Our country is at a very, very serious crossroads,” warns Michael Warsaw President & CEO of Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. In the newly released documentary, Domestic Threats to Religious Liberty, Warsaw refers to the 2012 HHS Mandate’s coercion of all employers to provide gravely immoral services as, “the most important issue in our lifetime.”
Catholics Witnesses in the Public Square (CWPS) has released the 10-minute video in union with the U.S. bishop’s Fortnight for Freedom– two-weeks of prayer and action to defend our religious liberty.
“The government wants to limit our expression of Christianity by telling us we can’t take our faith into the public square,” says Adriana Gonzalez, co-founder and vice president of Catholic Witnesses. She states that never before in the history of our country has the government attempted to trample our Constitutional rights in this way, so all Americans, regardless of their faith, should be concerned. The video features four Christian leaders that explain what is at risk.
“Freedom of religion is extremely important to America because if we are going to remain moral, we must be free to speak our faith in the public square,” says Fr. Michael Orsi, Chaplain & Research Fellow in Law and Religion at Ave Maria Law School. He says that religion is not just for Sundays but something that permeates every aspect of our lives.
“We cannot be fully Church and be fully followers and believers in Christ if the way we love the Lord is subject to government regulation,” explains Gloria Purvis, TV host, speaker and evangelist.
The First Amendment to the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibit the free exercise thereof.” According to Eugene Milhizer, President and Dean of Ave Maria School of Law, “This does not mean government has to be neutral towards religion because that is wholly at odds with the founders’ understanding of religious liberty. “We know that through all sorts of historical sources including our currency, a chaplain in Congress, and just the inauguration addresses of some of our most prominent presidents.”
The video is the second in a series for “Catholic Witnesses in the Public Square” a project of “Catholic Witness.” The project supports the formation of Catholics groups to pray, learn, fellowship with one another and discern how God is calling us to act. To learn more, go to: http://www.catholicwitnesses.org/cwps/
