True. But, please note...The priests who are being denied access are contract priests. There is a severe shortage of priests in America and, also in the Chaplain Corps. So most priests for military bases are now contracted...civilian priests who are hired by the government to provide services to military Catholics and their families. There IS a law on the books (been there for well over 30 years) that forbids the government from accepting any voluntary assistance of any type (it was written to keep civilian contractors from trying to curry favor by donating such things as cement, labor, any building supplies, etc.). It is called the Anti-Deficiency Act and means that, if the government contracts for any kind of civilian-provided services, the money the government must pay the contractors HAS to be available; and, that the government cannot accept any voluntary anything from a contracted person or business. Fine. I understand that. BUT...and, to me, this is a HUGE but... This regime has chosen to enforce that law against civilian priests who have volunteered to conduct Catholic services, with no recompense, on military bases who must use contracted priests. O is adhering strictly to the LETTER of the law, but, not the SPIRIT. These priests are NOT sacks of cement being offered by a building contractor to curry favor. Plus...O is also, by adhering to one government law, violating the 1st Amendment rights of all Catholics in the military and their families. To me, the 1st half of the 1st Amendment (Freedom of Religion) trumps any other government law and/or regulation. ~cj
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 03:11:44 +0000
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