People of faith in the Christian and other faith communities are rejoicing over the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Obamacare’s HHS mandate compelling religious employers to subsidize insurance for contraceptives and abortifacients in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The owners of Hobby Lobby, who brought the case, are Evangelical and object to being forced to pay for abortion and contraception through Obamacare. The Court ruled 5-4 that closely held corporations such as Hobby Lobby, are exempt the Obamacare mandates that violate their religious freedoms.
Christian leaders were quick to applaud the decision.
“This is a huge win for people of conscious and a stern rebuke for Obama and his HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, who have repeatedly overstepped their authority and attempted to strip Americans of their precious freedoms,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “We have opposed Obamacare from the beginning because of its funding of abortion and life-ending drugs, and we are thankful that Obama’s tyrannical mandate, which ran rough-shod over our religious freedoms, has been struck down. I was personally ready to suffer jail rather than to allow the government to force me to violate by deeply held religious beliefs.
Chelsen Vicari, Director of IRD’s Evangelical Action program, commented: “Evangelicals everywhere should rejoice at the U.S. Court’s decision to uphold American citizens’ religious freedoms. Let this be a good reminder to all of us, that we must uphold a strong public witness for Christ and never allow our religious freedom to become gagged and bound in our sanctuaries.”
Hugh Whelchel, author and executive director of the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics (IFWE) stated: “Today’s decision is important because the government regulation it struck down punished the Christian entrepreneur. We believe that Christians running businesses shouldn’t have to choose between God and business. The government’s assertion that seeking profit is a completely secular pursuit, and that once we go into business, we lose our religious freedoms in the context of those activities, is fundamentally wrong…The bible teaches that whether outwardly religious or not, work is an expression of our nature as creatures made in the image of God. For the Christian, work in and of itself is an exclusively religious activity. Working in the field of business is just as religious as working as a missionary. The idea that faith is separate from activities at work or elsewhere in the public square should be unacceptable.”
“It is a good day in America,” said Rob Schenck of Faith and Action in the Nation’s Capital, after listening to the majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. “The highest court in our land has carried out its duty as the guardian of our most cherished, God-given, unalienable rights. The Court has rightly affirmed the liberty of two wonderful families to conduct their own businesses in a way that reflects their most deeply held convictions. God bless the majority of this court for doing right by the Greens and the Hahns, and for doing right by our country in affirming the religious freedoms of all American business owners. We must thank God for a good day in America and pray for His continued protection into the future.”
Kristina Garza, Director of Campus Outreach, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, said: “As we gather at Hobby Lobby today, we celebrate religious freedom, the First Amendment, and the rights of Americans to do business according to their consciences, free from government interference or harassment.”
Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition based in Washington, D.C., agreed: “We applaud Hobby Lobby in their courageous stand against this unjust HHS mandate and the Obama Administration’s complete disregard for the First Amendment and religious freedom. Today the Supreme Court embraced the First Amendment and religious freedom with this historic decision and reminded the Obama administration Americans cannot be forced to violate their conscience or strongly held religious values.”
Christian Activities Publisher Kathryn Darden joins the many Christian leaders and other people of faith in applauding the Supreme Court decision in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
Join the discussion on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ChristianActivities
//–>
Use this link to shop Amazon.com and support Christian Activities
