Bio
Bill McGurn is presently a Vice President at News Corporation. He has served as Chief Speechwriter for President George W. Bush, as the chief editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal in New York, and as Washington bureau chief of National Review. You can read his weekly column "Main Street" in the Wall Street Journal.


Re: Rendering Unto Caesar
I don't think anyone has suggested civil disobedience in the sense of not paying the fine. If anyone has evidence of that, I would like to see it. There is a big difference between what might be ruled as sensible in a forward deployment in, say, Iraq, and the general principle that a member of the Administration gets to decide what gets said or unsaid in the pulpit. I believe the last time this came before the courts -- involving clergy speaking on abortion -- the courts were pretty firm that the priests and rabbis and ministers do not give up their First Amendment rights. Also the part about ministering to non-Catholics is absurd. This was a letter to be read out at a Mass attended by Catholics. Finally, though CAtholics are disproportionately impacted by this law it is not directed only at Catholics. If you are an owner of a Taco Bell or an insurance company who objects you are affected too. That's why it was encouraging to hear Romney promise to end the whole mandate for everyone if he were elected.