Bishops warn the Biden Administration threatens Christians by imposing pro-abortion, pro-transgender federal regulations on Christian Institutions. (Pictured: College of the Ozarks)
By Eileen Griffin
Biden administration officials display hostility toward people of faith and are using government institutions to persecute the faithful.
In January, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a report documenting the growing threats to religious freedom, Newmax reports. The report noted the source of most of the hostility toward the faithful is the Biden administration and the federal government.
Committee Chairman Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend documented the wide range of concerns affecting people of faith.
The top five threats to religious liberty all emanate from government policies or political appeasement. The report lists the following.
- Attacks on houses of worship—primarily demonstrating support for the terrorist organization, Hamas.
- A forthcoming U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiative that would require doctors to perform gender transition procedures and possibly abortions.
- Threats to religious charities involved in immigration.
- Suppression of religious speech regarding marriage and sexual differences.
- U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations requiring employers to provide access to abortion services.
Most of the attacks on religious freedom come in the form of new regulations, the report states. As Congress is split between Democrats and Republicans, most bills restricting religious liberty fail, so government agencies issue their own rules.
Many of the concerning mandates directly oppose Catholic teaching, the bishops say. Federal agencies are manipulating the law to promote abortion. They are imposing rules on private employers that will result in pro-abortion policies.
Various government agencies are pushing gender ideology, in direct conflict with Catholic beliefs. Particularly concerning is the imposition of these ideas in elementary schools.
“The controversies over public schools’ embrace of gender ideology has lent momentum to the push for school choice, as religious parents look for school environments that are compatible with their beliefs,” the report says.
Under the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a rule change making it necessary for all housing providers, including Christian colleges, to allow men and women to share personal spaces including dorms, showers, and locker rooms.
The College of the Ozarks, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), refused to comply citing religious freedom. They sued the Biden administration but the U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th circuit ended with a split decision. The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case.
“This means, for now, that religious colleges might continue living out their biblical beliefs about male and female dorms, but that the Biden administration could decide at any moment to start enforcing this rule against religious schools,” ADF says on their website.
The imposition of the rule on a private Christian college by the Biden administration violates the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, said CBN News commentator Gary Lane, on air.
“That means the government cannot impose another faith, in this case a woke, secular, humanist, religion on the school,” said Lane. “It also applies to President Biden and HUD. They cannot force a college to violate Christian principles, it’s belief about sex and gender, or anything else because to do so would impose another belief system, in actuality, government-conceived religion, on the institution.”
“The constitution prevents religious discrimination, and the Supreme Court has said that time and again,” ADF President Kristin Waggoner told Fox and Friends. “The first amendment ensures that we have a pluralistic society. It’s not meant to create a wall or remove religion from public life.”
The threat outlook for religion continues to be dire, the Religious Freedom Institute reports. Particularly at the federal level, there is little response or action taken to protect religious freedom and religious institutions.
In a 2022 report, attacks on religious institutions and religious practices were documented. Numerous criminal acts took place in 2022 with little, or no, response from government officials.
“The social environment for committing criminal attacks on pro-life congregations and organizations is ‘permissive,’” the report states. “It is likely that perpetrators have sufficient numbers, commitment, and capability to continue these attacks; law enforcement’s posture in preventing or investigating attacks is often passive, especially at the federal level; some state or local officeholders have failed to express immediate condemnation of such attacks or have themselves introduced deeply troubling rhetoric into the public discourse…”
Another concern identified in the report is the surveillance of Catholics by the FBI, as Heartland Daily News previously reported. The FBI tracks Catholics who attend a traditional Latin Mass.
An internal FBI memo directed agents to observe traditional Catholics called, “radical traditional Catholics” and infiltrate them to determine their potential to be “racially motivated violent extremists.”
Although the FBI retracted the memo and evidence collected did not raise any concerns about Catholic parishes, the bishops’ report warn that this threat still exists.
Religious freedom is under attack and institutions from schools to corporations to hospitals can no longer be certain that their religious rights will be protected.
In spite of the high threat level and increased concerns, many people of faith continue to fight for religious freedom and hope for better days.
“It is of utmost importance to American society to restate our guaranteed commitment to the first amendment and religious freedom,” Lane said. “Without religious freedom, the country is no longer free.”
“While 2024 will likely be turbulent, and even frightening in some ways — FEAR NOT,” Dr. Alveda King wrote in a January 2024 blog post. “Repent, forgive, and look for open doors and windows of opportunity even in the midst of storms. Continue to pray for those in authority, vote responsibly; and pray for God’s grace, mercy, and righteousness to prevail throughout the year.”
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