Some of the colonists who came to America over 300 years ago came seeking religious freedom. \u00a0When the United States became an independent nation, we adopted a constitution that included a Bill of Rights. \u00a0The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, instead of seeking freedom\u00a0of<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>religion, there are people today who seek freedom\u00a0from<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>religion. \u00a0They don’t want to hear anything about religion. \u00a0Actually, I don’t know if they care about religion at all. \u00a0I suspect what many of them really want is to be able to live their lives however they want. \u00a0They don’t want anyone telling them what is right and wrong. \u00a0They want to ban any prayer in public. \u00a0They want to restrict the right of churches to speak up for what they believe in.<\/p>\n In doing so, they actually are trying to take away\u00a0two<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>rights guaranteed in the First Amendment, the\u00a0Freedom of Religion<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>and the\u00a0Freedom of Speech<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n This is not simply a Catholic issue. \u00a0This is an issue for each and every religious group in our country. \u00a0In less than a month, we will celebrate our nation’s independence on July 4th celebrating the signing of the\u00a0Declaration of Independence\u00a0<\/em>in 1776. \u00a0The\u00a0Declaration of Independence\u00a0<\/em>speaks of rights that we are endowed with by our creator. \u00a0God has been part of our country from the beginning. \u00a0Now, they are trying to kick God out.<\/p>\n If you go to www.Fortnight4Freedom.org<\/a>, you can learn more about many different ways religious liberty is being impeded by looking at the fact sheets<\/a> provided there. \u00a0\u00a0You can also read an open letter<\/a> signed by leaders of various religious groups. \u00a0It is not just Catholics. \u00a0The letter is one page. \u00a0The list of religious groups is four pages long.<\/p>\n During the Fortnight For Freedom I encourage you to take some time to pray for true religious liberty in the United States. \u00a0I also encourage you to pray for those in other countries who are persecuted, tortured, and even killed because of their faith.<\/p>\n Peace,<\/p>\n Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some of the colonists who came to America over 300 years ago came seeking religious freedom. \u00a0When the United States became an independent nation, we adopted a constitution that included a Bill of Rights. \u00a0The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion. Unfortunately, instead of seeking freedom\u00a0of\u00a0religion, there are people today who seek freedom\u00a0from\u00a0religion. \u00a0They don’t …<\/p>\n