Your Opinion: Attack on church, 1st Amendment

Dear Editor:

I am confused. I consider myself to be a practicing Catholic. Some of my friends and neighbors consider themselves to be practicing Catholics. There are national politicians who proclaim they are practicing Catholics.

I believe that the Pope and the church's teachings dealing with faith and morals are infallible. I do not know what some of my friends, neighbors and national politicians believe as they support actions by our president that are absolutely opposed to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

I see my friends and neighbors supporting these actions by continuing to vote for politicians, mostly Democrat, who support contraception, abortion producing drugs and abortion. Now our president is telling us that we as Catholics should pay for these crimes against humanity, directly or indirectly through insurance companies that we must purchase insurance from. While I see this situation as partly a right to life issue, it is more an attack on our First Amendment rights.

I served on active duty in the early "60s and then served in the Army reserves until I retired with 26 years of service. The oath I took when I joined the military was to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. I take that oath very seriously. Part of that Constitution is the freedom to practice my religion as I see fit without interference from our federal government. The secular press and liberals in general preach about the separation of church and state. If they are so enamored with the separation of church and state how can they feel that they have the right to tell us how we practice our religion by mandating that we violate the core tenets of our religion?

A far more consequential vow than my military oath is the vow that I, and all Catholics, took through my sponsors at baptism. I vowed to resist Satan and all his works and all his empty promises. While I am most certainly human and have fallen very short of expectations in the past, I take my vow very seriously and would encourage my Catholic friends, neighbors and politicians to do the same. Protest this attack on our First Amendment rights and the teachings of our Catholic Church.

Support our Catholic and other religious leaders in their fight to overturn this diabolical mandate by a president who has no regard for our Constitution or our religious freedom.