Cardinal Timothy Dolan has released a statement today on behalf of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Bishops have rejected the so-called “compromise” that the Obama administration proffered last week. The Bishops rightly conclude that the mandate still requires Catholic hospitals and schools to provide contraception and abortifacient drugs to their employees. Cardinal Dolan writes, The Administration’s proposal maintains its inaccurate distinction among religious ministries. It appears to offer second-class status to our first-class institutions in Catholic health care, Catholic education, and Catholic charities. HHS offers what it calls an “accommodation,” rather than accepting the fact that these ministries are integral to our Church and worthy of the…
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Marco Rubio, the Republican Savior?
The cover of the most recent Time magazine has a full-size picture of Marco Rubio and dubs him “The Republican Savior.” Senator Rubio tweeted a response today, and it is classic. He writes: There is only one savior, and it is not me. #Jesus There was once another politician who responded very differently to such acclaim, and the outcome wasn’t so good for him (Daniel 4:29-37). So this is a very good response from Senator Rubio. It’s exactly what he should have said.
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How can you not define that as a person?
What caused CNN’s Erin Burnett to declare on national television that an unborn child is a person? It was the story of Brady Surovik—an unborn baby killed in his mother’s womb by a drunk driver just two days before he was to be born. This happened in Colorado where state law prevents authorities from charging the drunk driver with the death of the baby. After reporting this story, Burnett says this: Without getting into the whole nitty-gritty of the abortion debate. I mean, to me, if the child — that baby when he died was 8 pounds 2 ounces, he was going to be born in a couple days. How…
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Michael Gerson nails it on the abortion mandate
I gave my analysis last week of President Obama’s proposed revision of Obamacare’s abortion mandate. I said then that the revision is not a compromise, despite the favorable media coverage that would suggest otherwise. It’s just more of the same, and it still implicates Christian business owner’s in the killing of unborn children. The clearest analysis of the new rules that I have read, however, comes from Michael Gerson in today’s Washington Post. Here’s the bottom line:
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Christians should let the Republican party split apart
Peter Leithart has a must-read over at the First Things blog. In short, he argues that President Obama is convinced that liberals have won the culture war. As a result, the President is trying to force a split in the Republican Party in order to smoke out the “bad” Republicans—those who hold to traditional marriage and who are prolife. Leithart writes: My advice to Bad Republicans is: Let it come. If the price of regaining power is to abandon any semblance of Christian sexual morality, the price is too high. If the Republican party can’t bring itself to endorse a traditional understanding of marriage, let it split. If the Republican…
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A Christian baker refuses to make cake for same-sex wedding and now faces charges
The Oregon Department of Justice is investigating a complaint against a Christian baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. Here’s what happened in a nutshell. A woman and her daughter came into Aaron Klein’s store requesting a wedding cake. When they told Klein that the cake was for a wedding with two brides, he informed them that he does not serve same-sex weddings.
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The abortion mandate still stands
The Obama administration announced “updates” this morning to Obamacare’s abortion mandate. The original mandate was a shell-game, and this latest “change” is only more of the same. The original rule required religious employers to pay money to an insurance company that would then provide abortion-inducing drugs for employees that wanted them. That is still true today despite the overhyped announcement. There’s no substantive difference. The changes are cosmetic at best. The underlying religious objection has not been addressed, and employers would still be morally implicated in paying for abortion-inducing drugs for their employees.
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The abortion mandate is losing in court
Hobby Lobby is not the only for-profit company to have filed suit against Obamacare’s abortion mandate. Hobby Lobby is just the one that you’ve heard about because they failed to get relief and have become subject to crippling fines. Michael Foust reports that there have been 44 separate lawsuits filed against the mandate. Fourteen rulings involve for-profit companies, and 10 out of 14 have been able to get relief from the courts. In short, for-profit companies are winning the majority of these cases, which means that eventually this is going to come before the Supreme Court. The Alliance Defending Freedom has represented for-profit companies seeking relief. Michael Foust reports on…
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A father celebrates killing his child
As the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade has come and gone, I notice that more pro-choicers than usual have been willing to talk openly about their views. They seem to be feeling the wind at their backs at the moment, and the normal inhibitions about telling abortion stories don’t seem to apply.
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The most powerful essay on women in combat yet
I have posted a great deal on women in combat over the last week. By far, the most powerful thing I’ve read yet is something I just discovered tonight. The essay is written by a female Marine who has desired to join the infantry but who nevertheless opposes women in combat. She writes under the pseudonym “Sentry,” and you really must read her entire essay. Here’s just a piece of it: