One Sure Way to Defeat
the Mandate:
And Why it Will Never
Happen
August 1 is only a few weeks
away. That means that the Obama
Administration’s insidious anti-Christian HHS mandate will be put into full
effect, causing many people to choose between their faith and their livelihood,
unless it can be defeated before then.
How is it, with the United States
sitting at 20% Catholic, that a policy directly attacking the Faith, officially
opposed by the bishops, can advance so far?
It seems to me that we most certainly have the power to win this battle;
we just don’t have the will.
Economic boycotts have been extremely
effective throughout history, American history and otherwise. With millions of other Christians appalled by
the mandate, on top of the 20% of the country that is Catholic, we can bring
this government to its knees. If we all,
in a united effort, refused to work, or to purchase anything besides the basic
essentials until the mandate was terminated, Mr. Obama would face a clear
choice: give in on the mandate, or face a Depression like this country has
never seen.
We have the power to win this going
away. And yet it will never happen, not
that way. Why not? Our bishops are very clear about this issue,
and a massive economic boycott is a just, even noble, way to defend our First
Freedom.
But, of course, we do not have the
will. With only 25% of Catholics
seriously practicing their Faith, it is completely unreasonable to think that
any more than half that number would take the idea of a sustained boycott (or
any sustained sacrificial effort) seriously.
The 3% of the U.S. population that might be willing to undertake the
effort could easily be fired and replaced by the millions who are currently unemployed.
It is clear that the crisis we are
facing is not first and foremost a crisis of tyranny; it is a crisis of faith. There is hope, of course, to defeat the
mandate. That hope will most likely come
through the courts. That is never a safe
bet, but the injustice of the Administration’s policy is quite obvious, so
there is reason for hope. (The 10th
Circuit’s recent
decision is very encouraging.)
And
of course the millions of faithful, Catholic or otherwise, that are willing to
take a stand can continue to stand up and speak out, and especially, to
pray. Perhaps Mr. Obama will have a
change of heart. Perhaps the courts will
get it right. All things are possible
with God. And whatever happens, one
thing we can be confident of, is that He will be with His people.
