Evangelicals and faithful Catholics came through for Romney

Years and centuries from now, when our children and their descendants look back on the election of 2012, they will see that in the history written about that election, faithful Christians did what was right.

Alex Murashko reports for the Christian Post, November 8, 2012, that both evangelicals and faithful Catholics overcame whatever misgivings we had about Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith to turn out in droves to vote for him.

Among Catholics, it was the faithful and white Catholics who came through for Romney. Faithful or practicing Catholics (whom the media call “traditional Catholics,” a misnomer) are those who actually obey the Church’s rule of attending Sunday (or Saturday vigil) Mass every week. Not to do that is a mortal sin, which means that those Catholics who don’t are apostates.

Catholic voters who regularly attend Mass broke 67% for Romney to 32% for Obama. This represented a swing of 35% in the direction of the GOP since 2008. Romney also won white Catholics by a margin of 59% to 40%, a margin of 19 points among a group that historically has voted for the winner. Nevertheless, Obama still narrowly won the overall Catholic vote driven largely by over performing among Hispanic Catholics, who put their self-interest about immigration over and above Obama’s pro-abortion and pro-infanticide stance.

In voting for Obama, those white and Hispanic Catholics went against the explicit stricture of the Church on abortion being an intrinsic evil, the importance of which supercedes other considerations such as immigration and “social justice” concerns for the poor.

As for evangelical Christians, a national post-election survey by the Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) found that, unlike the Ron Paul cultists, evangelicals turned out to vote in record numbers, comparable to their turnout for George W. Bush in 2004. Ralph Reed, chairman of FFC, noted, “That is an astonishing outcome that few would have predicted even a few months ago.”

78% of evangelical Christian votes went to Romney; 21% to Obama. Reed intimated that those evangelicals who voted for Obama tend to be youths and minorities. In fact, as in 2008, not factoring religion or faith, Obama easily won the youth vote nationally, 67% to 30%.

The evangelical vote actually increased in 2012 to a record 27% of the electorate. This was the highest share of the vote in modern political history for evangelicals. Romney’s performance among evangelicals represented a net swing of 10% over John McCain’s performance in 2008.

Prior to the election, Reed had promised to use his coalition to mobilize an army of grassroots activists nationwide in order to get Christian voters to the polls in numbers never seen before. And Reed delivered on his promise. The coalition said it has distributed 30 million voter guides passed out in 117,000 churches, 24 million pieces of mail, and has made 23 million get-out-the-vote calls.

“Virtually the entire increase in Mitt Romney’s vote compared to John McCain’s in 2008 came because of higher turnout and higher support from evangelical voters,” said Glen Bolger, the pollster who conducted the survey.

Putting the issue of voters’ faith aside, Romney did better than McCain in 2008 in almost every demographic category. But Obama was helped by a strong turnout from his own party and Latinos [and Democrat voter fraud, Ron Paul cultists' abstention, and the Obama administration's suppression of the military vote. See my post, "Why we lost the 2012 election."]

Faith and Family Coalition’s post-election survey was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and included interviewing 1,600 actual 2012 voters. The margin of error is +/- 2.45%.

And so, Obama is reelected to a second term not for lack of effort from faithful Christians. We did the right thing. We overcame our theological differences with Mormonism because we correctly recognize that Obama and the Democrats represent true evil. We turned out in even larger numbers than in 2008 and voted overwhelmingly for religious liberty, the sanctity of life and marriage, and limited government.

We lost the political battle. But we can stand before God in good conscience as His faithful servants. We did “put on the armor of God” and stood “firm against the tactics of the devil … on the evil day.” “Having done everything,” we now hold our ground and “stand fast,” with our “loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate,” our “feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace” and “in all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6)

We will need that shield because the faithful Christian vote is not lost on Obama and the Demonrats. So be prepared for their reprisals, mindful that Obama had already pronounced that his supporters would “vote for revenge,” while his malevolent senior adviser consigliere, the Iran-born Marxist Valerie Jarrett, has vowed:

“After we win this election, it’s our turn. Payback time. Everyone not with us is against us and they better be ready because we don’t forget. The ones who helped us will be rewarded, the ones who opposed us will get what they deserve. There is going to be hell to pay. Congress won’t be a problem for us this time. No election to worry about after this is over and we have two judges ready to go.”

We have been warned by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago about the coming persecution. Alarmed about Obama’s war against the Catholic Church and against religious liberty, Cardinal George said “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.”

~Eowyn

Congress must protect Americans’ freedom of religion from Obama’s assault

Did you know that last Friday, June 8, 2012, TENS OF THOUSANDS of Americans rallied in more than 160 cities across the United States?

No?

Ask the alphabet TV networks why. [Read more about the liberal media's non-coverage of the massive rallies, here.]

Last Friday, TENS OF THOUSANDS of people demonstrated for our religious freedom and against ObamaCare’s abortifaient/birth control mandate. The HHS (Health & Human Services) mandate forces Catholic hospitals and schools to include contraception and abortifacients in their health coverage. Doing so violates the Catholic Church’s religious beliefs. In effect, the mandate directly cuts into the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause’s promise of freedom of religion, as well as the standard interpretation of the clause as being “the separation of Church and State.” [See “Obama declares war on the Church. Church fights back with historic lawsuit”]

It is not just Catholics who should be concerned about Obama’s HHS mandate. All Christians, all faiths, and all non-religious Americans who value the U.S. Constitution should be concerned. Remember this?:

“First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.” -Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

It is in that spirit that I recommend this letter written by FOTM’s co-founder Joan, which was sent to her state’s state and national legislators and representatives, as well as the state’s major newspapers.

~Eowyn

Pro-religious freedom rally in Washington, DC, June 8, 2012.

We are members of a “Why Catholic” study group at our local parish. Some of us are United States Veterans and we are all productive American citizens. Now, we are studying the Early Church together, learning about the apostles, the Church Fathers and brave martyrs who gave their very lives for God, exercising their inalienable rights of religious freedom. Because we love God and our country, we must communicate to you our deepest concerns, asking for your effective help and advocacy. We must not and cannot be silent.

As you are aware, on August 1, 2011, the Obama administration, by and through the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, issued regulatory provisions pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”). In part, this mandate requires American citizens to pay for health insurance plans that provide full coverage for surgical sterilization and contraception, which includes abortifacients, such as the “morning-after” pill. These drugs kill innocent and precious unborn children in their mothers’ womb.

Pursuant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops‘ (USCCB) “Urgent Memorandum of February 15, 2012,” they stated that:

“On January 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reaffirmed a rule that virtually all private health care plans must cover sterilization, abortifacients and contraception. The rule exempted “religious employers,” but excluded those that served or employed people who were not members of their religious community. This was so narrow that it failed to cover the vast majority of faith-based organizations, including Catholic hospitals, universities, and service organizations that help millions every year.”

Essentially, the HHS mandate would force Catholic American citizens to act against their Faith, to act against our religious beliefs, notwithstanding that the mandate also requires private businesses, American citizens of all faiths, to provide their employees with this insurance coverage since there are no exemptions for insurers that would object to these provisions, which include secular for-profit religious employers, or for-profit private enterprises or individuals. These horrific provisions are not dissimilar to the laws of the former Nazi Germany.

Religious liberty is now jeopardized, threatened and adversely affected, even though it is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States as an inalienable right: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” Religious liberty cannot exist under duress and coercion with regard to our beliefs and our conscience. As Catholic Americans, we cannot and will not act against our faith, and we will not comply with the mandate – a mandate that violates our religious freedom under the Constitution of the United States. It is unconscionable that such a mandate would ever be issued in the Land of the Free and of the Brave. But remarkably, it has been issued, and not surprisingly, under the Obama administration.

In response to the USCCB’s declaration of non-compliance, on February 10, 2012, the Obama Administration issued a “final rule”, “without change,” granting the delay of enforcement of the mandate for a one-year period directed to religious non-profit organizations that still were not exempted, such as our schools, colleges, hospitals and charitable organizations. The Obama Administration then “promised” to draft other regulations to accommodate them by the end of the designated year period. But as the USCCB Memorandum states:

“But even under this future accommodation, our charities, hospitals and colleges will still be treated as second class citizens of our religious community, and still be forced to pay for coverage which violates their religious convictions. This is unacceptable.”

The issue in this matter is not about whether or not contraception or abortion can be prohibited or allowed by our government. Nor does this have anything to do with the “reproductive rights” of women. The REAL ISSUE IS whether or not American citizens practicing their religious beliefs can be coerced by the government to act against their religious beliefs. Accordingly, the REAL ISSUE is about religious freedom, religious liberty and freedom of conscience. The ultimate conclusion can only be that WE ARE UNDER ATTACK by the Obama administration!

Addressing Catholic Americans, Pope Benedict XVI wrote:

“Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience. Here once more we see the need for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society.”

This freedom of religion is not being fought just for Catholics. The USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, chaired by Archbishop-designate William E. Lori of Baltimore, issued a statement on religious liberty, “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” which begins:

“We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other. Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory and should instead be complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land. That is the vision of our founding and our Constitution, which guarantees citizens of all religious faiths the right to contribute to our common life together.”

More particularly, this teaching is actualized by all of the thousands of Catholic organizations, such as hospitals, schools, universities, charities, all providing remarkable contributions to the common good of the people of America. As a result of the HHS mandate, all of these wonderful contributory Catholic entities are jeopardized, perhaps out of existence. According to the mandate, we can only hire Catholic employees and can only serve Catholics. But we are called to serve all of humankind. Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, commanded us to love God with our whole heart, soul, and mind, and with all of our being, and He also commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We cannot allow Obama and his administration to define for us who are our neighbors and how we are to live our Catholic Faith! To echo the Ad Hoc Committee’s “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty”: “Religious liberty is not only about our ability to go to Mass on Sunday or pray the Rosary at home. It is about whether we can make our contribution to the common good of all Americans.” Our Catholic Faith is lived in the totality of our lives, as we live our Faith in our worship, in our vocations, in our works for the good of all humankind.

Accordingly, we are stand with our bishops in their calling to us, to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience, where we:

a. Request of the Obama administration that they immediately rescind this HHS mandate; and

b. Request of Congress to enact legislation to protect religious liberty, to protect the constitutional rights of religious institutions and individuals from government force and undue dictatorial coercion, regarding health care and any and all matters that might affect religious liberty.

Indeed and in fact, we are aware that the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011, H.R. 1179, S. 1467, introduced on March 17, 2011, sponsored by Representative Jeff Fortenberry with 223 co-sponsors, which is a response to Obamacare, has been languishing in Committee, having been referred to the House subcommittee on March 28, 2011. This Act provides in pertinent part that those entities who participate in health insurance coverage, “retain the right to provide, purchase, or enroll in health coverage that is consistent with their religious beliefs and moral convictions.” That is why we are asking for your intervention to help us with appropriate legislation, even emergency legislation, to protect our religious liberty guaranteed to us under our Constitution. Please free the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act from lingering unproductively in Committee enabling that it be brought for Congressional vote at once.

Furthermore, pursuant to the document, “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” the USCCB states as follows:

“We suggest that the fourteen days from June 21 – the vigil of the feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More (the patron saint of religious liberty), to July 4, Independence Day, be dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom” a great hymn of prayer for our country.”

During this fortnight for freedom, we are called to focus all the energies we can muster, wherein special events will be held setting out the absolute importance of religious liberty. This period has been declared as it memorializes courageous martyrs who remained faithful to their faith, to their consciences, facing persecution by political powers that took their lives: St. John Fisher, St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, Sts. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. It would be wonderful if appropriate legislation could be introduced during this period of time to insure our religious liberty.

Arizona State Representative Debbie Lasko and State Senator Nancy Barto re-introduced HB2625 into the Arizona legislature this year to help protect the religious freedom of many organizations in Arizona. This legislation broadens the religious exemption to include “any organization whose articles of incorporation state a religious motivation and whose religious beliefs play a significant role in its operations.” Governor Jan Brewer signed this bill into law in May of 2012. She stated in pertinent part, “In its final form, this bill is about nothing more than preserving the religious freedom to which we are all constitutionally entitled.” She further stated, “It’s also a very good time to unite with people of other faiths on this bedrock issue. If we don’t do it now, we’re going to see much more serious erosion.” Our names will be counted as holding firm and true to our Catholic Faith, and true to religious liberty for all of the citizens of this country.

Finally, the First Amendment prohibits the “establishment” of any faith or religion or belief system which cannot be coerced or forced upon the American people. Obama and his administration violate this provision because they are trying to force upon us the belief system for this country of “radical secularism,” overshadowing any other religious beliefs held and coercing compliance of radical secularism by unjust federal laws. This is reprehensible and it is sickening.

Consequently, we thank you in advance for your valuable considerations and timely actual help in this important matter. We are praying for you and your effective contributions to ensure religious liberty!

~Joan

Obama declares war on the Church. Church fights back with historic lawsuit

Two weeks ago, an earthshaking event took place but you didn’t hear about it on network TV or read about it in the soon-to-go-extinct newspapers.

Two weeks ago, something happened that has never happened in U.S. history. 43 branches of the Catholic Church sued the federal government in Superior Court for violating the Constitution’s First Amendment on Church-State relations, specifically Obama’s HHS mandate requiring religious organizations to provide, pay for, and/or facilitate insurance coverage for contraception services that violate the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Named as defendants are Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and their respective departments.

Obama’s federal mandate requires religious organizations — including Catholic schools, universities, and hospitals — to provide in their insurance plans abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization procedures, which are contrary to Catholic teaching. It also authorizes the government to determine which organizations are sufficiently “religious” to warrant an exemption from the requirement. As such, the mandate violates the religious liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and other federal laws.

In an email on May 22, 2012, President of Media Research Center Brent Bozell writes:

“43 Catholic dioceses and organizations are suing the Obama administration in federal court over the attempt to force religious institutions to provide contraceptive and abortifacients with all of their health insurance.

ABC’s World News and NBC’s Nightly News completely failed to report this historic event! CBS Evening News only dedicated a brief 19 seconds to the story and framed it as a birth control debate. By contrast, ABC led their evening broadcast with the sentencing of the Rutgers student who spied on his gay roommate with a web camera. That story received three minutes and 30 seconds of coverage at the top of the newscast.

This is not a mistake or an editorial oversight by the broadcast networks. This is a deliberate and insidious withholding of national news to protect the ‘Chosen One’ who ABC, CBS and NBC have worked so hard to elect and are now abusing their journalistic influence to reelect. Even when a network like CBS mentions the suit ever-so-briefly, they botch the issue by framing it as a contraception lawsuit instead of what they know it to be: a religious freedom issue. It’s bogus, dishonest ‒ a flat out lie.

The fact is that the Catholic Church has unleashed legal Armageddon on the administration, promising ‘we will not comply’ with a health law that strips Catholics of their religious liberty. If this isn’t ‘news’ then there’s no such thing as news. This should be leading newscasts and the subject of special, in-depth reports. Instead, these networks are sending a clear message to all Americans that the networks will go to any lengths ‒ even censoring from the public an event of this historic magnitude ‒ to prevent the release of any information that will hurt Obama’s chances of re-election.”

This is not about the Catholic Church. This is not about Catholics. This is about the Constitution’s promise of religious freedom.

Today, tens of thousands of pro-life Americans in 160 cities across the United States will rally against the Obama Administration’s abortifacient birth control mandate. (Read more about this here.)

To show your support for the lawsuit, go here to sign a petition.

H/t FOTM’s beloved Joan, Miranda and Grouchy Fogie.

~Eowyn