Thursday, February 16, 2012

"We Will Not Comply" - Catholic Civil Disobedience

Bishop Lori's testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about the HHS mandate.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Committee, for the
opportunity to testify today.

For my testimony today, I would like to tell a story.  Let’s call it, “The
Parable of the Kosher Deli.”

Once upon a time, a new law is proposed, so that any business that serves food
must serve pork.  There is a narrow exception for kosher catering halls attached to
synagogues, since they serve mostly members of that synagogue, but kosher
delicatessens are still subject to the mandate.

The Orthodox Jewish community—whose members run kosher delis and
many other restaurants and grocers besides—expresses its outrage at the new
government mandate.  And they are joined by others who have no problem eating
pork—not just the many Jews who eat pork, but people of all faiths—because these
others recognize the threat to the principle of religious liberty.  They recognize as
well the practical impact of the damage to that principle.  They know that, if the
mandate stands, they might be the next ones forced—under threat of severe
government sanction—to violate their most deeply held beliefs, especially their
unpopular beliefs. Read more ...


 

1 comment:

  1. Thanks Holly. The video which you include reminds me: Archbishop Dolan of New York also has a blog!

    ReplyDelete