After The Second Rally—Where Do We Go From Here?

Posted by Monica Migliorino Miller (June 11, 2012 at 5:16 pm)

A Post-Rally Critique from Monica Migliorino Miller, National co-director of Stand Up for Religious Freedom Nationwide Rallies

Friday June 8, 2012 was an amazing day—164 rallies all across the United States in every time zone—with over 57,000 people participating, and literally hundreds of news stories generated—all extending the witness that these nationwide rallies create in protest of the unjust, immoral and unlawful Health and Human Services mandate.

If you are reading this follow-up review of the June 8th rallies and you are not aware of the present federal government attack on religious liberty, please see the excellent explanation of the Mandate from the Alliance Defense Fund.

Every rally captain, all those who assisted captains, all rally presenters and all those tens of thousands who participated in the June 8th rallies can be very proud of this momentous accomplishment. Our first rally was March 23rd, attended by 64 thousand people nationwide in 144 cities. Those nationwide rallies were organized in a short 7 weeks—some of the local rallies did not get off the ground until a few days before the
event!

It is often difficult to re-create the same enthusiasm for a second similar event but we did it! If you are a rally captain that means YOU DID IT! Indeed, some rallies nearly doubled their attendance such as Chicago and Detroit and dozens of rallies had the same attendance as they did the first time out—meaning that enthusiasm did not wane! The second nationwide rallies were a bigger success for the following reasons:

• More cities held rallies.
• More media coverage was generated.
• More diversity among rally presenters.

One of the most important goals of the Stand Up rallies is to embolden believers and others who care about American First Amendment liberties as we enter the future. Getting out on the street and proclaiming our opposition to unjust government intrusion into the affairs of religious institutions and the coercion of the individual conscience of employers is one of the most important steps in building opposition to the mandate—with the most important goal of strengthening our resolve to not obey it!

What will the future hold? We must be honest. The more secular and irreligious our nation becomes, the more we shall see a continued erosion of the Judeo/Christian ethos and principles upon which America was founded. This means that government will take upon itself the prerogative to create rights—and dictate those rights.

The loss of the Judeo/Christian foundation of America means that the meaning of being human is at stake. Man is made in the image of God. Man has a God-given dignity and human rights come from God—not from the state. But the erosion of this view of man has already begun. The Stand Up rallies are a way to push back against this corrupted view of man.

Let us not be fooled. The mandate represents a governmental grab for power over the churches—and this kind of power must be opposed by those who believe in God and wish to protect the dignity of man.

Yes, we are waiting to see what the United States Supreme Court will do about Obama Care. Depending on the court’s ruling—expected later this month—the mandate may be wiped away. Even so—this Obama administration government attack has been a complete wake-up call—and we must be ever vigilant as we move forward.

Right now here are some important after-rally action items that need attention. Hundreds of news stories were generated on the June 8th rally. That’s the good news. However, in many cases the media still reports on the mandate incorrectly as the “contraception mandate” and describes the Stand Up rallies as being against contraception per se—rather than the real issue—namely the unjust government intrusion into the exercise of religiously motivated ministry.

Here’s what you can do as a post rally follow up. Write letters to the editor correcting those misleading news stories. Call up or email reporters and editors and tell them that they got the story wrong—and that from now on you expect a more accurate presentation of the issue. Direct them to the excellent Alliance Defense Fund’s explanation of the mandate.

So many stories characterize the mandate as only forcing religious institutions to facilitate contraception coverage and consistently leave out the mandate on sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. This is NOT just a Catholic issue! This mandate affects the actual exercise of religious liberty of every congregation—and indeed of every American ultimately, as it attacks First Amendment rights that everyone should be concerned about!

Furthermore, many news stories discredited the need for our protests, arguing that Obama offered an accommodation, i.e. that it’s not religious institutions that offer these “services” to employees—but insurance companies. When you contact the media or write your letter to the editor, point out that this so-called accommodation is nothing but a shell game since the religious institution must still offer the insurance plan or refer their employees to plans that offer services contrary to the doctrines of these religious ministries!

Let me end this post-rally analysis by encouraging all of you! Stand Up and Stand Strong. No matter what your religious faith, participate in the Bishops’ diocesan-wide Fortnight for Freedom beginning June 21st. No matter what your faith—talk to your pastor, encourage your pastor to get involved, organize educational workshops at your church on the dangers of the mandate.

Finally—l encourage you to read an excellent article by Juli Loesch Wiley entitled, “Will You Go to Jail with Your Bishop?” who, better than just about anyone else, has laid out the options for the Church and people of faith should the federal government’s war against religion persist.

Cardinal George—archbishop of Chicago, spoke these words in light of the mandate—words that we should all take very seriously. “As a bishop of the Church now, I will die in my bed. My successor will die in jail. And the bishop after him will die a martyr.”

God be with you all– Monica Migliorino Miller, Ph.D.
Stand Up for Religious Freedom Nationwide Rallies

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