The President and the Pill: Declaring War on the Church

Last week, the White House announced that the final rule on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) mandates coverage of birth control even if the employer happens to be a religious institution that objects to it.  This will be a particular issue for the Roman Catholic Church which employs 1,000's in its 600 hospitals (Catholics and non-Catholics alike), and does not offer such coverage to any of  them.

Ironically, the Catholic Church was one of Obama’s strongest allies in his health care initiatives. But now they are angry.  The Obama administration has no plans to reverse its decision even though the Bishops have signaled their intention to defy the law rather than to violate their conscience.

What is the significance of this for us? Well, beyond the obvious First Amendment issue, it is an example of the secularization of America. Secularization neutralizes religious ideas and institutions until they have lost their social and moral significance, and have no influence on society. (Europe has been secularized.)  Scripture says the true Church will decline in influence at the last days, as apostasy increases.  Who can argue that the Church no longer has the influence it once did. The Obama ruling is a test of that influence; we should pay attention to how this plays out.  Something is going on here between the President and the Church that is more important than the pill.