In support of religious liberty

At this very moment, the religious liberties of thousands of American Christians are being trampled by the government.

Note that I said, “are being trampled,” not “are threatened.” It’s not something that might happen a year from now, it’s something that has gone on for decades, if not centuries, with hardly anyone caring to notice.

One of the current issues making the rounds of media outlets is that the Obama administration is threatening to force Catholics to pay for contraceptives, and that this is of course a grave threat to Catholics’ religious consciences, and that this will then threaten the entire notion of religious liberty for all Christians. What has gone unnoticed through all of this, and indeed for the last forty years, is that the religious consciences of those who object to war are trampled every time they pay their taxes. They are faced with a choice every bit as difficult as a Catholic hospital being directed to pay for contraceptives: either they pay their taxes with the knowledge that some of their money will support war and its related industries, or they must choose to break the law by withholding some or all of their taxes.

I say that this has gone unnoticed for the last forty years when in fact it has been much longer, but every Congress since 1972 has been presented with, and refused, an alternative. It’s called a Peace Tax Fund, currently before Congress as H.R. 1191 (though it has been languishing in a Congressional committee since last March), and it does just what it says on the tin: it’s a fund for those who wish to pay their taxes but want them used for peaceful purposes (the text of the bill specifies what that means).

Christians of all stripes have rallied around the Catholic cause of religious liberty; let’s see how many will follow the logical implications of their claims and likewise rally around their pacifist brothers and sisters in Christ.

More information and a link to contact your representatives can be found at peacetaxfund.org.