The Biden Regime’s war on the Free Exercise of Religion accelerates

Posted: April 13, 2023 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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Progressives, and other Leftists, have long detested all forms of Christianity.  This is because all ideologies of the political left are religions in themselves.  Unlike the different denominations of Christianity, the ideologies of the left are political religions. This makes them more akin to Islam.  Because progressivism is a political religion, it cannot exist peacefully with other religions.

Joe Biden, and those pulling his marionette strings, are all hardcore leftists.  Because of this they seek to banish all forms of Christianity from the public square.  Soon after being installed in the White House, the Biden regime began waging a war against the religions they detest.  The latest major battle in this war began at the beginning of Holy Week when, under the direction of the Biden Regime, Walter Reed National Military Medical center jettisoned Catholic Priests serving as chaplains.

In a move that has stunned Catholics and religious freedom advocates, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. issued a “cease and desist order” just before Holy Week to a community of Franciscan Catholic priests from Holy Name College that had been serving servicemembers and their families at the center for almost two decades.

On April 7, the Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) announced that Walter Reed issued the order on March 31, just as the most sacred week of the year for Christians was beginning. AMS noted that the contract for providing Catholic Pastoral Care was instead awarded to a secular defense contracting firm that does not have the capacity to offer Catholic pastoral services such as Mass and confession, which can only be administered by an ordained priest. AMS further pointed out that without the services of the Franciscan priests, there would be only one other Catholic priest assigned to Walter Reed, an Army chaplain who is currently “in the process of separating from the Army.”

This unprecedented move sparked outrage amongst the Catholic hierarchy.

Archbishop for the Military Services Timothy P. Broglio was perplexed by Walter Reed’s decision and expressed concern that it would infringe on the ability of Catholic servicemembers and their families to freely exercise their faith while at the center.

“It is incomprehensible that essential pastoral care is taken away from the sick and the aged when it was so readily available,” he said. “This is a classic case where the adage ‘if it is not broken, do not fix it’ applies. I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service. I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected.”

The Archbishop is absolutely correct.  The Free Exercise of Religion clause of  the First Amendment guarantees all Americans the right to worship as they please.  Progressives claim that Establishment clause of the First Amendment created a separation of Church and state.  This is absolute fiction.  That clause only prevents the United States from declaring an official state religion.

AMS said that despite numerous appeals to Walter Reed by their general counsel Elizabeth A. Tomlin to reinstate the priests at least through Holy Week, they received no response from the medical center.

“Especially during Holy Week, the lack of adequate Catholic pastoral care causes untold and irreparable harm to Catholics who are hospitalized and therefore a captive population whose religious rights the government has a constitutional duty to provide for and protect,” 

This move is only the latest attack on the free exercise of religion.

Additionally, in September of last year, the administration issued a rule mandating that Veterans Affairs medical facilities carry out abortions as well as provide abortion counseling. When a Christian nurse practitioner requested a religious accommodation on two occasions from having to participate in abortions, she was denied. She is now filing suit against the hospital for placing a substantial burden on her sincerely held religious beliefs.

And here is one more from Louder With Crowder

The Weaponization of Government Committee obtained information from the FBI revealing the agency had sent undercover agents into Catholic churches to investigate them for domestic extremism. Yes, into churches. Jim Jordan wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, “Based on the limited information produced by the FBI to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis and that the FBI proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith.”

This rather despicable episode also violates the Fourth Amendment. We do not live in a police state.  Actually that is not accurate anymore.  Progressives have now disgracefully turned the US into a police state.

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