Religious Freedom

We declared our independence from Britain in 1776. We declared independence and freedom through The Declaration of Independence. But recently, the Catholic religion as well as other religions have been challenged and have the potential to be stripped of their freedom and beliefs. Freedom of religion is the First Amendment and any American has the right to choose the religion of their choice. However, with a possible new healthcare bill, it is possible that Catholic hospitals will have to provide things against their religion such as contraception. In my opinion, I believe the Catholics should be able to support their beliefs and the bill should not be passed. If the bill is passed, the United States Government is violating the first and most important amendment. They are contradicting themselves by following the amendments yet forcing Catholics and possibly people of other religions to go against their values. There is always going to be conflict between the church and government - there always has been. In my home I have always been allowed freedom - to an extent. I need to be respectful and obey the rules my parents set for me. If something is to go wrong or one of my friends or sisters interferes with the rules my parents have set for me, they get angry. In the same way, the Church has rules that people must follow. If we do not follow them we have sinned. God does offer forgiveness. However, we should not just participate in the act knowing that God will forgive us. We should respect him. The government is interfering with out religion. In the same way, the government has laws too - and one of their laws is to have Freedom of Religion. In conclusion, I believe, as a Roman Catholic, that we should be able to have religious freedom without the government intruding.