Religious Freedom! Religious Freedom!

I haven't been overly impressed by the U.S. bishops' rhetoric about religious liberty in the context of the health-care and contraceptive-coverage debate.  All smoke, no fire?  But Fr. Joseph Komonchak, looking at Notre Dame's suit against the government, suggests there's substance to the bishops' concerns:

I have been struck by how often and how quickly criticisms of the bishops for their insistence that religious liberty is at stake in the matter of the government’s contraception-mandate have attributed other motives to their actions and statements, and Fr. Jenkins at Notre Dame has not been spared similar accusations. So I read Notre Dame’s suit and would like to bring forth two sections of it.

First, as quoted in Notre Dame’s suit, the regulatory “religious employer” exemption contains this definition of terms:

For purposes of this subsection, a “religious employer” is an organization that meets all of the following criteria:

(1) The inculcation of religious values is the purpose of the organization.

(2) The organization primarily employs persons who share the religious tenets of the organization.

(3) The organization serves primarily persons who share the religious tenets of the organization.

(4) The organization is a nonprofit organization as described in section 6033(a)(1) and section 6033(a)(3)(A)(i) or (iii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Id. at 46,626 (codified at 45 C.F.R. § 147.130(a)(iv)(A)-(B)).

Second, here in full is the heart of Notre Dame’s claim that religious liberty is being compromised by the government’s regulation:

Go to his post at Commonweal magazine's blog