Franciscan University is First Catholic Casualty Due to HHS Mandate,Obamacare

So, actually you can't keep your insurance. Something I figured was the true intent the entire time. There plan is to force us into a single-payer health system. That is a major reason why Obamacare either needs to be struck down by the Supreme Court or repealed. Franciscan University is my alma mater and it is sad that because of the rising government health care costs because the federal government is marching forward instituting this boondoggle that the university has been forced to drop their health insurance coverage for students. In addition Franciscan University has made it crystal clear that it will not comply with the unjust HHS mandate which would force them to violate their beliefs in accordance with Holy Roman Catholic Church.  Obamacare is an example of secularism run amok.  Hopefully we will hear in June that the Supreme Court has struck down Obamacare.



Here is the new policy from Franciscan University:

Campus Health Insurance Policy

The Obama Administration has mandated that all health insurance plans must cover “women’s health services” including contraception, sterilization, and abortion-causing medications as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Up to this time, Franciscan University has specifically excluded these services and products from its student health insurance policy, and we will not participate in a plan that requires us to violate the consistent teachings of the Catholic Church on the sacredness of human life.

Additionally, the PPACA increased the mandated maximum coverage amount for student policies to $100,000 for the 2012-13 school year, which would effectively double your premium cost for the policy in fall 2012, with the expectation of further increases in the future.

Due to these changes in regulation by the federal government, beginning with the 2012-13 school year, the University 1) will no longer require that all full-time undergraduate students carry health insurance, 2) will no longer offer a student health insurance plan, and 3) will no longer bill those not covered under a parent/guardian plan or personal plan for student health insurance. The current student health insurance plan will expire on August 15, 2012.

We encourage you to decide how you are going to provide for accidents or illnesses requiring visits to physicians, health clinics, or the hospital emergency room while you are a student here. As always, our Health Center on campus will be staffed by a certified nurse practitioner Monday – Friday during normal business hours. No insurance is necessary to receive basic health-related services at the Health Center, and the visits cost only $5 at the time of service. However, if you are referred off campus for further lab testing, physician specialists, X-rays, etc., you will be responsible to pay for those services. 

The Threat that the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, & CAIR Pose to the West

Here is a video of an Orlando mosque being busted, supporting Hamas.  This shows the mosque hosting a Hamas advocate named George Galloway.


Here is an excellent article on the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and CAIR written by Moshe Dann of The American Thinker:

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is one of the most dangerous Islamic groups in the world today, not only because it supports terrorism -- providing political and financial support for its Palestinian branch, Hamas, for example -- but because it is part of a global Islamist network and promotes an ideology that encourages extremism and terrorism.



With branches in seventy countries and linked to major Islamic organizations, the MB has an extensive and well-financed network of educational, social, and cultural institutions which promote a strategic MB plan for Islamic dominance -- not through violence, but integration, becoming part of the national social and political life, and the application of Shariah law. These connections give it access to political power and explain why it and the organizations it supports are courted by governments and NGOs. Jean-Pierre Filiu of the Hudson Institute:


The Muslim Brotherhood ... has for reasons both ideological and tactical tended in recent decades to embrace a more limited conception of jihad combined with missionary activity and organized political struggle.


Hillel Fradkin, director of the Hudson Institute's Center on Islam, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim World, notes that the MB, founded in Egypt in 1928, is the source of modern radical Islamic movements and an important part of Muslim communities around the world. The takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas changed the picture. For the first time, the MB had its own territory, a virtual state, and an army. Filiu:


The Brotherhood-offshoot Hamas, which since 2006 has officially ruled over the Gaza strip, is the first Palestinian militia to consistently limit its activities to the territory of pre-1948 Palestine-meaning Israel, the West Bank and Gaza... In the process of consolidating its power, [it] subsequently repressed Gaza's al-Qaeda-inspired groups. Nowadays, al-Qaeda's ongoing conflict with Hamas has become one of the main liabilities to al-Qaeda's propaganda and its efforts to establish itself as the leader of the worldwide jihadist movement.


According to an MB document written in 1991, its role in host countries is a process of settlement called "Civilization-Jihad," which will "eliminate and destroy Western civilization from within" and establish a "global Islamic state." To accomplish this, through mosques and Islamic centers, the MB engages in "coalitions," "absorption," and civic "cooperation," building parallel social, political, and cultural organizations. Its guiding principles are those of Hasan al-Banna, who established the Egyptian MB movement and was closely allied with the Nazis.


The North American Connection


The most comprehensive study of the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States is Steven Merley's monograph published by the Hudson Institute (April 2009). He concludes:


[The MB's] extensive history of support for Islamic fundamentalism, anti-Semitism, and support for terrorism ... includes ideological, financial, and legal support, particularly for Hamas and other Palestinian terror organizations.


MB affiliate organizations like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) -- which grew out of the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), a front group fund-raising for Islamic jihad and Hamas terrorist organizations -- are not outgrowths of popular or communal expressions, like Christian and Jewish organizations, but instead are self-appointed representatives, combining a volatile mix of religion and politics. Most MB organizations are funded by Saudis and Gulf States, representing non-American, predominantly Arab Muslims.


With over thirty branches in North America, CAIR presents itself as the largest "Muslim civil rights organization," seeking to "enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding." A few years ago, CAIR was included in a list of unindicted co-conspirators alleged by prosecutors to have participated in a conspiracy to funnel money to Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation.
CONTINUED

I am for freedom of religion but when a segment or segments of that religion (Islam) turns violent, other nonviolent persons support that violent cause, the religious peoples' main motivation is not to assimilate into American society but is in fact to overthrow the very Foundation of our country by working to change our constitutional principles whether it be by using peaceful means as a front or violent means to impose their discriminatory, misogynistic, and oppressive beliefs on the people who reside in non-Muslim countries then that stated religion is more than a religion.  Segments of the religion of Islam have become more of a political ideology of tyranny and terrorism than a religion.  I do believe that there are Muslims who are peaceful but I believe that Islam has become a political ideology which promotes and authorizes violence in the name of "Allah" moreso than a religion of peace.

Counseling Student Pressured to Change Christian Beliefs in the Name of Diversity

Here is another instance of how diversity and tolerance are used to discriminate against individuals who believe in traditional Christian beliefs.

Here are 2 definitions of diversity:
1) diverseness: noticeable heterogeneity; "a diversity of possibilities"; "the range and variety of his work is amazing"
2) In the political arena, the term diversity (or diverse) is used to describe political entities (neighborhoods, student bodies, etc) with members who have identifiable differences in their backgrounds or lifestyles.

It seems as though that the way the term diversity is used in our society today is quite antithetical to the word's actual meaning. It seems as though progressivism has hijacked yet another word in our society to mean something it doesn't (like social justice). Do those people who claim to believe in diversity actually believe in diversity or just in acceptance of different groups with the same liberal ideology? Those people who claim to champion the cause of diversity are actually against diversity of thought. The champions of tolerance are not very tolerant. That's another misnomer. The faculty at Augusta State University are demanding that the student be tolerant of others' beliefs while they are refusing to be tolerant of her beliefs. Liberals version of tolerance equals outright intolerance of the worst kind.

Augusta State University gave a graduate student in counseling named Jen Keeton an ultimatum -- either give up your Christian beliefs or be expelled from the graduate counseling program. What happened to our right to Freedom of Religion? The student expressed her Christian beliefs on homosexuality and then ASU faculty targeted her because she refused to compromise her Christian beliefs.

"Faculty members had demanded she 'attend at least three workshops … which emphasize … diversity training sensitive toward working with GLBTQ populations.' They also wanted her to "develop" her knowledge of homosexuality by reading 10 articles and increasing her exposure to homosexuals and lesbians by attending 'the Gay Pride Parade.'"

They said that she must change her whole Christian belief system to conform to the American Counseling Association's code of ethics. But, this doesn't make sense since the code of ethics covers behavior regarding treatment of clients and not belief systems. Plus, she hadn't even seen one client, so how did she violate a client when she hadn't even seen any clients yet? It is quite apparent that Jen Keeton was being discriminiated against for her christian beliefs and not because she did anything unethical or violated any code of ethics.

Bob Unruh, BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS 'Lose Christianity or face expulsion' Georgia student told to read 'gay' lit, attend 'pride parade,' change beliefs, WorldNetDaily July 22, 2010 http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=182441

Keeton VNR from ADF Media Relations on Vimeo.

Catholic Professor Fired For Being Faithful To Church Teaching on Homosexuality

This is against our first amendment rights. Dr. Howell is a faithful Catholic who has been persecuted for his religious beliefs. He was explaining the Catholic Church's beliefs with regards to homesexuality and homesexual acts in a course on Roman Catholicism. The Catholic Church believes that homosexual acts are sinful. It was his choice to take the course. If he was so offended by Catholic beliefs then he shouldn't have taken the course.

From CatholicVoteAction.org:

"The local press has published the email of Dr. Howell’s that prompted the student complaint as well as the complaint itself. It’s pretty clear that the university chose a poorly presented student complaint (who did not even understand what was being taught) over Dr. Howell’s reasonable and rational presentation of the material.

As Catholics, we can’t allow this injustice to stand. If a university can have valid grounds for firing a professor as upstanding a this one for an opinion so universally held by the Church, other universities will be able to gradually push out faithful Catholic teachers from their institutions once they decide the positions taken by the Church and being defended by such-and-such a teacher are inconvenient or offensive.

I am happy to know that the Alliance Defense Fund is representing Dr. Howell and that they are in the process of deciding how best to proceed legally.

In the meantime, there is something we can do.

Let’s swamp the University of Illinois Public Affairs office with emails from concerned Catholics letting them know how offensive and unjust it is to fire a teacher simply for being Catholic. You can contact them at publicaffairs@illinois.edu"