A Place in America for Beliefs?

In the U. S. there are many forms of religious belief and of ethics and morality; the beliefs of some are bound to infringe on others with different beliefs. How do we all manage to retain freedom to act on our consciences, our beliefs? My question -- Is there still a place in America for us to exercise our beliefs and our consciences without being constrained by force?

The following came in my e-mail this morning.
[Note: I've snipped out certain portions of the message.]


Begin Forwarded Message:

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From: Faith and Action (Rob Schenck)
Date: Monday March 26, 2012
Subject: …Breaking News from US Supreme Court…

Dear _____


This morning I am in the United States Supreme Court as the justices are listening to the first of three days of arguments over the new law mandating all American secure certain forms of health insurance. I am one of only a very small number of national Christian leaders in attendance. I’m grateful to the Lord and to you for this privilege.

Until the last few weeks, I wasn’t terribly involved in this controversy. I felt there were others far more qualified to address all of its legal intricacies. Then President Obama made his shocking announcement requiring all religious organizations to provide insurance policies to their employees that violate the religious, moral, and ethical beliefs of those organizations!

The President also demanded employees accept these insurance packages—even it compromised their consciences!

This is when I sat up and took careful notice. Suddenly, this so-called “health care initiative” became a religious and moral crisis, and I had to act. I called our pastoral advisors across the country and they prayerfully declared a “State of Emergency” in the churches.

Today, just following the arguments here at the High Court, I will convene a special emergency meeting of church leaders from all Christian traditions—Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, and Protestant. We will pray together, receive a full legal briefing from our constitutional advisors at the American Center for Law and Justice, and strategize our next move.

Finally, we will issue a “Demand for Redress of Grievance” to the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court, asking the government to rescind this unjust order. These documents will be hand-delivered to the President, the leaders of Congress, and the Chief Justice of the United States.

My ministry team and I are doing what I believe God put us here on Capitol Hill to do: Proclaim the Truth of the Gospel to our nation’s top elected and appointed officials!

None of this has been easy—or inexpensive. In fact, it has demanded days without sleep, countless hours of planning and problem-solving—and money, lots of money!

[snip]

Right now God is bringing the entire political and legal world in America to our doorstep. We’re responding as a prophetic witness…but we must have the resources to finish.

[snip]

Your missionary to our nation’s capital,

Rob Schenck

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end forwarded message
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This post is shared with L. L. Barkat's "On, In and Around Mondays"
and Laura Boggess' "Playdates with God"