Roger Williams's most famous work is entitled (in part, and you can thank me for sparing you the whole thing) The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience.
A story in today's New York Times (see here) reports that President Barack Obama intends to reverse regulations protecting pro-life doctors and hospitals from persecution for the cause of their consciences. Let us pray that something might happen to his conscience to remind him how atrocious it is to persecute someone for mere adherence to the sixth commandment.
Really, this case is not even about whether one is pro-life or pro-abortion. I support the participation of our nation in just wars, but I also support the liberty not to take up arms that we give those with conscientious objections to war. Surely our pro-abortion President and the other pro-abortion elements in our society can reach down deep into themselves and find some way to extend this same sort of protection to medical professionals?
Maybe we need some modern-day Roger Williamses to make that argument convincingly and take it to the people?
The times, they are a-changing. I'm just wondering what America will look like in 4 years.
ReplyDeleteYou have already handled the moral side of this.
ReplyDeleteOn the political side, here are my thoughts.
Obama is really a very young man. He does not have much experience on the national stage with policy issues such as this.
This is not a move that many seasoned politicians would make. This issue is a powder keg. As foes, he will have a legion of trained and articulate members of the medical profession, their families and friends, their lawyers and the church.
If these policies are enacted, and medical professionals face the penalties, the stories will be compelling.
This is not only wrong. It is not smart. It is also completely unnecessary.
If Mr. Obama's Presidency turns out to be a disaster, not just in the opinion of political opponents but former allies and those in the middle, he may look back at this and regret it.
Louis