Formula for Sainthood . . .

“Make up your mind to become a saint.”
  ~St. Mary Mazarello

Freedom of Religion . . . except for Catholics?

The First Amendment guarantees Freedom of Religion in the United States. During it's formative years, various factions of faiths have had their problems in discrimination over personal beliefs. The First Amendment was included to safeguard our individuality while joining us all together as Americans. Many of the earlier problems with  religion occurred in the 'olden days' so who would expect a modern day attack on any particular faith or religion? It is also interesting to note that Freedom of Religion was first on the list.

If you have been following the news, the obama administration decided the time had come to decide the observation of faith for Catholics when he legislated that everyone would have to provide abortion/contraceptive coverage regardless of conscience and religion. He has basically ruled that the government will decide how conscience should be used rather than allowing faith-based decisions to be made in accordance to any particular laws of the individual churches.

Yes, there have been some mealy mouthed 'exemptions' in the president's first dictates but many Christian businesses are still being forced to comply and the courts are not always upholding their First Amendment rights. One fast food chain dared to say they believed in the sanctity of marriage and look what happened. Their Freedom of Speech was questioned and their Freedom of Religion was jeopardized.

The United States has always been a melting pot of different ethnicity, religions, life styles. Today, the conservative factions are disrespected for having an opposing view and publicly insulted. The liberal view is portrayed as the kindly one even while infringing on other people's amendment rights . . . with government approval.

In China, they have a government-run church. Yes, you can attend Mass or whatever makes up our Sunday worship but it is under the thumb of the government. At one time, I shuddered over how any country could do this to their people. Over the last four years, I've seen the erosion of many rights slowly taking shape. Catholics will soon be fined for following their conscience. With all this happening before their eyes, I have a hard time listening to Catholics of the 50% who voted this possibility into our lives talk about everything except what their vote has brought into the open.

Lawyers and Felons - not a good match!

Why Convicted Felon 's Don't / Won't Have to Register Their Firearms U.S. Supreme Court’s 1968 Haynes v. U.S. decision: Haynes, a convicted felon, was convicted of unlawful possession of an unregistered short-barreled shotgun. He argued that for a convicted felon to register a gun was effectively an announcement to the government that he was breaking the law and that registration violated his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. The court, by an 8 – 1 margin, agreed, concluding: “We hold that a proper claim of the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination provides a full defense to prosecutions either for failure to register a firearm…or for possession of an unregistered firearm.” (Summary from American Rifleman, March 2000, page 20) So, when these gun registration schemes are announced, be aware that only lawful gun-owners are required to register their firearms. Unlawful owners are exempted from registration laws due to their constitutional protection against self-incrimination. Amazing but true… http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/390/85/