religious liberty

Onward, De-Christianized Soldiers

by George Neumayr

The liberationist philosophy underpinning Obama’s co-ed, gay-friendly military holds, on the one hand, that sexuality is inherently fixed and thus beyond the control of individuals, and on the other that sexuality is subject to re-shaping “through changes in culture.” The…

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Feminists Attack But the Meek Will Conquer

by Sean Fitzpatrick

Belgian Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard was participating in a debate on blasphemy at the Free University of Brussels on April 23rd when he became the target of a blasphemy. Four topless women emerged from the attendees and mobbed the prelate, dousing…

The Slide Toward State Control

by Donald DeMarco

During his Apostolic Visit to the United States, on April 16, 2008, which was also his birthday, Pope Benedict XVI was welcomed to the White House by President George W. Bush. The Pope expressed the hope that his visit would…

Our First Right: Religious Liberty

by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.

Editor’s note: The following remarks by Archbishop Charles Chaput were submitted to the United States Commission on Civil Rights and published March 25, 2013 on Public Discourse. My remarks today are purely my own. But they’re shaped by twenty-five years…

Mr. Cameron’s Unsatisfactory Response to the Mistreatment of Christians

by Dr. William Oddie

I see that Mr Cameron has tweeted that he is “delighted that principle of wearing religious symbols at work has been upheld.” The genial Eric Pickles said that he too is delighted. They were referring, of course, to the judgment…

A Tale of Two Companies: HSBC, Hobby Lobby & Religious Freedom

by Bruce Frohnen

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times. It’s the best of times for HSBC, the giant British bank caught using American personnel and facilities to launder money for Mexican drug cartels and various rogue states….

Liberalism Favors Rights of Individuals Over Churches

by James Hitchcock

The secular media have an unending interest in things Catholic. A recent sampling includes a theology teacher allegedly dismissed for favoring the ordination of women to the priesthood, an announced lesbian (and, as it turned out, a Buddhist) refused Communion…

The Contraceptive Imperative

by Kenneth D. Whitehead

You don’t have to go out of your way today to be confronted with the subject of contraception. In November, 2012, the United Nations Population Fund issued its annual report entitled “By Choice, Not by Chance,” describing contraception as a…

The Catholic Right and the Triumph of French Liberalism

by John M. Vella

In September 2010, Emile Perreau-Saussine, age 37, was rushed to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, UK, with chest pains. The junior physician on staff misdiagnosed his condition and thus failed to prevent his death hours later of a massive heart attack….

For Liberals, Religious Freedom Means Freedom from Religion

by Thomas Fleming

As the presidential campaign came to a close, religious questions sneaked surreptitiously into the national debate. The Democrats had an easy target: Governor Romney’s unusual religious affiliation, though since few Democrats know anything about any religion, particularly Christianity, they found…

Latest Critic of Religious Liberty Reveals His Ignorance of Religion

by Ryan T. Anderson

In Why Tolerate Religion? Brian Leiter, author of the Leiter Reports blog and a law professor at the University of Chicago who has an interest in philosophy, asks why Western democracies have sought to promote and protect religion—and religious liberty—in…

Catholics Must Face Squarely the Dire Threat to Religious Liberty

by Rev. George W. Rutler

Of the 427 weddings in my present parish during the past eleven years (I have lost count of all the others), the band—for want of a better word—at the most recent reception was the loudest I can remember. Conversation was…

Benedict XVI and the Pathologies of Religion

by Samuel Gregg

It passed almost unnoticed, but last month Benedict XVI significantly upped the ante in an argument he’s made one of his pontificate’s centerpieces. To the horror, one suspects, of some professional interfaith dialoguers and wishful-thinkers more generally, the pope indicated…

Godless Secularism Assaults Life and Liberty

by Archbishop William Lori

Following is the homily given October 14 by Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore and the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on the…

The Welfare Snare: Christian Conflict with the Liberal State Is by Design

by James Hitchcock

Upon issuance, the Obama Administration’s requirements concerning health insurance were immediately recognized as a threat to religious liberty. Less obvious is the fact that such infringements, and many that will be far worse, are endemic to the modern welfare state…

Obama’s Attack on Religious Freedom: It’s Worse Than You Think

by David Paul Deavel

It is the election campaign season and all of you need to know that no possible statement from anybody anywhere anytime is free from hyperbole, WORDS IN ALL CAPS, and exclamation marks! This stricture applies very much to No Higher…

What Barack Obama Could Learn from St. Robert Bellarmine

by Gerald J. Russello

Saint Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), Jesuit, Cardinal, and doctor of the Church, was one of the most influential theologians and political writers in Europe in the years following the Reformation. He sparred with Protestants, heretics, and other Catholics (including Pope Sixtus…

What is Cardinal Dolan Up To?

by Charlie Spiering

What is Cardinal Dolan up to? According to reports, Dolan has extended an invitation to President Obama to the annual Al Smith dinner in New York City. The president, reportedly, has accepted. Historically, the dinner is one of the most…

The Impact of Roberts’ Decision and the Catholic Vote

by Rev. Michael P. Orsi

The recent Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) which upheld the individual mandate as constitutional portends grave danger for those religious organizations now suing the federal government for infringing on their religious liberty. These groups…

The Fight for Freedom Begins July Fifth

by Christian Tappe

The Fortnight for Freedom, which ends today, July 4, will hopefully be a great boon to Catholics across the country. Despite the Supreme Court’s recent decision to uphold Obamacare as a tax, hopefully the Fortnight, organized by the United States…

Tell Pharaoh to Keep His Money

by Ismael Hernandez

“We need …to speak frankly with each other when our freedoms are threatened. Now is such a time. As Catholic bishops and American citizens, we address an urgent summons to our fellow Catholics and fellow Americans to be on guard,…

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