An Open Letter from Religious Leaders in the United States to All Americans

Press Release: WELS President Joins 24 Religious Leaders in Signing Letter Supporting Religious Freedom

MILWAUKEE—June 22, 2012—Rev. Mark G. Schroeder, president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), signed an open letter from religious leaders in the United States to all Americans protesting  the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’  requirement that all health care plans cover contraceptives, as well as abortive drugs and medical procedures.

“While the signers of this letter represent many differing religious beliefs, we do have one thing in common:  the recognition that the freedom to practice our religion is one of the most precious blessings enjoyed by all Americans.  Those whose ancestors came to this country seeking religious freedom can’t remain silent when that freedom is threatened,” Schroeder says.

The letter entitled “Free Exercise of Religion: Putting Beliefs into Practice” was written by The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod and approved by the office of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is attached to this news release.  The letter states:  “As religious leaders from a variety of perspectives and communities, we are compelled to make known our protest against the incursion of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) into the realm of religious liberty.”

Schroeder says “The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod holds to the biblical teaching that human life begins at conception and that the unborn are fully human beings, created by God. We are deeply distressed that the government of the United States would require the health care plans of our church affiliated organizations to provide abortion-inducing drugs or other procedures that would end the life of an unborn child and would require coverage for any other medical treatment that violates our teachings and consciences.”

Described as theologically conservative, WELS is the third largest Lutheran church body in the United States with about 390,000 members and 1,300 congregations. Its headquarters is located in Milwaukee, Wis. For more information, visit www.wels.net. 

Contact:

Lee Hitter

Director of Communication Services

414-256-3230

lee.hitter@wels.net

 

FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION:

Putting Beliefs into Practice

An Open Letter from Religious Leaders in the United States to All Americans

Dear Friends,

Religious institutions are established because of religious beliefs and convictions. Such institutions include not only churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship, but also schools and colleges, shelters and community kitchens, adoption agencies and hospitals, organizations that provide care and services during natural disasters, and countless other organizations that exist to put specific religious beliefs into practice. Many such organizations have provided services and care to both members and non-members of their religious communities since before the Revolutionary War, saving and improving the lives of countless American citizens.

As religious leaders from a variety of perspectives and communities, we are compelled to make known our protest against the incursion of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) into the realm of religious liberty. HHS has mandated that religious institutions, with only a narrow religious exception, must provide access to certain contraceptive benefits, even if the covered medications or procedures are contradictory to their beliefs. We who oppose the application of this mandate to religious institutions include not only the leaders of religious groups morally opposed to contraception, but also leaders of other religious groups that do not share that particular moral conviction.

That we share an opposition to the mandate to religious institutions while disagreeing about specific moral teachings is a crucial fact. Religious freedom is the principle on which we stand. Because of differing understandings of moral and religious authority, people of good will can and often do come to different conclusions about moral questions. Yet, even we who hold differing convictions on specific moral issues are united in the conviction that no religious institution should be penalized for refusing to go against its beliefs. The issue is the First Amendment, not specific moral teachings or specific products or services.

 

The HHS mandate implicitly acknowledged that an incursion into religion is involved in the mandate. However, the narrowness of the proposed exemption is revealing for it applies only to religious organizations that serve or support their own members. In so doing, the government is establishing favored and disfavored religious organizations: a privatized religious organization that serves only itself is exempted from regulation, while one that believes it should also serve the public beyond its membership is denied a religious exemption. The so-called accommodation and the subsequent Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) do little or nothing to alleviate the problem.

No government should tell religious organizations either what to believe or how to put their beliefs into practice. We indeed hold this to be an unalienable, constitutional right. If freedom of religion is a constitutional value to be protected, then institutions developed by religious groups to implement their core beliefs in education, in care for the sick or suffering, and in other tasks must also be protected. Only by doing so can the free exercise of religion have any meaning. The HHS mandate prevents this free exercise. For the well-being of our country, we oppose the application of the contraceptive mandate to religious institutions and plead for its retraction.

Sincerely yours,

Leith Anderson

President

National Association of Evangelicals

Gary M. Benedict

President

The Christian and Missionary Alliance U.S.

Bishop John F. Bradosky

North American Lutheran Church

The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison

President

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr.

Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church

Bishop, Fellowship of International Churches

The Very Rev. Dr. John A. Jillions

Chancellor

Orthodox Church in America

Sister Loraine Marie Maguire, l.s.p.

Provincial Superior, Baltimore Province

Little Sisters of the Poor

The Rev. John A. Moldstad

President

Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Deaconess Cheryl D. Naumann

President

Concordia Deaconess Conference

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

The Most Rev. Robert J. Carlson

Archbishop of St. Louis

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan

Archbishop of New York

President

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, S.V.

Superior General of the Sisters of Life

Sister Barbara Anne Gooding, R.S.M.

Director, Department of Religion

Saint Francis Health System

Sister Margaret Regina Halloran, l.s.p.

Provincial Superior, Brooklyn Province

Little Sisters of the Poor

The Most Blessed Jonah

Archbishop of Washington

Metropolitan of All American and Canada

Orthodox Church in America

Imam Faizul R. Khan

Founder and Leader

Islamic Society of Washington Area

 

The Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky

Director of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations

Orthodox Church in America

 

The Most Rev. William E. Lori

Archbishop of Baltimore

Chairman

USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty

 

Sister Maria Christine Lynch, l.s.p.

Provincial Superior, Chicago Province

Little Sisters of the Poor

The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez

President

NHCLC

Hispanic Evangelical Association

Sister Joseph Marie Ruessmann, R.S.M., J.D., J.C.D., M.B.A.

Generalate Secretary

Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan

The Rev. Mark Schroeder

President

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

L. Roy Taylor

Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the

Presbyterian Church in America

 

Sister Constance Carolyn Veit, l.s.p.

Communications Director

Little Sisters of the Poor

Dr. George O. Wood

General Superintendent

The General Council of the Assemblies of God