I wrote the following article for the local newspaper here in Hankinson. Not sure if it will be published or not. In any case, I am posting it here:
On
January 20, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a mandate
requiring all health insurance plans to cover all contraceptives approved by
the FDA at no cost. Immediately, this
set off a fire storm of debate between different political, as well as
religious, groups.
The
political spin has gone something like this.
Republicans declared that President Obama hated religion, and Democrats said
the Republicans hated women and reproductive rights. As often happens in Washington, neither party
hit the mark on the head. To further
confuse the matter, media personalities failed to discuss the issue but instead
resorted to name calling.
If
we set aside politics, the issue really is this: Can the federal government tell a church body
what its practice must be? Specifically,
can congress legislate that a church has to do something to which it is
theologically and morally opposed? And
if so, where does that authority end?
Can
the government mandate that all Jewish citizens eat bacon? Can they mandate that atheists attend church
on Sundays even if they don’t believe? Can
they tell you what your religious practice must be, even if you disagree? If not, how can they force a church body that
disagrees with abortion and abortion causing drugs to cover it in their health
insurance?
We
in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod stand with our Catholic brothers and
sisters opposed to this mandate, for fear of where this slippery slope will
end. We also stand with them opposed to
abortion and abortion causing contraceptives. We cannot stand idly by while our consciences are trampled on by those
who disagree with our own beliefs. We stand together with them, against laws that tell us what our belief must be. Our
nation is one which values freedom of thought and practice. We cannot turn our head the other way when
that freedom is under attack.
