The State cannot, by its very nature and by American Constitutional Law, define the Church. The Church, any church, defines itself!
In a broad, modern political sense, or by current American Constitutional Law, both Church and State are separate to insure the integrity of both institutions. To grant either party the power to define the other, provides that party a weapon of mass destruction.
Recently, the Obama Administration has taken upon itself the assumed right to redefine the Roman Catholic Church. It has declared that religious liberty, as prescribed by the U.S. Constitution, only applies to Church buildings possessing a steeple - the physical location of the church sanctuary.
Excluded from the free exercise of religious liberty are all Roman Catholic schools, hospitals and orphanages. They are specifically refused the right to execute their stated mission – the education and physical welfare of Roman Catholics and all others who choose to avail themselves of Church educational and hospital services. This right has been exercised by all Church schools and hospitals from the inception of the Nation.
In response to this egregious abridgement of religious liberty, more than forty Roman Catholic Institutions including the Archdioceses of N.Y., St. Louis and Washington DC have filed law suites against the U.S. Government this May. They challenge the Obama Administration’s requirement that Roman Catholic employers must provide insurance coverage for sterilization, in vitro fertilization, abortifacients and birth control, which flagrantly violate Catholic universal social teaching.
At issue is not one’s personal view on any of the above issues, but rather the more important and broader issue of Church coercion by the State. In this instance it is the Roman Catholic Church, but once the precedent is established, all churches are subject to redefinition by the State to pursue the State’s political agenda. The power to redefine the churches undermines the basic foundation of religious liberty.
Modern times have brought an ever-continuing erosion of religious liberty. The State has assumed the sole right to define morality, the meaning of life and even justice. It is a sign of the times that the Roman Catholic Church is suing the government, not for full religious liberty, but simply “conscience protection.”
Such a trend leads not only to the violation of religious freedom, but more importantly the usurpation of natural human rights by the State. China’s “one child policy” or France’s banning of religious schools, religious attire, and the wearing of crucifixes or the Star of David around one’s neck, becomes the obvious political direction when States overpower Church institutions.
“The Wall of Separation between Church and State” was a well-founded concept, which provides security to both institutions and precludes either Church or State from marginalizing or eliminating the other.
Religious liberty, let alone the protection of conscience, must be preserved! Let law-makers and the Courts be reminded that we are the only nation specifically founded in pursuit of religious liberty.
--Xavier Rynne
