Fortnight for Freedom
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Friday, April 27, 2012
Have you read our bishops’ letter on religious freedom Our First, Most Cherished, Liberty?
It’s a powerful defense not only of our Catholic faith, but of the Constitution.
The close of the document calls for a “Fortnight for Freedom” to be observed from June 21st (the vigil of the feast of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More) to Independence Day.
Our bishops suggest this fortnight be observed with... READ MORE
Tell Us About The Religious Liberty Rallies
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Did you attend one of the 146 nationwide rallies for religious liberty yesterday?
Share your experiences (or links to your blog posts on the topic) in comments.
My family attended the rally outside the HHS building in DC. Here’s video of our keynote speaker, Star Parker.
Towards the close of the speech she has a moving tribute to all that Catholic institutions do to care for the poor, but she begins by contending that the HHS mandate is a blessing in disguise: because it affords religious believers an opportunity to have a conversation about sexual mores that we ought to have had a long time ago.
She speaks as someone trapped in a very dark place for a very long time and utterly convinced of the liberating and humanizing power of the Gospel.
(Yes, that’s Lila Rose you see consulting with MC Patrick Mahoney in the background.)
This Land Was Made For You And Me
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Wednesday, March 07, 2012
How closely are you following the debate over religious liberty occasioned by the HHS abortion drug mandate?
I confess I’ve gotten a little obsessed, largely because of the number of disturbing comments I’ve read or heard since the final regulation was announced in January.
A policy dispute I can handle.
A moral debate, too.
But the number of people—my own friends among them—who speak as if the... READ MORE
A Word from the Knights
Posted by Rebecca Teti in Reviews on Monday, February 20, 2012
The only thing I don’t like about this Knights of Columbus ad about religious liberty is that it perpetuates the myth of “Presidents’ Day.”
The very notion is un-American.
Here we don’t celebrate titles and offices of themselves (notice there’s no Congress day or Supreme Court day either?)
We celebrate personal heroism, admirable character traits, and exceptional achievements. That means not every, or even most, Presidents are to be celebrated.
Happy holiday, nonetheless!
Say A Little Prayer
Posted by Rebecca Teti in Just me on Wednesday, February 08, 2012
My home state of Maryland is one of several where same-sex marriage is being debated in the legislature.
Call it “no good deed goes unpunished,” but a column I wrote arguing that the debate over marriage is another front in the battle over religious liberty garnered the attention of the Maryland Catholic Conference.
I’ll be one of those testifying in defense of marriage before committees of the Maryland House of Delegates this Friday.
“Committees,” plural, because the process is being manipulated.
A similar measure was defeated in the judiciary committee last year, so this year the bill is being brought before a double committee in an effort to get it voted out for a floor vote.
The legislators are not very kind to marriage defenders, and I will admit I am anxious. (Though, since I’m not the head of any group, I’m not all that likely to draw fire.)
Say a little prayer, therefore, will you—for me and for all the witnesses?
May we be calm and our words gentle, but may they travel like arrows to the hearts of our delegates.
It would be nice if Maryland, founded as a refuge of liberty for Catholics, would refrain from turning the law into a cudgel to beat us all down.
The Pope Has A Mission For Us
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Friday, January 20, 2012
It’s not often you get a message tailor-made for you from the Pope.
So it was with relish I read the Holy Father’s words to the bishops of Maryland (DC, Baltimore & Military Services) on their ad limina visit to Rome this week.
The bulk of his talk was about protection of religious liberty, and why Catholic concerns aren’t merely parochial, but ordered towards the defense of human dignity for all.... READ MORE
Is Faith Permitted To Have Consequences?
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Friday, October 14, 2011
On October 5, in what some have called the most important religious liberty case in years, the Department of Justice argued before the Supreme Court that there should be no “ministerial exception” to anti-discrimination laws.
Stanford Law Professor Michael W. McConnell provides a good summary of the specific case here.
He also summarizes the issue. It’s always been assumed that Churches can choose... READ MORE
HHS versus Steubenville?
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Monday, October 03, 2011
A column highlighting the effect of proposed HHS regulations on Franciscan University of Steubenville and any religious institution determined not to be complicit in abortion is garnering a lot of attention.
It’s turned up at sites as disparate as What Does The Prayer Really Say and the Huffington Post.
As the political bent of those respective blogs indicates, the threat to religious liberty posed... READ MORE
Clash of Rights
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Friday, March 05, 2010
The DC City Council’s refusal to grant a conscience exemption to its new recognition of same-sex marriage has had immediate effects on the Archdiocese of Washington.
First Catholic Charities had to close its foster care program.
Now comes the news that in order not to violate Church teaching on marriage, the Archdiocese will no longer extend health care coverage to any spouses.
Spouses currently... READ MORE
"Just" Your Conscience
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Monday, November 16, 2009
My hometown’s City Council is poised to shut down many Catholic charities within the District of Columbia’s borders.
It’s doing so through a measure with the Orwellian title the “Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009.”
The proposed law does preserve the right of religious groups not to provide goods, services or facilities in violation of their religious beliefs.
Unless... READ MORE
