Chicago, Ill., Nov 15, 2013 / 04:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Obama administration’s defense of the HHS mandate is “unsound and extraordinary” for contending that business owners cannot have religious freedom protections. “The government’s argument is premised on a far-too-narrow view of religious freedom: Religious exercise is protected in the home and the house of worship but not beyond,” the court’s Nov. 12 decision in Grote Industries v. Sebelius said. “Religious people do not practice their faith in that compartmentalized way; free-exercise rights are not so circumscribed.” Compelling businesses owners and their companies to provide services such as abortion-causing drugs and devices, sterilization, and contraception “substantially burdens their religious exercise rights,” the court wrote. The government’s argument that religious exercise claims are irrelevant to commercial activity would “leave religious exercise wholly unprotected in …More

AP Story summarizes the divisions among religions on how to maintain their religious freedom and how the Gay community has numerous ways to legally challenge the religious "exemptions" given to faiths that object to Gay marriage.
m.apnews.com/ap/db_268773/contentdetail.htm

RACHEL ZOLL
Published:Yesterday
The battle over gay marriage is heating up in the states, energizing religious groups that oppose same-sex relationships - but also dividing them.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court gave married gays and heterosexuals equal status under federal law, but did not declare a nationwide right for gays to marry, setting the stage for state-by-state decisions. So faith leaders are forming new coalitions and preparing for the legislative and courtroom battles ahead.
Yet, traditional religious leaders, their supporters and the First Amendment attorneys advising them are divided over strategy and goals, raising questions about how much they can influence the outcome.
To read whole AP report click here
m.apnews.com/ap/db_268773/contentdetail.htm