I guess we are all Catholics now

Jill links a piece by James Capretta that everyone should read, and be terrified by

A very important point about the HHS contraceptives mandate is made by James Capretta (roughly transcribed from this discussion, starting at about 12 minutes in):

Lost so far in this debate . . is how did we get to the point where the government was allowed to do this for the average citizen anyway? For the average Catholic out there working for a private employer who doesn’t have any religious affiliation whatsoever, they’re being told by the government through this requirement that they too have to pay premiums into a plan that covers all of these things and there’s no right whatsoever to get out from under it. There’s no talk of an exemption, there’s no even contemplation in the administration for the religious liberty rights of the average citizen.

And this is a very big deal. There will be tens of millions of people who forever more in the United States, if this is allowed to stand, will to be forced every two weeks in their paychecks to pay for a number of things that they find objectionable. [. . .]

. . . in the context of the gigantic health care bill that passed in 2010 there’s a whole slew of things now that the government can do. This is one of them, but it’s not the only one. The delegation of massive, massive amounts of power to the federal government is really remarkable. And this is . . . one of those watershed moments where the public is getting a glimpse into what is coming. Just the spectre of religious people having to go to the government sort of hat in hand begging to get exempt from this should be a clear indication that something is amiss here, something has gone terribly wrong. Why did the federal government get this power to make this decision affecting 310 million people and there’s really no recourse whatsoever? So there’s something fundamentally gone wrong here.

This is the direct result of American voters electing men and women who do not respect the Constitution, nor the founding principles. the Democratic Party was so consumed with power after the 2008 elections, that they literally passed a law so massive that no one can even contemplate what it will actually mandate. They ignored the will of the people, the Constitution, and their oaths of office, and, as a result, they will have destroyed America unless we can get this evil piece of legislation repealed.

For those who would accuse me of hyperbole, let me explain. If the government can force you to buy health insurance, they can force you to buy anything they think you should buy. Likewise, they will be able to dictate what you can NOT buy as well. And if they can steamroll over the Catholics, and everyone’s freedom of religion in the process, well, I think you know the rest of that story don’t you?