THE CHURCH OF HOBBY LOBBY

Is the Hobby Lobby decision by the Supreme Court just a minor tweek to the Affordable Care Act, as Justice Alito alleges?  Is it a moral victory for the religious right and the pro-life activists?  Is it a strike for religious freedom, as conservatives across the nation assert?

The left condemns the decision as a blow to the ACA and to women’s reproductive rights.  Many see a slippery slope for enacting more exceptions to our healthcare system, which would undermine Obamacare and endanger American lives.  What if, using the same criteria that the Supremes used to justify the decision, a corporation chooses to deny insurance payments for other medical needs because it is against the religious convictions of that corporation — such as vaccinations or psychiatric care?  Yes, a slippery slope is a possibility.

But, though all these concerns are legitimate and alarming, we have a different thought.  While the right is claiming a victory for “religious freedom” it is clear on the face of it that the American people have no more religious freedoms today than before the decision.  This decision by the High Court does not expand religious freedom to any American — just to elite corporations.

The 5 to 4 conclusion by the Supreme Court clears a path for corporations to claim religious exemptions from laws that everyone else has to follow.  Once again, the Supreme Court has upheld the rights of corporations over the rights of individuals — corporate bosses now may tell their employees what contraceptives will be available to them.   An article in The New Republic offers a good read for understanding the march of the Robert’s Court in trampling the rights of individuals to favor the rights of corporations.

The conservative defense of the Hobby Lobby case as a blow for religious freedom is a smoke screen to cover for the explosion of power by corporations, and also represents a wedge in the door for a growing movement of a religiously run nation.  And, not just any religion — but a fundamentalist Christian religion.  Does anyone really believe that “a deeply held religious belief” of a corporation owned by a Muslim or Hindu family would have been upheld?  By the way, Hobby Lobby has always covered all contraceptives in their insurance plans prior to Obamacare … evidently their religious convictions didn’t kick in until this president implemented healthcare reform.

And according to The Atlantic, following this disastrous court decision, there are now 14 organizations that have sent a letter to the President, “demanding exemptions from a pending executive order that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered persons” because not discriminating against the LGBT community is against their religion!  With this decision opening the door to evading laws by claiming “a deeply held religious belief,” we have to ask:  Is there a flood of confusion and mass exemptions of many laws coming through that door?

The slippery slope we fear is that this Supreme Court decision introduces a potential slide into an entanglement of church and state.  We fear a descent for our nation into a country that permits a corporation, or the state, to impose ITS religious principles on the people.

When a corporation or the state is empowered to impose religious beliefs on employees, that is not religious freedom — it is a blow against freedom!

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