 |
| Moses never did this. |
Of course, no one really believes that a hobby is a religion.
Unless, of course, you're Judge Joe Heaton of the Tenth US Circuit Court of Appeals. Hizzoner ruled that Hobby Lobby should be exempt from certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act intended to apply only religious institutions.
Let's examine the relevant section of the First Amendment, which conveniently is the first part of the amendment:
This means that Hobby Lobby et al must show that paying for health care for its employees prohibits them from exercising their religion.
The first clarification that must be made is that these institutions are not being forced to pay for contraception.
That is to say, contraception has been defined to be a part of all health plans, much like spare tires are included in the cost of a car. Like a spare tire, you don't have to use contraceptives if you don't want to. No one is saying that anyone has to use contraception.
The Catholic Church, as you can imagine, has been vocal in its opposition. But the fact is, having contraceptives bundled into the cost of health care does not prevent the church from its practices. No one is saying that nuns must take The Pill, or that novices should use Norplant. There are any number of services bundled into a health plan that might never get used for one reason or another.
No matter how you slice it, the ACA does not stand the test of interfering with the practice of any religion, any more than mandatory car insurance does. Does it prevent anyone from praying in a manner of their choice? No. Does it prevent anyone from gathering in a place of worship? No. It does not force anyone to do anything at all, and does not prevent them from any activity required of them by their faith.
But because President Obama is accommodating to a fault, he directed that religious employers - intended to be primarily houses of worship - should be exempt from having plans that include contraception coverage. So special plans will be created for priests and ministers and nuns and monks so they won't have health plans that may tempt them.
And Judge Heaton apparently feels that people who sell HO gauge model trains and remote control planes need that same kind of consideration.
But what the Greens are arguing is that they should be free to demand their employees - not adherents to a religion, but employees - accept and abide by the rules of the Green family's religion. That is tantamount to creating a corporate faith. Believe, or be fired.
While the Constitution is intended to limit the powers of Government, we can not forget that the government is us. By the people, for the people. Ultimately, the Constitution is a limit on what we can do to each other. It's meant to prevent us from ganging together to force other people to the collective will - our collective will.
And by demanding an exemption from the Affordable Care Act, the Greens are violating the rights of every single one of their employees. They are not the government, but they are a collective, and they are ganging up to violate the freedom of others. And with his order, Judge Heaton has effectively approved of this violation.
Putting Health Care Into Perspective
Health Care is a part of an employee's compensation package; in other words, employees do not get health care as a gift: employers don't serve it up out of the goodness of their hearts. It's in exchange for services rendered, just like their actual paycheck. You do your job, and your employer compensates you for the work you do with a salary and a health care package.
Christian groups basically arguing that they should have the right to tell you what you can and cannot due with your wages. And that is absolutely a violation of religious freedom.
The Bacon Clarification
This exclusion that the Greens are demanding is akin to a Jewish employer asking to allowed not to pay you because you might use part of your wages to buy bacon. After all, his religion teaches that eating bacon is a sin. You might use that money to buy bacon to eat. And since he believes that eating bacon is a sin, forcing him to pay you your full wage means that the government is forcing him to bear the unjust burden of violating God's Law.
You may laugh, but in fact this is a far more valid argument than anything offered by any religious organization to date. After all, the Bible actually tells us not to eat pork; it doesn't say anything about contraception.
Look, if the Greens want to hire only Christians of their own denomination, they are within their rights to do so. And if everyone is of that denomination, they won't be using the contraceptives they believe are evil. So there would not be a need for the exemption. And if the Greens don't demand that everyone is a member of their faith, they cannot in good conscience demand that their choices be made in accordance with that faith.
At the end of the day, this is a thinly disguised attempt by a religious minority to instill their religion on the rest of us - something the Constitution won't let them do. Their argument boils down to "our religious freedom must mean that no one else has religious freedom."
Religious freedom means that you are free to practice your religion; it does not mean that you are free to interfere with the beliefs of others, even when those beliefs are diametrically opposed to yours.
Judge Heaton made a decision that will probably be very popular at his country club - and his church. But it was a bad decision for this nation, and probably fails to uphold the Constitution. We'll see if this administration has the will to take this to the Supreme Court. After all, pacifists are paying taxes, and some of that money is used to fight wars. Isn't that a violation of their faith? What about people opposed to the Death Penalty? Should Florida liberals be exempt from property taxes because they don't want to fund the electric chair?
Where does it end?
The Greens' religious freedom was never in jeopardy. But this decision means that the Greens and others like them can run roughshod all over everyone else's religious freedoms.
The action by US District Judge Joe Heaton came after the full Tenth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that forcing Hobby Lobby and its Christian owners to pay for certain kinds of contraceptive methods would substantially burden their religious rights.In case you are unaware, one of the provisions of the ACA is that health plans must include contraceptives. Some religious institutions (and, apparently, hobby stores) claim that this mandate basically infringes on their religious beliefs. Of course, this is utter nonsense.
-- The Christian Science Monitor, June 28, 2013
Let's examine the relevant section of the First Amendment, which conveniently is the first part of the amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...The argument being made by these religious institutions is that since they do not believe that people should use contraception, their rights are being violated by being forced to pay for health coverage that allows the person using that coverage to get contraceptives, including oral or implanted contraceptives, if they so choose.
This means that Hobby Lobby et al must show that paying for health care for its employees prohibits them from exercising their religion.
The first clarification that must be made is that these institutions are not being forced to pay for contraception.
That is to say, contraception has been defined to be a part of all health plans, much like spare tires are included in the cost of a car. Like a spare tire, you don't have to use contraceptives if you don't want to. No one is saying that anyone has to use contraception.
The Catholic Church, as you can imagine, has been vocal in its opposition. But the fact is, having contraceptives bundled into the cost of health care does not prevent the church from its practices. No one is saying that nuns must take The Pill, or that novices should use Norplant. There are any number of services bundled into a health plan that might never get used for one reason or another.
No matter how you slice it, the ACA does not stand the test of interfering with the practice of any religion, any more than mandatory car insurance does. Does it prevent anyone from praying in a manner of their choice? No. Does it prevent anyone from gathering in a place of worship? No. It does not force anyone to do anything at all, and does not prevent them from any activity required of them by their faith.
But because President Obama is accommodating to a fault, he directed that religious employers - intended to be primarily houses of worship - should be exempt from having plans that include contraception coverage. So special plans will be created for priests and ministers and nuns and monks so they won't have health plans that may tempt them.
And Judge Heaton apparently feels that people who sell HO gauge model trains and remote control planes need that same kind of consideration.
Hobby Lobby has more than 500 stores and employs 13,000 workers nationwide. The injunction also Bapplies to Mardel, Inc., which runs 35 Christian bookstores and employs 400 workers. Both companies are owned and run by the Green family, who are devout Christians.Of course, they are entitled to believe anything they choose. If they choose not to use certain forms of medication, that is their right. No one is arguing otherwise.
The family believes that life begins at conception and that any interference with the implantation of a fertilized egg is intentionally causing the death of a human being.
-- The Christian Science Monitor, June 28, 2013
But what the Greens are arguing is that they should be free to demand their employees - not adherents to a religion, but employees - accept and abide by the rules of the Green family's religion. That is tantamount to creating a corporate faith. Believe, or be fired.
While the Constitution is intended to limit the powers of Government, we can not forget that the government is us. By the people, for the people. Ultimately, the Constitution is a limit on what we can do to each other. It's meant to prevent us from ganging together to force other people to the collective will - our collective will.
And by demanding an exemption from the Affordable Care Act, the Greens are violating the rights of every single one of their employees. They are not the government, but they are a collective, and they are ganging up to violate the freedom of others. And with his order, Judge Heaton has effectively approved of this violation.
Putting Health Care Into Perspective
Health Care is a part of an employee's compensation package; in other words, employees do not get health care as a gift: employers don't serve it up out of the goodness of their hearts. It's in exchange for services rendered, just like their actual paycheck. You do your job, and your employer compensates you for the work you do with a salary and a health care package.
Christian groups basically arguing that they should have the right to tell you what you can and cannot due with your wages. And that is absolutely a violation of religious freedom.
The Bacon Clarification
 |
| Actually forbidden in the Bible |
You may laugh, but in fact this is a far more valid argument than anything offered by any religious organization to date. After all, the Bible actually tells us not to eat pork; it doesn't say anything about contraception.
Look, if the Greens want to hire only Christians of their own denomination, they are within their rights to do so. And if everyone is of that denomination, they won't be using the contraceptives they believe are evil. So there would not be a need for the exemption. And if the Greens don't demand that everyone is a member of their faith, they cannot in good conscience demand that their choices be made in accordance with that faith.
At the end of the day, this is a thinly disguised attempt by a religious minority to instill their religion on the rest of us - something the Constitution won't let them do. Their argument boils down to "our religious freedom must mean that no one else has religious freedom."
Religious freedom means that you are free to practice your religion; it does not mean that you are free to interfere with the beliefs of others, even when those beliefs are diametrically opposed to yours.
Judge Heaton made a decision that will probably be very popular at his country club - and his church. But it was a bad decision for this nation, and probably fails to uphold the Constitution. We'll see if this administration has the will to take this to the Supreme Court. After all, pacifists are paying taxes, and some of that money is used to fight wars. Isn't that a violation of their faith? What about people opposed to the Death Penalty? Should Florida liberals be exempt from property taxes because they don't want to fund the electric chair?
Where does it end?
The Greens' religious freedom was never in jeopardy. But this decision means that the Greens and others like them can run roughshod all over everyone else's religious freedoms.
