There is an absolute tsunami of leftist control over our most fundamental freedom in our country: Freedom of Religion. I cannot open a news report without seeing someone’s religious rights being denied.
The Mark Houch Case
One Pro-life advocate is fighting back. Mark Houch is suing the Department of Justice (DOJ) for $4.3 million. Mark Houch and his family were victims of an FBI early morning raid on their home in 2022. Approximately twenty-five FBI agents surrounded Houch’s family home, fully armed with rifles, pounding on the front door to let them in. Charges were brought against Houck on two counts of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) for pushing an abortion escort (in 2021) who was verbally attacking his 12-year-old son. Yes, that was the arrest warrant that needed twenty-five fully armed FBI men to serve this father of seven. The attorneys from the Thomas More Society successfully got Mark Houch acquitted of all charges.
The FACE Act was put into place under President Bill Clinton in 1994. Ironically, the law prohibiting access by intimidation, obstruction, threats, or physical force toward abortion providers or clients also protects people trying to exercise their First Amendment rights at a place of worship. It also prohibits the intentional damage or destruction of a reproductive health care facility or house of worship. However, hundreds of Catholic Churches were vandalized after the overturning of Roe Vs. Wade, few arrests were made.
Houch’s $4.3 million suit accuses Biden’s DOJ of “malicious prosecution, retaliatory prosecution, abuse of process, false arrest, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress committed by federal employees and agents against Mr. Houck, Mrs. Houck, and their children.”
Lifesite News recently reported on another abortion-related case. Stating, ”Shortly after Houck’s dramatic dawn arrest by the FBI, fellow pro-life Catholic and father of eleven Paul Vaughn was similarly targeted by federal law enforcement. That same month, the DOJ hit 11 pro-life activists, including an 87-year-old survivor of a communist concentration camp, with federal charges under the FACE Act for a peaceful protest at a Nashville, Tennessee, abortion facility. “
Washington Protests
Other non-violent demonstrators were at a notorious Abortion clinic in Washington DC, known for late-term abortions. They were there to give women information and alternatives to abortions that were about to be committed. These people believed in every person’s right to life, regardless of age. And the right to practice their duty as Christians to defend the most vulnerable.
They were arrested for violating the FACE Act, and many were held for weeks before being released on bail. They were given sentences of eighteen months to four years. These men and women over sixty are not precisely public enemy number one.
Glaring Hypocrisy
The hypocrisy is glaring. People can violently protest and assault police officers doing their job, riot, destroy public and private property, and not be arrested. Yet, people seeking to save the lives of others are seen as a major threat to people and arrested as hardened criminals. One woman (senior citizen) who was being arraigned was brought into court in hand and ankle shackles.
The Fight in Our Schools
A different court case that also came to my attention was reported In the Federalist—a story by Andrea Picciotto-Bayor, Sept. 4, 2023. Three families of diverse religious backgrounds sued the Mongomery County Board of Education for not allowing them to opt out of the newly introduced school curriculum, including a collection of over twenty LGBTQ+ books for grades Pre-K to 8th grade. These include picture word books with letters for Leather, underwear, and drag queen. And that was the Pre-K one. Other books for the fifth grade covered the subject of a transitioning girl who felt like a boy.
A Biden-appointed judge denied the parents’ request for the children to opt out, stating that there was no proof that the subjects could harm the children. This flagrantly ignored the parents’ rights to freedom of speech and religion for their children.
The Fight Goes On
I am afraid there will continue to be a never-ending assault on our freedoms of Speech, Protest, and Religion. Not to mention a total lack of common sense.
