U.S. House Passes Bill Allowing Obamacare Insurance Exemptions for Religious Reasons

WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would allow Americans exemptions from purchasing insurance under Obamacare if their religious beliefs prohibit them from doing so.
The Equitable Access to Care and Health (EACH) Act (H.R. 1814) was introduced by Representative Aaron Shock (R-Ill) and was backed with the support of 216 co-sponsors. The purpose of the bill is to “amend section 5000A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an additional religious exemption from the individual health coverage mandate.”
According to the legislation, waivers would be granted to anyone who “files a sworn statement, as part of the return of tax for the taxable year, that the individual was not covered under minimum essential coverage at any time during such taxable year and that the individual’s sincerely held religious beliefs would cause the individual to object to medical health care that would be covered under such coverage.”
However, if the person received medical care in the year prior, the exemption would be denied. Chiropractic care, dental services, midwifery services and optometry appointments would not count against the individual.

“Congress today reinforced basic constitutional protections for sincere believers of all faiths. Among the many problems with Obamacare are the insufficient safeguards for people of faith,” Shock said in a statement following the passage of the Act. “H.R. 1814 provides a strong provision that guarantees First Amendment religious liberties for all Americans while protecting U.S. taxpayers from potential fraud. Congress has long sought to uphold both these commitments, and has again today affirmed our founding principles.”
“Congress is not likely to reach agreement today—or any day—on the underlying law. Obamacare is as controversial now as it was when it was enacted, and perhaps more so,” he continued. “But we do agree that Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. On that, the American people can be assured there is strong bipartisan agreement.”
The bill will now head to the Senate for a vote.

 

While some Americans may seek an exemption from the insurance requirement altogether, many Christians are choosing rather to enroll in a health sharing ministry, which would avoid the payment of funds towards abortion services. As previously reported, the Affordable Care Act exempts members of Christian health sharing ministries, of which there are three: Medi-Share, Samaritan Ministries and Christian Healthcare Ministries.
“There are some mandates that are written in the law regarding the coverage of contraception and abortion that certainly many Bible-believing Christians are going to have objection to,” Tony Meggs, president of Medi-Share, told Christian News Network. “Healthcare sharing ministries are an acceptable and legal alternative to those insurance mandates that require insurance carriers to cover medical services that Christians would find objectionable.”
“It’s a great option for people of faith to provide for healthcare needs without insurance. It’s affordable, it’s Biblical and it’s personal,” James Lansberry, executive vice president of Samaritan Ministries, agreed. “Insurance and healthcare has generally become much less personal over the years, but having those notes and cards come in from other members when you’re sick, being able to know exactly where your money is going—those are all blessings to our members that we’re all excited about.”

Stenographer Ejected from House Floor, Hospitalized for Speech Says God Spoke Through Her

WASHINGTON – The stenographer for the U.S. House of Representatives who was escorted from the House floor last October is speaking out in a YouTube video, explaining why she felt moved to present a speech to Congress during a vote to end the government shutdown.

Dianne Reidy, who keeps record of proceedings for the House, approached the microphone on October 16 as the vote was underway. She then began to present an admonishment to Congress, gesturing with her hand as she spoke.

“He (God) will not be mocked,” Reidy declared three times, according to reports and audio footage.
The next segment of audio is disputed by Reidy and her husband, who believe that the speech was rather given on the elevator rather than at the podium.

“The greatest deception here is that this is not one nation under God,” she stated. “It never was. It would not have been.”
“The Constitution would not have been written by Freemasons,” she continued as she was approached by two members of House security, who began pulling her away by her arms. “They go against God. You cannot serve two masters. Praise be to God, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Reidy was then escorted to George Washington University Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and released.


“I remember getting up to the podium and after saying, ‘God will not be mocked.’ I don’t have a memory of anything else that was said that evening until I was escorted off the floor,” she stated in a YouTube video recorded with her husband Dan last week.
Reidy said that God had been waking her up in the middle of the night in the weeks prior, and that she knew that He was going to use her in some way.
“I knew [God] was doing something and I didn’t know what it was,” she explained. “As it got closer, I knew that God was going to speak through me … and I knew that it was going to be during the vote.”
But Reidy also outlined that she struggled a lot in the days leading up to the incident.
“This was a dying to the flesh,” she said. “I thought that I was going to lose my family. I thought that I was going to lose my freedom. I thought that I could end up in prison. I didn’t know. A lot of this was grieving what was to come.”
Reidy noted that she had a one in seven chance of being assigned to take the vote that night, as stenographers are assigned on rotation. But she felt that she would be the one selected, and would then have to do what God asked her to do.
“I’m not a protester. I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” Reidy stated in the video. “This is not anything that I had a dog in this fight.”
“I didn’t lose my mind,” she added. “I didn’t have a breakdown. … I remember once the elevator door shut [when they escorted me away], I felt this relief, like, ‘Thank God that’s over with.’”

Although Reidy lost her job as a House stenographer over the incident, her husband Dan says that she did what was right.
“She’s my hero,” he stated in the video explanation. “She was obedient to God.”

School District Corrects Teachers Union Contract Giving ‘Special Consideration’ to Non-Christians

FERNDALE, Mich. – A Michigan school district has corrected a teachers union contract that gives ‘special consideration’ to non-Christians
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Officials with the Ferndale School District state that they were unaware that language in the teachers union contract suggested discrimination against Christian applicants.
“Should there be two (2) or more of these applicants with equal qualifications for the position and one (1) or more of these applicants with equal qualifications is a current employee, the current employee with the greatest seniority shall be assigned,” the contract read. “Special consideration shall be given to women and/or minority defined as: Native American, Asian American, Latino, African American and those of the non-Christian faith. However, in all appointments to vacant positions, the Board’s decision shall be final.”
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy had recently discovered the language in reviewing contracts throughout the state. It then contacted the school district to express concern.
“Earlier this week, Ferndale Public Schools learned of antiquated language in employee contracts that we somehow missed when recently bargaining contracts,” district spokeswoman Shelley Rose wrote to FOX News. “This language dates back to at least 1979, and is not in compliance with current legislation. Fortunately, the district also has newer and strong anti-discrimination language in the contracts and has never, in our known history, enacted this now out-of-date language.”
“Ferndale Public Schools takes the issue of discrimination seriously and has acted swiftly to resolve this unfortunate contract language issue,” she said.
The district asserts that it does not discriminate against Christians, and states that it is unsure how the language at issue had been overlooked for so long. The latest teachers union contract had been for 2011-2012, but was extended to 2017.
EAG News notes that Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of religion.

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Boko Haram Storms Mosque, Kills 56 in 'Baffling' New Attacks

Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has killed at least 56 people in a new wave of attacks in Nigeria, including 44 worshipers who were slain at a mosque in Konduga – actions which some analysts have described as "baffling."

"Gunmen believed to be Boko Haram members entered the mosque and opened fire on Muslim worshipers, killing 44," an anonymous government official said, according to AFP.
"We believe the attack was not unconnected with the cooperation residents are giving to security operatives in identifying and arresting Boko Haram members in their midst."
The attack on Aug. 10 at the mosque left 44 people dead, while another 12 people were killed at the nearby Ngom village a day later.
"If this was Boko Haram, it might appear baffling. Many churches have been bombed but why would a group that wants to impose Islamic law across Nigeria open fire on worshipers at a mosque?" BBC News Nigeria correspondent Will Ross asked, while noting that the armed gunmen might have believed the vigilantes opposed to their mission were praying there.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is a sin," has killed thousands of people over the last few years. The extremist organization has heavily targeted Christian churches and their congregations, bombing worship buildings and killing pastors in plain sight. They have made it clear that their mission is to drive out Nigeria's Christians and establish Islamic law to rule over the African country, which is divided between geographic and religious lines.

"We have killed countless soldiers and we are going to kill more," Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram's leader, explained in a video in which he claimed responsibility for the attacks,  reported.
President Goodluck Jonathan has urged the Nigerian army to do all it can to counter Boko Haram's attacks, though Shekau claimed the group's strength has not been dented and it will continue in its mission.
"A lot has been said against us: that we are finished, they have finished with us. All these are lies," the Islamic leader continued. "We are alive. Nobody killed us, and we shall continue to kill until Boko Haram is accepted by the people."
AFP reported that the military has encouraged the formation of the vigilante groups who seek to help in the arrests of Boko Haram members, and they have been credited for reducing the number of attacks – though fears remain that the situation could lead to even more violence, such as the deadly attack on the Konduga mosque.
"Three months ago the military campaign was launched," BBC's Ross continued. "But the Islamist militants have not been defeated - over the past month more than 160 people have been killed in attacks on boarding schools, army and police bases as well as a Christian-dominated area of Kano City. Other attacks go unreported. So what is the way forward?"
Earlier this month, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) noted that Boko Haram is being accused of possible crimes against humanity over the death of thousands of Christians and Muslims in the African nation.
"The information available provide a reasonable basis for believing that in July 2009 Boko Haram launched a widespread and systematic attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 civilians, Muslims and Christians in different parts of Nigeria," wrote Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor of the ICC in a report.

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GENDER DOESN'T MATTER

Amanda Duffy

Given Deborah, Jael, and Judith, Why Shouldn't Women Serve in Combat?

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Men Are Fitter

Owen Strachan is a contributing writer for the Gospel Coalition and executive director of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

Recently, the Marine Corps Gazette published a bold op-ed on a hot topic: women in combat. This essay was not written by a patriarchal jarhead, however. It was authored by Katie Petronio, Marine captain.

Petronio, a former college hockey player, shared that after five months on the frontlines in Afghanistan, "I had muscle atrophy in my thighs that was causing me to constantly trip and my legs to buckle with the slightest grade change." Eventually, Petronio lost 17 pounds and was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome. She concluded, "There is no way I could endure the physical demands of the infantrymen whom I worked beside."

This experience confirms the fears of evangelicals who have concerns about women in combat. Scripture teaches that woman was made from man, a truth that grounds her dependence on him (Gen. 2:21-22). It details how Adam failed to own this responsibility and protect his wife. For this reason, God addressed him first after the forbidden fruit was eaten: "Where are you?" (Gen. 3:9). Adam was a self-crippled man.

This tragic pattern continues in different places in biblical history, leaving courageous godly women like Deborah and Jael to lead in place of men. When Barak quails at the thought of battle against the Canaanites, Deborah promises that this abdication "will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman" (Judges 4:9, ESV). We hear her scorn loud and clear, even as we hear the pounding of Jael's tent peg into Sisera's skull (4:21).

David, whose kingship begins with his stunning defeat of Goliath, is supported during his reign by his "mighty men," something of an Israelite SEAL Team Six (1 Chron. 11:10-47). David's sacrificial valor anticipates the warrior-savior, Jesus Christ, whose death on behalf of his people was an act of war against Satan (Isa. 53; Eph. 4:8). Jesus was a self-sacrificial man.

Men receive their marching orders from this Christlike example. Paul teaches that husbands "ought to love their wives as their own bodies." In these and other texts, we see that the Bible consistently shows men protecting women, whether in home, church, or broader society.

The Bible teaches textually what common sense tells us naturally—and physiological study confirms scientifically. According to scientists Anne and Bill Moir, authors of Why Men Don't Iron, men are generally larger, stronger, and faster, and have greater lung capacity, a faster metabolism, and roughly 11 times the testosterone of women. God's design for men and women is good. We ignore it at our own peril.

If men will not own this responsibility, then women will be forced to take it on as did biblical women such as Deborah and Jael (and the extrabiblical figure Judith). Many modern men fail to mirror Christ in leading, providing, and protecting. In the cries of fatherless children, the strained voice of working mothers desperately seeking "work-life balance," and the Marine Corps Gazette, we hear echoes of the Bible's first question, addressed to a self-crippled man: "Where are you?"

Gender Doesn't Matter

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