attempt to pander (<<== previous word irony alert!) to the public, I present to you Velvet Jones, the Prophet of Prophylactics,<\/p>\n See? The HHS Mandate makes all kinds of good sense when framed in the freedom of contraceptives mold. Oh, and don\u2019t e-mail me in abject horror that I would broach such a subject as prostitution on a Catholic blog. Unless you just haven\u2019t read your Bibles closely as the oldest profession, among other perversions<\/a>, is mentioned a number of times therein. Like by Our Lord here<\/a>.<\/p>\n But if Catholics were really upset at the easy availability of contraceptives, which last time I checked, are readily available everywhere from the nearest truckstop, minimart, and drug store\/grocery store, and have been for some time, I think you would have heard the outcry from the Church long before now. No, something else is afoot, and as the cartoon above suggests, Father Z. says the President, as he so readily gave his apology to our irate Afghani friends recently, should do the same for Catholics.<\/p>\n Mr. President, you owe me and millions of American Catholics an apology.<\/strong><\/p>\n You apologized to Islamic extremists and other Muslims abroad and in the United States for something done against the Islamic faith by mistake.<\/p>\n What you are doing to the consciences of Catholics and indeed all American, contrary to the 1st Amendment, you persist in doing on purpose.<\/p>\n As President you have offended me. You have offended millions of Catholic and all American citizens who enjoy religious liberty under the 1st Amendment and who, as human beings, do not deserve to be so demeaned.<\/p>\n You think American military personal should be held accountable for their mistake. Why should you, Mr. President, not now be accountable for what you are doing deliberately?<\/p>\n You owe us an apology for demeaning our Catholic Faith<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Idea #2: Let\u2019s apologize for electing him in the first place by, you know, not re-electing him in November.<\/p>\n Long time readers know that I\u2019m a gear-head<\/a> (I mean, I came back to find the keys to my Mustang, right?), and I\u2019m a racing fan as posts here<\/a>, and here<\/a> will attest to. But I\u2019m not a big NASCAR fan, and I figure Danica Patrick would have been better off staying in the seat of an Indycar, even though Mammom would counsel heading to NASCAR (and Danica listened to him). Well, in Mark Steyn\u2019s recent article in National Review Online<\/em>, titled The Perversion of Rights<\/em>, when questioned about the (framed in the Mainstream Media Approved Method) \u201cbirth control mandate,\u201d Danica pulled a no-brainer reply that makes me wonder if she\u2019s blown a gasket somewhere,<\/p>\n For some reason, Michelle Fields of the Daily Caller sought the views of the NASCAR driver and Sports Illustrated swimwear model about \u201cthe Obama administration\u2019s dictate that religious employers provide health-care plans that cover contraceptives.\u201d Miss Patrick, a practicing Catholic, gave the perfect citizen\u2019s response for the Age of Obama:<\/p>\n \u201cI leave it up to the government to make good decisions for Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s the real \u201chot topic\u201d here \u2014 whether a majority of citizens, in America as elsewhere in the West, is willing to \u201cleave it up to the government\u201d to make decisions on everything that matters. On the face of it, the choice between the Obama administration and the Catholic Church should not be a tough one. On the one hand, we have the plain language of the First Amendment as stated in the U.S. Constitution since 1791: \u201cCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.\u201d<\/p>\n On the other, we have a regulation invented by executive order under the vast powers given to Kathleen Sebelius under a 2,500-page catalogue of statist enforcement passed into law by a government party that didn\u2019t even bother to read it.<\/p>\n Commissar Sebelius says that she is trying to \u201cstrike the appropriate balance.\u201d But these two things \u2014 a core, bedrock, constitutional principle, and Section 47(e)viii of Micro-Regulation Four Bazillion and One issued by Leviathan\u2019s Bureau of Compliance \u2014 are not equal, and you can only \u201cbalance\u201d them by massively increasing state power and massively diminishing the citizen\u2019s. Or, to put it more benignly, by \u201cleaving it up to the government to make good decisions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yeah, I\u2019m sticking with Steyn\u2019s way of thinking<\/a>, and not agreeing that Leviathan steamrolling the Church, like it intends, is the best thing for us. In a racing analogy, the constitutional principle is akin to an Indycar, while the Code of Federal Regulations approach is like a Sprint Cup heavy-weight. They both can make it around Laguna Seca, or Watkins Glen, for example, but the superior car and driver does it cleaner, and faster. Guess which one that is?<\/p>\n Yes, Leviathan is facing more and more challenges, as the good folks over at The American Center for Law and Justice report,<\/p>\n The mandate and compromise by the Obama Administration\u2019s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are facing new challenges each day.<\/p>\n The latest legal challenge comes from seven states and a host of organizations \u2013 including two private citizens, two religious non-profit organizations and a Catholic school. They have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of HHS regulations, which we have contended from the very start violate the free exercise of religion and the conscience rights of millions of Americans.<\/p>\n Just this week, we sent a legal analysis to HHS Secretary Sebelius on behalf of nearly 70,000 Americans urging that the troubling language in the regulations be removed. And, now an opinion editorial I have written explaining why the mandate and compromise are unacceptable is making the rounds in papers across the country. The article appears in today\u2019s edition of the Charlotte Observer and you can read it here.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/code><\/p>\n<\/a>