Diverse faith leaders unite over religious freedom concerns
Washington D.C., 22 June 2013: Religious leaders from a variety of faith backgrounds
are speaking out against the declining role of religion in society, as well as threats
to religious freedom for all faith groups.
“Our biggest challenge is coming
from those who want to challenge the role of religion in society,” said Rabbi Abba
Cohen, vice president for federal affairs and Washington director of Agudath Israel
of America.
“We live in a world now where threats to one religion could certainly
affect others,” he told CNA.
Rabbi Cohen was one of numerous religious leaders
to attend the 2013 National Religious Freedom Conference in Washington, D.C. Sponsored
by the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s American Religious Freedom Program, the event
featured presentations and discussions by Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline
Protestant, Latter-day Saint, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish Orthodox, Seventh-day Adventist,
Muslim and Sikh speakers.
The speakers join a growing number of religious freedom
advocates who have voiced fears over increasing threats to religious liberty within
the United States. The second Fortnight for Freedom – announced by the U.S. bishops
with the participation of those from a variety of faith backgrounds – is currently
underway as a special time of prayer, education and action on behalf of religious
freedom, particularly in the areas of health care, marriage, immigration and social
aid.
Among the concerns raised by the bishops and members of other faiths is
a new mandate issued by the Department of Health and Human Services to require employers
to offer health insurance covering contraception, sterilization and some early abortion
drugs, even if doing so violates their firmly held religious beliefs.
Rabbi
Cohen explained that while the HHS mandate does not require his community to violate
their beliefs, “nonetheless, we have weighed in very strongly” on the issue “because
it might create general principles, general perceptions of religion that could affect
all religions.”
Reverend Dr. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor of St. Vladimir's Orthodox
Theological Seminary, echoed the Rabbi Cohen’s statements, telling CNA that “I think
that there is a clamp-down on religious liberty in this country, but it’s so incredibly
simple that we aren’t catching the signs.” He warned, however, against over-correction,
such as moves by the Russian Orthodox Church to establish Russian Orthodoxy as the
official state religion.
Shaykha Reima Yosif, who started an organization to
empower Muslim women through the arts, noted the threat in the U.S. posed by “small
groups trying to dictate what is religion, and small groups trying to infringe upon
people maintaining their particular religious identity and practicing their faith
in their own way.” Source: CNA/EWTN