Kincaid: Catholic Church Rejects Surrender Terms from Obama
By Cliff Kincaid
My Catholic priest, Father Larry Swink, delivered a homily on Sunday that I
told him would make headlines. In the toughest sermon I have ever heard from a
pulpit, he attacked the Obama Administration as evil, even demonic, and warned
of religious persecution ahead. What was also newsworthy about the sermon was
that he cited The Washington Post in agreement—not on the subject of the Obama
Administration being evil, but on the matter of its abridgment of the
constitutional right to freedom of religion.
What is happening is extraordinary and unprecedented. The
Catholic Church is in open revolt against the Obama Administration, with Fr.
Swink noting from the pulpit that priests across the archdiocese were joining
the call on Sunday to rally Catholics to resistance against the U.S.
Government. He said we are entering a time of religious persecution and that
Catholics and others will have to make a final decision about which side they
are on.
The issue is what the Catholic Bishops have called
a “literally unconscionable” edict by the Obama Administration demanding that
sterilization, abortifacients and contraception be included in virtually all
health plans.
At a time when the media are full of reports about who is
ahead and behind in the polls, and who will win the next Republican
presidential primary, this incredible uprising in the Catholic Church is
something that could not only overshadow the political campaign season, but
also may have a major impact on the ultimate outcome—if Republicans know how to
handle it. This matter goes beyond partisan politics to the growing perception
of an unconstitutional Obama Administration assault on religious freedom. To
hear the Catholic Bishops and Priests describe it, our constitutional republic
and our freedoms hang in the balance.
The administration claims there is a religious exemption in
the mandate, but the bishops say it is so narrow that it fails to cover the
vast majority of faith-based organizations, including Catholic hospitals,
universities and service organizations that help millions every year.
“Ironically,” they say, “not even Jesus & his disciples would have
qualified.”
The bishops go
on, “Now that the Administration has refused to recognize the
Constitutional conscience rights of organizations and individuals who oppose
the mandate, the bishops are now urging Catholics and others of good will to
fight this unprecedented attack on conscience rights and religious liberty.”
Interestingly, The Washington Post, as Father Swink
indicated, agrees with the bishops. The paper said,
“In this circumstance, requiring a religiously affiliated employer to spend its
own money in a way that violates its religious principles does not make an
adequate accommodation for those deeply held views. Having recognized the
principle of a religious exemption, the administration should have expanded
it.”
So why would the administration pick a major fight with the
Catholic Church? There are two main reasons. (1) The administration wants to
please its progressive and feminist, secular pro-abortion base. (2) The
administration believes Catholics are divided on the issue and will ignore
their leaders and follow Obama.
Support for the latter explanation comes in the form of the
Obama Administration’s efforts to co-opt the Catholic Church, primarily through
appointing nominal Catholics to high-level positions in government and keeping
funding going to the church for “social justice” causes. Another player in this
effort is the hedge-fund billionaire George Soros, an atheist who nevertheless
has found groups
that are “Catholic in name only” to accept his financial largesse. These
groups, including Catholics in
Alliance for the Common Good, are designed to give the impression that
Catholics are less concerned about issues like stopping abortion and protecting
the sanctity of traditional marriage than passing government health care. The
Obama/Soros gamble may be backfiring.
It’s true that the bishops went along with Obama’s health
care scheme, even lobbying on its behalf. But now they seem to be realizing
that the plan was a Trojan Horse designed to force population control measures
on the people of the
Father Larry Swink of Jesus The Divine Word
Catholic Church in
You know it’s serious when the bishops are talking about
heaven and hell. Indeed, Fr. Swink opened his discussion of what he described
as the evil nature of the Obama Administration by reading from scripture about
Jesus casting out demons. He saw the order on health care coverage as the start
of religious persecution. The congregation joined him in calls of “Amen” when
he challenged them to stand tall with the church.
You cannot expect the secular Washington Post to go along
with such rhetoric. But even its liberal editorial writer saw the ramifications
of the health care order, perhaps anticipating the confrontation that we now
see developing. From the point of view of this liberal paper, the Obama
Administration is not only undermining religious freedom but risking a major
backlash to its overall “progressive” agenda and even a second term in office.
Some may see this battle as just another church-state
dust-up that will be resolved through litigation. But when apocalyptic imagery
is used, such as what I heard at my church on Sunday, one must wonder if there
is an awakening on the part of the Catholic community and if there is something
else going on here besides politics as usual. In short, is the Catholic Church
beginning to finally recognize the real nature of the Obama Administration?
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Cliff Kincaid is the Director of the AIM Center for
Investigative Journalism, and can be contacted at cliff.kincaid@aim.org.
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