The timing may be off with this post, but there is an observation I’ve been meaning to point out with regard to Barack Obama’s HHS Mandate on religious institutions.

Barack Obama in defending the mandate has suggested that it has no impact on “Freedom of Worship”. So, exactly where does “Freedom of Worship” appear in the Constitution? It doesn’t. The First Amendment provides for “Freedom of Religion”. No one to my knowledge has called him out on this significant distinction.

Freedom of Religion of course provides for living one’s life in concert with the principles of your faith. It unambiguously asserts the rights of Americans not to be coerced beyond the limits of their faith and conscience.

What about Freedom of Worship? This “nuance” effectively seeks to diminish the boundaries of faith in our individual lives by compelling actions in violation of firmly held moral convictions. Simply put, when Barack Obama and his closest allies speak of “free worship”, they mean to segregate the services of devotion from its application in our daily lives. Obama’s position essentially is that our faith has no value in society beyond the front door of the respective houses of worship and fidelity to the precepts of our faith is invalid if determined to be in conflict with our “enlightened” federal government.

In Barack Obama’s America we must leave our prayers in the pew. In Barack Obama’s America we must leave our faith at the front door. In Barack Obama’s America our faith must submit to the new moral authority, or as Mark Steyn calls it: “The Church of Big Government”.

Barack Obama has been let off the hook when he speaks of “Free Worship”. Some might suggest this is just an example of political nuance to take the edge off the issue. This is an absurd defense. Look at the President’s resume’. Are we supposed to believe that a man who graduated from Harvard Law School, the most prestigious law school in the country is unaware of the distinction between worship and religion? Are we to extend him the benefit of the doubt that as the editor of the “Harvard Law Review” that he is ignorant of the constitutional distinction? Are we to ignore his years as a Law Professor and conclude that he doesn’t understand the clarity of the First Amendment?

Barack Obama has taken a position that undermines the first right in the United States, freedom of religion. Not worship, but RELIGION. Barack Obama’s education belies his rhetoric. His record and motives are clear. WE can devote our lives to God, just as long as we keep our faith in the closet.