A follow up on my last post

In response to that decision, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, which is comprised of the 65 canonical Orthodox bishops in the United States, Canada and Mexico, issued a statement which said in part:

In this ruling by HHS, religious hospitals, educational institutions, and other organizations will be required to pay for the full cost of contraceptives (including some abortion-inducing drugs) and sterilizations for their employees, regardless of the religious convictions of the employers.

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. This freedom is transgressed when a religious institution is required to pay for “contraceptive services” including abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization services that directly violate their religious convictions. Providing such services should not be regarded as mandated medical care. We, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops, call upon HHS Secretary Sebelius and the Obama Administration to rescind this unjust ruling and to respect the religious freedom guaranteed all Americans by the First Amendment.

It gladdens my heart to see this fast response by our bishops, and it should gladden your heart. We live in a country in which freedom of religion means more than just the private right to go to a church building and worship on Sunday. It also means the right to have religious institutions that give a public face to our personal beliefs. This freedom sometimes leads to some rather messy situations, but it is an important freedom. Because it is such an important freedom, you need to understand what this freedom means and what it does not mean.

It means that we are free to worship God without fear our worship being forbidden. It also means that we may not forbid other religious people from expressing themselves in worship. One of the court rulings in our country forbad Dade County, Florida, from outlawing animal sacrifices, even if it were within the Miami city limits. It means that even zoning ordinances may not be used to forbid group Bible Studies in private houses, nor forbid a worship site from being established within a particular neighborhood. But, it also means that “despised” groups also have the right to establish their worship places. So, the fight to establish a mosque within the general area of the no-longer-existing World Trade Center in New York City is a fight that was bound to be decided in favor of the mosque. The Bill of Rights was designed to protect despised groups, as this country was settled by despised groups.

But this is a messy freedom. It is a freedom that sometimes has various subtleties. For instance, I am convinced that our bishops are fully correct in fighting for the right of religious institutions to have boundaries that are consonant with their religious beliefs. It is important that the government recognize that religion is not merely a Sunday worship experience but is also the care for the sick that is expressed in Catholic and Protestant hospitals. It is the concern for children that is expressed in parish schools. It is the concern for the poor that is expressed in thrift stores run by various churches.

At the same time, religion cannot be used as a reason for individuals or corporations to refuse employment or to refuse service to someone. I live in Birmingham, Alabama. The history of this city during the civil rights era is an argument for why religions cannot always trump other concerns. There were those, back in the civil rights era here in Birmingham, who would argue that freedom of religion meant that an ardent Baptist need not hire African-Americans to work in his factory. The various civil rights acts codify the idea that an individual or a corporations may not use his/her religion as the sole reason to deny employment or service to a protected individual. Were it not for the civil rights movement and the various decrees that came from those years, it is likely that employment in Birmingham, Alabama, would still be a matter of whites in charge, blacks as low-level low-paid workers. Yes it is quite messy!

So, let’s get behind our bishops and write our representatives. I am convinced that HHS made the wrong decision. But, at the same time, let’s use this as an opportunity to realize that our cherished freedoms are not always as clear cut as we tend to believe. I am convinced that God had a strong hand in the founding of this country. But, I am also Latin American. This means that I agree with an old Latin American concept that says that “el diablo metio su cola,” that is that the devil stuck his tail in. Let us make sure to analyze our history and to be aware of the subtleties that are often present.