A MATTER OF FREEDOM?

FAYETTEVILLE Eighty years ago, Mexican peasants joined forces in the Cristeros Rebellion, taking up arms against a government that had outlawed their faith.

Their struggle has applications for U.S. Catholics today, representatives of the Arkansas Knights of Columbus contend.

Members hosted a private screening of “For Greater Glory,” a movie about the Cristeros Rebellion, at the Rogers Towne Cinema on June 5.

“The movie illustrates what happens when you lose religious freedom,” said Charles Ketter, state deputy of the Roman Catholic fraternal organization. The screening served as the Northwest Arkansas kickoff for the Fortnight for Freedom declared by U.S.

Catholic bishops for June 21 to July 4. The goal of the two-week initiative is to educate Catholics nationwide about what bishops are calling a threat to their religious liberties.

Activities include daily prayer, special services and a noontime ringing of church bells on July 4.

At stake is the freedom to practice religion according to one’s conscience, said Ed Lemerise, chairman for the Fortnight for Freedom in Northwest Arkansas.

Bishops are alarmed by what they view as a growing intrusion of state and federal governments in church aff airs.

The most contentious issue is the Obama administration mandate that requires employers to offer free insurance coverage for contraception. The mandate is part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama in 2010.

Churches and other houses of worship are exempt, but faithbased universities, hospitals and charitable organizations that serve and employ non-Catholics are not.

U.S. bishops are asking Catholics to protest the mandate, citing ethical and moral grounds.

Contraceptive coverage includes provisions for sterilization and the morning after pill, regarded by Catholics as a form of abortion.

“It forces Catholics to participate in what is taught by the Catholic faith as intrinsically, morally evil,” Lemerise said. “They wind up paying for something that confl icts with their religious and civil doctrines.”

Last month, 43 Catholic groups filed lawsuits in 12 jurisdictions against the federal Department of Health and Human Services concerning the mandate.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering another aspect of the health care bill - whether it is constitutional to require Americans to purchase individual health insurance policies. A decision is expected by the end of the month.

‘CROSSING THE LINE’

The focus has been on the contraception coverage mandate, but bishops warn of a trend toward government intrusion in many areas of life.

“Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” a document released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in April, cites other examples. It includes state laws that prohibit harboring illegal immigrants and state laws that require publicly funded adoption and foster care agencies to place children in same-sex or unmarried couple homes.

The document calls U.S.

Catholics to action, advocating civil disobedience if need be.

“An unjust law cannot be obeyed,” the bishops wrote. “If we face today the prospect of unjust laws, then Catholics in America, in solidarity with our fellow citizens, must have the courage not to obey them.”

Anita DeSalvo, a Catholic nun who works with mission and values at Mercy Health of Northwest Arkansas, reiterated the importance of looking past specifi c issues.

“What we really need to be concerned about right now is the underlying, bigger issue of religious freedom,” she said. “How do we pay attention and speak up and speak out for our rights, not just as Catholics but as Christians, to maintain the privilege of religious freedom?”

It’s a question that resonateswith people in the pews. Brenda Peralo, a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Fayetteville, said the contraception coverage mandate is “crossing the line.”

“What’s next? If they tell the Catholics they have to pay for birth control, what will happen next? Are they going to mandate that Catholic hospitals perform abortions? If same-sex marriage becomes legal,” will priests have to oftciate at weddings? she asked.

“What are we as Americans going to allow our government to tell us?” UNDER ATTACK?

The idea that religious liberty is under attack is nothing new, said Bob Tuttle, a professor of law and religion at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It’s been building among evangelical Christians for 30 years, he said. The notion of the “war on Christmas” that emerged in the 1990s is one highly visible example. A more recent focus is the equal access movement, which seeks to overturn state laws that prohibit churches from using schools and government buildings for worship.

Catholic bishops have become increasingly involved in the past decade, Tuttle said. They have challenged state laws requiring contraception coverage, and lost.

They’ve also fought state laws concerning same-sex marriage and adoption and foster care. As with the contraception debate, bishops maintain such laws override their right to practice their religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Lemerise said the issue is the government forcing churches to behave in a way not consistent with their faith.

“When people hear religious liberty, they think of freedom to worship. Religious freedom is about the power to do and behave in society the way your conscience dictates,” he said.

Catholic bishops believe the contraception mandate is an unjust law, Lemerise said. That puts it in a different category than a matter of individual conscience.

It’s useful to step back andask which liberties have been compromised, Tuttle said. Has the government stopped anyone from worshipping, preaching or practicing their faith? “There is remarkably little of that that goes on,” he said. “It’s implausible to say that religion is under assault.”

He dismisses comparison with the government shut down of religion in post-civil war Mexico as “just hyperbole.”

“The government is not shutting down churches. Churches are free to do a wide variety of things, but they’re not immune to the law.”

RELIGIOUS CONDUCT THE KEY

The core issue is about differing codes of behavior in a pluralistic society, Tuttle said.

“The real fight is over religious conduct. It’s really about whether religious conduct deserves special exemption.”

Bishops are working to broaden the “conscience clauses” granted by the Obama administration for religious groups. Leaders of some other faith groups have announced their support. Those attending a religious freedom summit in Washington, D.C., last month included Baptists, Mormons, Orthodox Jews and Orthodox Christians.

“It’s a difficult question,” Tuttle said. “For most religious adherents, faith is more than what I believe in my head or my heart or where I worship. It’s about what I do.It’s also true that what you do has an impact on the rest of the world. The government has a legitimate concern with the welfare of the community and individuals.”

Laws that mandate safety practices in the workplace or prohibit adult-minor sexual contact are examples, he said. He said the government is bound to balance the needs of all members of society.

To ask for an exemption, the burden on religion needs to be compelling, Tuttle said.

“The idea of religious liberty is very attractive. When it gets more nuanced - do we deserve special treatment by the government? - it gets to be a more dift cult question.

“This is an area over which compromise is not a bad idea. That’s the essence of living in a democratic society.”

A CALL FOR DIALOGUE

John Halstead, vice president of mission and ethics at Mercy of Northwest Arkansas, also called for a reasoned debate. Most Catholics are struggling to understand the issues and come to a balanced point of view, he said.

The Catholic Health Association, which speaks for the 600 Catholic hospitals and clinics across the U.S., supports many aspects of the Aff ordable Care Act, Halstead said.

“Part of our mission as Catholic health care is to advocate for global health care reform. We’re excited about the opportunities” that come with expanded health care coverage, he said. The contraceptionmandate is one piece health care providers object to.

Carol Keehan, the nun who heads the Catholic Health Association, is working closely with the Obama administration to find a solution, Halstead said.

“We’re trying to fi gure out a way through this - and stay true to our denominational values,” Halstead said.

In a letter sent to the Department of Health and Human Services last week, Keehan asked the administration to broaden its definition of “religious employer” to cover Catholic hospitals, health care organizations and other ministries. She also suggested that the government pay for contraceptive coverage directly, without involving employers or health insurance companies.

Lemerise stated the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ position more strongly. “No accommodation,” he said.

A MATTER OF CHOICE

The Rev. Lowell Grisham, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, said all churches “are tender at the edges of this controversy.”

“We don’t want the government violating our conscience. (But) to what degree can a religion impose its beliefs on the public? That’s the question here.”

If a Muslim organization bought a Catholic hospital, could it require its female employees to wear head scarves? he asked. How would non-Muslim employees feel about that?

“When a church ventures beyond its natural religious borders and offers other services to the public, like a hospital or a university, then that church is in a different relationship with the public. It has less of a right to prescribe the conscience of the other.

“It’s one thing to (advocate against contraceptives) within your religious institution,” he said. “It’s another thing if you try to impose those (religious) views upon what is essentially a public service. Hospitals and colleges are the battleground for that.”

DeSalvo, the nun at Mercy, disagreed that the bishops’ stand translates into imposing religion on employees.

Mercy was established as a Catholic health care systemin 1871. That’s no secret to prospective employees, DeSalvo said. In job interviews and orientation, candidates are told what to expect. Meetings open with prayer, for example.

“This is who we are,” DeSalvo said. “If you want to join our organization, (you need to know) that we have an ethical and religious focus. It’s your choice to join, or to go to another town.

“You don’t have to be Catholic, but you have to uphold Catholic bishops’ doctrines, have to uphold our mission and our values. No one’s imposing that on them unless they choose to work here.

“I’m not sure it’s against their religious freedom because they have a choice.”