Give Up Your Religion or Your Business! | Eastern North Carolina Now

    If you thought that order was given in a foreign country, you are wrong. It happened right here in the United States by the Justice Department and Eric Holder, who has in effect declared war against the citizens of this country who believe in the rule of law and the Constitution. He is the most radical attorney general in the history of the USA, but his attack on the First Amendment - the part of the Bill of Rights that guarantees the free exercise of religion - is so outrageous that he must be removed from office. The Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and its mandate that all individuals must be covered by a health insurance program. Under Obamacare businesses that have more than 50 employees must provide health insurance to their employees or face a penalty.

    Starting on August 1, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius added a regulation to Obamacare that requires that all health insurance plans must include free terilization-contraception-abortion benefits. I am sure you remember that Kathleen Sebelius was the Governor of Kansas at the time that Dr. George Tiller was performing partial-birth abortions. He was known as "Tiller the baby killer." The Newland family founded Hercules Industries (heating & air-conditioning) in 1962, and it is still a family owned business. They now have 265 employees. The Newlands run a self-insurance plan that provides their employees with generous health care coverage that is consistent with the teachings of the Newland's church that does not cover sterilization, contraception, and abortion. The Newlands believe that their Catholic faith does not allow them to violate Catholic religious and moral teachings in their decisions operating their business. The Catholic Church teaches that abortion drugs, contraception, and sterilization are evils.

    The Justice Department responded by arguing that if the Newlands' Roman Catholic faith prevented them from following the Obama administration's command that they provide their employees with free coverage for sterilization, contraception, and abortion-inducing drugs, then, the Newlands should give really burden the family because they are free to abandon their jobs, their livelihoods, and their property so that others could take over the business and obey the regulations of Obamacare. This government view goes way beyond shocking. The Justice Department alleged that people owning a for- profit secular business do not have a First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion in the way they conduct their business. The government argued that the Newland's forfeited their right to religious liberty as soon as they endeavored to earn their living by running a corporation. The government's attitude would push religion out of every sphere of life except the four walls of a church.

    Last month, the Catholic Bishops of the United States adopted a statement declaring that Sebelius' regulation is an "unjust and illegal mandate" and a "violation of personal civil rights." And while the focus has been on famous Catholic religious institutions, the Bishops have repeatedly pointed out that the regulation also violates the First Amendment protected religious liberty of lay Catholic individuals. That includes businesses that will be forced to pay insurance premiums on insurance that violate the teachings of their faith. The Catholic Bishops declared that Sebelius' regulation created a class of Americans with no conscience protection at all. They face a government mandate to aid in providing services contrary to their religious beliefs. And this is the dilemma the Newlands face. Do they obey the commands of the government or their church?

    If they refuse to sell their business, the Newlands are trapped by the Sebelius regulation. If they stop providing insurance to their employees, then, the employees would have to pay for their own insurance that would include abortion producing drugs, and the Newlands would have to pay a penalty of $2,000 a year for each employee that they didn't insure. This would be a lot cheaper than paying for employee insurance, so many companies would just stop providing insurance.

    If the Newlands simply ignored the Sebelius regulation and continued providing their employees insurance that did not include the Obama demands. The fines and penalties would be staggering. The fine would be $100 per day for each employee. With 265 employees, the Newlands would need to pay the government $26,500 per day. Over the course of a year that would amount to $9,672,500 plus the cost of the original insurance.

    If the chief justice of the Supreme Court had done his job, we wouldn't be talking about this problem, but he didn't, and we have to deal with it. We can either knuckle under and do what the government tells us or we can get off our lazy butts and vote in November. If we get rid of Obama, we also get rid of Holder and Sebelius.