From: Senator Rick Santorum
Re: Obama Administration's Assault on Belmont Abbey College
The Obama Administration is working to erase respect for conscience from health insurance and the law in general…
… Don’t believe me?
In his address at the University of Notre Dame, Obama talked a good game about respecting conscience on abortion rights. He did the same thing when he met the Pope. But that was all it was -- talk.
The Obama Administration’s attack on Belmont Abbey College proves that.
Belmont Abbey College is a small, private, Catholic college located in North Carolina. For 130 years, it and the Benedictine monks who run it have been dedicated to handing on the Catholic faith.
But the Obama Administration is now trying to force them to abandon that faith or go out of business.
You see, the Administration at Belmont Abbey College removed contraception, abortion, and voluntary sterilization from its faculty's health care policy after discovering it had accidentally been a part of existing plans.
Employees of the school who objected to this change in policy brought a complaint against the school accusing them of “gender discrimination.”
This accusation against Belmont Abbey College couldn’t be further from the truth.
Belmont Abbey College was not discriminating against women. Unlike many “believers in name only” the college was adhering to the principles of its faith.
At first, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found no evidence of gender discrimination by Belmont Abbey College…..
After a few weeks, the EEOC mysteriously reversed course and announced, in effect, that the college had better toe the Administration’s line, or else.
They are now demanding the school go against the very principles it exists to serve.
Don’t be fooled.
Killing or funding the killing of unborn children has nothing to do with promoting human health.
No Catholic college or other religious institution should ever be required by the government to violate its moral beliefs ...
... Which is why I’m asking for your help today.
Your immediate support for the defense of Belmont Abbey College is VITAL, not only for Belmont Abbey, but for all religious institutions in America.
Too many were silent when Obama went to Notre Dame. As a result his Administration has been emboldened to attack all Catholic institutions. Now, they are shamelessly picking on a small Catholic college – Belmont Abbey.
Tomorrow it could be your local church, the parochial school you send your kids to, it could be the Jesus bumper sticker on your car…
If Obama is given the opportunity to attack even the oldest and most respected religious establishments across the country, what will be next?
The President of Belmont Abbey College has bravely stated that he would rather close the school than go against the church’s most fundamental teachings ...
I commend him for his moral conviction, but I’m afraid for the future of religious freedom in our country.
… Think I’m overreacting?
The impact of even one Catholic college knuckling under or closing would be a catastrophe for all religious institutions.
Which is why I am asking for your help.
Will you stand with me against the Obama Administration’s war on conscience?
Luckily, the Belmont Abbey College has enlisted the help of a law firm that specializes in defending against this type of travesty. It’s called the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
The Becket Fund has a solid reputation for being the best in the business.
I know first hand how effective the Becket Fund is in preserving our freedom of religion. I’ve known them for years.
Way back in the Clinton Administration when Clinton threatened to court-martial military chaplains who followed their consciences by preaching against Clinton’s veto of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, it was the Becket Fund that filed suit in federal court and got that gag order struck down.
And just this past week, when the Freedom from Religion Foundation sued to strike “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, it was the Becket Fund that intervened in the case and successfully defended the Pledge.
In between they have successfully defended all sorts of believers and religious institutions.
Archbishop Chaput knows them well too. As he likes to say, “The work of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is more than ‘good.’ It’s vital.”
By contributing to the Becket Fund, you can directly support religious freedom — for Belmont Abbey — and every other religious school or institution in the country.
Make no mistake, this will not be easy. The Obama Administration is relentless about silencing religious believers.
Will you do me a personal favor, in the name of religious freedom, and contribute – today -- to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s fight for Belmont Abbey College and for all other religious institutions?
Time is of the essence. Belmont Abbey College stands for the moral teachings and principles of the Catholic Church -- it stands for life.
... You and I simply cannot allow the radical leftists in this country to succeed in demanding Belmont Abbey College turn its back on the most basic and fundamental teachings of the church or else close.
Belmont Abbey President William Thierfelder recently said, "All of us need to have moral courage in today's world." He added. "We are so resolute in our commitment to the teachings of the Catholic Church that there is no possible way we would ever deviate from it, and if it came down to it ... we would close the school rather than give in ...”
.... Will you exercise your moral courage and help me defend Belmont Abbey College with an urgent and immediate contribution of $500, $250, $100, $35, or whatever you can afford, to prevent religious freedom from becoming a thing of the past?
I’m counting on you to act TODAY!
God Bless,
United State Senator 1995-2007
P.S. I’m tired of hearing outsiders and insiders tell Catholics and other devout religious believers to keep quiet about our religious and moral views in society. That's a kind of bullying. And I don't think Catholics or persons of any faith should accept it....
For the sake and the right of religious liberty for all, I urge you to contribute to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and support the Belmont Abbey College, TODAY!
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