Obama's Assault on Religious Freedom - Did Anybody See This Coming?

Obama's assault on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Freedom, has shocked and rocked Catholic Church leaders, other religious organizations, and many others as well, who see First Amendment rights being destroyed. Did we see this coming? 

I'm writing this today as a long time devout Catholic, who, though, not claiming sainthood here, nevertheless followed the precepts of my Catholic faith to the letter!    BUT - did I feel that the leadership of my Church really represented me?  Did I feel represented in the Catholic parish I and my husband attended for years?  Do my husband and I feel that our children were given sound Catholic catechesis and formation in their faith?    My answer to these questions and many others,  is a resounding NO!  As devout Catholics, my husband and I were treated as though we were completely out of step with many of our fellow Catholics seated in the pews beside us, who, used contraception, put their daughters on the Pill, claimed they were "Catholics for Choice" - one woman even taking her granddaughter for an abortion, who, seating herself in the front pew the following Sunday, walked up to receive communion without blinking an eye.  Did we see this coming?

And, what were we hearing from the pulpit, for the past 40 years, regarding these matters?  SILENCE!  And the silence was not the worst of it.  If my husband and I dared to inquire of these matters, and reveal our traditional Catholic loyalty to the Magesterium of the Church, the priests themselves treated us as dinosaurs from a bygone era, and even lepers in some cases. These same priests were telling women in the confessionals,  "Follow your own conscience", regarding artificial contraception. Those younger women whose consciences were less formed in the teachings of their Church, naturally took this as a sign to do "whatever felt right for them" ... the mantra of the Age of Aquarius Generation ... and "Relativism" replaced "Absolute Truth".   Did these priests see this coming?

This doing "whatever felt right for them" began to trickle into every area of the Catholic Conscience - and with no clear voice from the pulpit, reminding Catholics of Church teaching on such matters as contraception - eventually this led to an older woman, who, though at her age would have been better formed in her Catholic faith, felt free to take her granddaughter for an abortion. Pandora's Box had been opened ... which is what Pope Paul VI had warned of in his encyclical Humanae Vitae.  Did they see this coming?

But Pope Paul VI's warnings seemed to fall on the deaf ears of many priests, and even our local bishop, who my husband and I consulted in our confusion over "where" the voice of our Church had gone? In fact, many in the Church hierarchy actually disagreed and rebelled against Humanae Vitae. Did they see this coming? 

 Needless to say, my husband and I wandered in a desert for many years, until we began to find other "traditional Catholics" whom we found commonality with, and we all began homeschooling our children, and found a more traditional Catholic parish, where we could congregate.  We felt like the "faithful remnant" who had been totally marginalized in our own Catholic Church.   Had we seen this coming?

Now, Catholic Family News states,  "In late January, Obama signed off on a Health and Human Services ruling that is a direct affront to Catholics."  Really?  Which Catholics are we talking about here?  Are we talking about the majority of Catholics whom, as evidenced in numerous studies still use contraception anyway?  Are we talking about the Catholic priests who told these women to "follow their own conscience" regarding contraception?  Are we talking about the Catholics who call themselves, "Catholics for Choice"?  And last but not least, are we talking about the grandmother who took her granddaughter to have an abortion, because the pulpits were silent on the matter?   Did any of these see this coming?

Most of all, is Catholic Family News alluding to the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB), most of whom were so supportive of the Social Justice crowd, that they did not take a firm stand against Obama's National Healthcare ... only on the abortion element ... which led to it's passage ... and did anyone see this coming?  

So what's the problem?  Am I blaming the Catholic Church?   As a traditional Catholic, how could I do that?  For I fully support and have lived by the precepts and teachings of my Catholic Faith for my entire life.  What I am saying, and as respectively as I can, is that the leadership of my Church has been "Asleep during the Sermon on the Mount", as St. Thomas More said of the Clergy of England,  And they've slept long past the alarm ... and now they're scrambling to close the barn door, long after the horse got out, and is well down the road .... and can any of us really say, that we did not see this coming?