The recent brouhaha over making church institutions behave like any other employer in the provision of health support services is yet another red herring from the right. (Incidental thought: Do red herrings with enlarged right fins swim in circles, thus going nowhere?)

The issue for the federal government is what are the rights of INDIVIDUALS, not ORGANIZATIONS. Those who believe the employer's beliefs and preferences trump those of the individual below the law are exactly those who support the US Supreme Court's Citizens United decision and related union-busting activities of the far right. Institutions are no more "persons" than are businesses.

It is time for Americans to reassert that only human beings are persons and that all their institutions are merely organizational conveniences. Institutions of all kinds can be abolished at any time by action of their constituencies, without regard for eternal values, while true persons have lifelong, inalienable rights.

And for those who revere the history of religious liberty of our largest church, allow me to stop laughing before I utter the word "INQUISITION!"