This article is a statement from LCMS President Harrison.
Posted on 03/26/2014 2:42:12 AM PDT by rhema
You’re tired of hearing about Hobby Lobby and the Supreme Court, tired of all the talk of fines and health-care plans and reproductive rights, tired of being bombarded with words spoken in anger from both sides of the aisle. You want to put your fingers in your ears, switch the channel, and wait for the ruling and the rest of it to just go away.
But even though you are tired, even though you’ve grown weary of having the same discussions about the same points, Hobby Lobby and fines and health-care plans still matter. They matter because your country – the United States of America – was founded on the principle that you were born with certain rights: the rights to seek and follow truth, to live according to your beliefs, to worship freely.
And no one, not even the government, gets to tell you how to do that.
Today, our federal government threatens that right, consistently refusing to protect religious liberty as our Constitution and the laws of nature demand. In the dozens of cases against the Health and Human Services contraceptive mandate, the government has started dictating the boundaries of religious beliefs, and to pick and choose which beliefs – and which individuals – deserve religious liberty protection.
The contraceptive mandate, part of the Affordable Care Act, requires employers to provide a full range of 20 FDA-approved contraceptive devices, drugs and services in their health-care plans. These include “emergency contraceptives” with the ability to prevent implantation of an embryo – in other words, the ability to end a human life. Catholics, Lutherans, and many other Americans find these drugs morally reprehensible. Yet, though objections to the mandate are strong and numerous – with over 90 lawsuits filed so far – the government has simply swept them aside.
The mandate’s provisions allow for very narrow exemptions for houses of worship. Exemptions do not extend even to affiliates of those houses of worship; for example, a Catholic order of nuns, operating homes for the elderly poor, is not exempt. Nor are Christian colleges, nor are thousands of other religious non-profit organizations, which serve the public good.
In the case of the non-profits, the government has come up with an empty “accommodation” that would force organizations to sign HHS forms directing third-party administrators to provide the drugs that the organizations cannot. As one plaintiff, the Little Sisters of the Poor, explained, these forms are nothing more than permission slips. The Little Sisters cannot direct someone else to act immorally, just as they cannot act immorally themselves. The government has branded this particular belief meaningless.
Neither the exemption nor the false “accommodation” extends to individuals who run their own businesses, like David and Barbara Green, owners of Hobby Lobby. The Greens morally oppose providing drugs that can prevent implantation and have filed suit against HHS, represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. In the Greens’ case, the government claims that moral convictions must be abandoned at the door of the workplace. The Greens may not run their own companies according to their consciences. Or, in return for staying true to their convictions, they will be forced to pay crushing fines.
The government’s distinctions under the mandate don’t make sense. The government does not get to reduce God and the way in which He works down to what happens only in church or worship. By its definition, religious liberty stipulates that a church – not the government – must be permitted to form its own definition and its own boundaries.
Moreoever, God uses each of us in our vocations to serve those around us. This call to serve others and live according to our beliefs extends beyond our houses of worship, into our homes, our communities, and our work. To prevent individuals from following the dictates of their consciences is an abuse of power and a gross infringement on human dignity.
As the leader of a Christian church body, I strongly object to the government’s approach of picking and choosing whose beliefs merit consideration. Now, according to the government, Catholic nuns must authorize others to give out free contraceptives, and evangelical Christians must abandon their most deeply held convictions in the operations of their own businesses. What group, and what belief, will next be under attack?
Friends, we may be weary. We may be tired. But we must stand together to protect our God-given right to religious liberty. This mandate threatens not only those whose religions specifically compel them to oppose it, but all Americans. We cannot allow our government to define the content of our beliefs or the degree of their significance.
The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison is the current and 13th president of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.
He's a preacher, not a motivational speaker.
How presumptuous of them, whoever they are, to make such a personal statement to their readers.
He isn't speaking in a void. Many of his audience are tired of Hobby Lobby et al. Tired that we have had to waste time and treasure diverting attention away from what we should be doing, to fight the gov't in court over something in the 1st Amendment. Tired of fighting the same gov't we pay taxes to over pro-life issues. Doesn't mean we'll stop, just tired of this crap.
Theres a reason for that though. We, the electorate, are the problem and whats happening in govt is only a symptom.
The problem is the American peopel who endorse and vote for tyranny even if they are too dumb to be able to spell the word.
Okay... I'll put him right next to the guy who put a sign up on the marquee that said "God wants to kill you."
This article is a statement from LCMS President Harrison.
Roberts should swing for this whole mess.
Hey, I actually preached a sermon once with that exact title, "God Wants to Kill You." It caught people's attention, and then I explained in what sense that is true.
And so, if you read at all beyond the title of this article, you quickly understand where LCMS President Harrison is going with this. And then Harrison sums it up like this at the end: "Friends, we may be weary. We may be tired. But we must stand together to protect our God-given right to religious liberty."
This is his second term as elected head of the conservative Missouri Synod's Lutherans....and from all accounts he's doing a stand-up biblical job!
Leni
Bttt
I daresay a statement like that alienated most everyone who just drove by and saw it on the marquee. That is if you care about what they think, otherwise why would I bother?
As for this guy telling me I'm tired of whatever...
"Ah ain't no ways tahrd..." :)
Almost seems like you didn’t read the article.
The first sentence was enough for me.
I'm out the door off to an invigorating day of honest work, and I'm not gonna let it be spoiled by anyone offering me a suggestion of fatigue about anything before it even gets started.
And when I get home I'm gonna give thanks for it and then give thanks for a nice meal too and then a solid night's rest.
Tomorrow this same guy will be offering the same suggestion to someone else in a different way:
"You sure look tired. Does it hurt in your back yet?"
Yeah, I doubt it, but then I actually have read the post, and have an attention span.
suggestion of fatigue about anything before it even gets started.
The case has been going on for awhile. Besides the Pastor is speaking to sinners, apparently some have risen above that, good for you.
There should never have been anything in “insurance” regarding sex at all for all these years, unless it actually is a necessity for health/medical reasons.
Abortion, birth control, men’s sexual enhancement (why is it never for women, who have more trouble anyway?) - NONE of these is a medical issue.
All of them are for convenience and have nothing to do with maintaining the life of the subject.
Yet, guess what I could get tax-free? Both off the shelf, and prescription? You guessed it - I can get sex stuff without penalty. No co-pay on BC pills. Simple condoms with no tax! Meanwhile, my chronic necessities - colon and reflux troubles, embolism - I have to pay for these including tax! Unbelievable! (Yes, I have stated my displeasure and shock anytime that happened.)
They truly are moving us toward Idiocracy (TM). Intentionally.
That’s so nice.
I try to be.
You remind me of someone.
I should. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
"Besides the Pastor is speaking to sinners, apparently some have risen above that, good for you."
No, I've met Jesus and you don't remind me of him. Not in the least.
You are Steve, and nothing more.
Of course I don't, I'm a sinner, but a redeemed one. You OTOH remind me of a lib.
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