CHICK -fil-A Day

Pay close attention to events as they unfold. Your freedom is at risk.

Today, the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain is under attack, not because of discrimination at its hundreds of locations, but because of the beliefs of its president, Dan Cathy, th^t marriage should be between one man and one woman.

These beliefs are part of his Christian faith.
If a person, group or compa­ny chooses not to do business with or even boycott an entity because of its stance on a particular subject, that’s great — it’s the American way.

But something else is hap­pening here. Certain govern­ment officials — so far the mayor of Boston and an alder­man in Chicago — have said they want to ban Chick-fil-A.

The issue here is not the action of the company or even of Cathy, but their beliefs.
The same is true with the Health and Human Services mandate to the Affordable Care Act.

Until the 1960s, nearly all Amer’cans believed that con­traception and abortion were wrong. Most Christian church­es still believe that — especially the Catholic Church.

The HHS mandate requires those who employ 50 or more people to provide health insur­ance for employees, including contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs, or face a pen­alty that could easily bankrupt the’compariy or force the com­pany to drop its health insur­ance plan, leaving employees without coverage.

The issue is not contracep­tion or abortion. The govern­ment is forcing many Christian businesses, including universi­ties, hospitals and nonprofit agencies serving the poor, to go against their beliefs if they are to pay for drugs and proce­dures to which they are dia­metrically opposed.

This is the home of the brave and the land of the free. Are you free to believe what you choose? Our First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, but as you can see, George Soros and the government are forcing, or trying to, other beliefs on us

How long will we stand idle? Pay attention. Your freedom is slipping away.

Phil Nolen of Tampa operates an insur­ance services firm.