Pope Laments Shrinking Religious Freedom in America in Meeting With Obama

Could the meeting with the Pope come at a more inopportune moment for the President? Hobby Lobby just had to go and complain to the Supreme Court about how the President’s signature law imposed on their religious freedom by mandating that the company pay for their employees’ contraception methods. And the Pope reportedly didn’t let the President forget it, according to Newsmax.

Though there were some more lighthearted moments in their meeting – when the two exchanged gifts and when Obama invited the Pope to the White House, for instance – a statement released by the Vatican expressed concern over “the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection” in the United States.

Though in the President’s Fantasyland, everyone adores and agrees with him and anyone who doesn’t is just a racist meanie, this should come as no surprise to Obama.  His attempts to end religious freedom and his disdain for religion in America began even before he took office.

When running for the presidency in 2008, he explained his difficulty in winning over voters in rural areas by saying that those people “cling to guns or religion.” That condescension we’ve come to know so well was on full display. In his mind, guns and religion are crutches for the weak.

He outrightly ignores the religious freedoms that are guaranteed to all citizens, because to him, those freedoms are not as important as his health care law. If it were, contraceptive methods would not even be in play.

Prsident Obama famously told the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that they would not be a factor in his law, and then he went back on his word. His disdain for religion has led him to choose to ignore the beliefs and wishes of millions of Americans.

So the President’s meeting with the Pope didn’t exactly go as well as he probably hoped. No one should be surprised. The Pope should be applauded for calling attention to the shrinking religious freedom in the United States. Our President certainly won’t do it.