4. Religious Freedom
See Party Platforms
in their entirety.
Civil
discussion has degraded on important social issues. Please read appropriate
sections on each platform to compare.
Excerpt,
Republican Platform –
“Ongoing
attempts to compel individuals, businesses, and institutions of faith to
transgress their beliefs are part of a misguided effort to undermine religion
and drive it from the public square. As a result, many charitable religious
institutions that have demonstrated great success in helping the needy have
been barred from receiving government grants and contracts. Government
officials threaten religious colleges and universities with massive fines and
seek to control their personnel decisions. Places of worship for the first time
in our history have reason to fear the loss of tax-exempt status merely for
espousing and practicing traditional religious beliefs that have been held
across the world for thousands of years, and for almost four centuries in
America. We value the right of America's religious leaders to preach, and
Americans to speak freely, according to their faith. Republicans believe the
federal government, specifically the IRS, is constitutionally prohibited from
policing or censoring speech based on religious convictions or beliefs, and
therefore we urge the repeal of the Johnson Amendment.
Similar to our American Law and legal
system founded on original U.S. doctrines and documents, - the Constitution,
Bill of Rights, new legal circumstances require a continually re-examined and
re-applied development to address the challenges in each new generation. So
too, religious theological doctrines are examined and re-applied to current day
and times. The concern is when secular political interests strive to bring
secular law to control theological / religious law and doctrine by the state.”
( See the 2020 Democratic Platform, pages 30-49).
What Has Been The Result of Recent
Legislation and Executive Orders On The Free Exercise of Religion ?
Example #1 – State restriction of exercise of religious freedom – (see
Democrat 2020 Platform, pages 30-49, and section above on Title IX)
The Little Sisters of the Poor and the Affordable Care
Act (Obama-Care) – Video clip, 3 min.
The U.S. HHS (Health & Human Services) Mandate and
religious freedom - video –
8 min.
What
is Religious Freedom ? - video
4 min.
Looking at the religious tradition of Non-violence
through the lens of a Film – “Gran-Torino” – video – 8 min.
Martin Luther King Jr. – Letter to American Christians - video
What’s the difference between “right to worship”, vs “Freedom of
Religion”?
“Thomas Farr, who directs the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown’s
Berkley Center, said that Clinton’s [ and Obama’s] focus on the “right to
worship” relegates religion to the private sphere “with no capacity to
influence public matters.”
“Her use of the term, and its deeper meaning, are quite consistent
with her attacks on churches and religious organizations that oppose the
progressive agenda of abortion on demand and same-sex marriage,” he said. “Last
year (2015) she told an international conference that “religious groups who
oppose abortion are going to have to change.”
“Anyone who believes that a President Hillary Clinton will support
the religious freedom of Catholic elementary and high schools, colleges, refugee
services, adoption agencies, homes for the aged poor, or any other private
organization, is making a mistake,” Farr told CNA. “Her own words suggest that
even churches will not evade her understanding of the kind of ‘compelling
government interest’ that she considers abortion and same-sex marriage to be.”
“David French is right. Evangelicals and other social
conservatives need to get serious about political engagement or we will lose
our right to associate, organize, and keep our jobs while speaking Christian
views on sex and marriage in America. French points to the tepid reaction – or,
rather, non-reaction – to the proposed California bill that basically redefines
religious freedom in education to apply only to seminaries. Christian colleges
must conform to California’s new secular religion of equality or be shut
down.”
- Maggie Gallagher July 1, 2016 National Review, www.nationalreview.com/article/437405/
How do historical religious traditions help to inform and moderate
extremist tendencies in modern democracies ?
How are
Christians to understand Religious Freedom ?
1.
Bishop Barron on Religious
Freedom. – Video clip – 2 minutes.
2.
Bishop Barron on
the importance of Religious Liberty in modern culture. – Video clip – 4 minutes
3. Religious Freedom as noted in the
Democratic Party Platform, - “We will reject the Trump
Administration's use of broad religious exemptions to allow businesses, medical
providers, social service agencies, and others to discriminate.”
In other words, religious organizations will be required to defer to government-defined
moral definitions.
Both Democrats and Republicans Bi-Partisan
Support Passed the Hyde Amendment. Why Are The Democrats Now Calling for It’s Removal ?
Example #2 - The
Hyde Amendment –
Note - The Hyde Amendment is a
conscience clause, a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to
pay for abortion except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy
arises from incest or rape. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in 1980, an
estimated 300,000 abortions were performed annually using taxpayer funds. At
the time, it was supported and passed by a
majority of both Democrats and Republicans. This amendment
ensures the rights of those who in good and free conscience cannot materially
support the use of their personal money to directly or
indirectly pay for abortions.
Democratic
Platform 2020 –
“Democrats oppose and will fight to overturn federal and state laws that create
barriers to reproductive health and rights. We will repeal the Hyde Amendment, and protect and codify the right to
reproductive freedom. We condemn acts of violence, harassment, and intimidation
of reproductive health providers, patients, and staff. We will address the
discrimination and barriers that inhibit meaningful access to reproductive
health care services, including those based on gender, sexual orientation,
gender identity, race, income, disability, geography, and other factors.
Democrats oppose restrictions on medication abortion care that are inconsistent
with the most recent medical and scientific evidence and that do not protect
public health.”
1. Democratic presidential candidates talk abortion
2. How 2020 Democrats are reacting to state abortion
restrictions
3. 2016 Final Presidential Debate: Abortion
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