The answer is yes in some matters, no in others, and in the case of the contraceptive mandate, the answer is we don’t know yet. People making conscience claims, no matter how sincere, are not guaranteed to win against the government. The Religion Clause Blog is a great source of tracking winners and losers.

. . . this Administration is sending the message that while it allows conscientious objectors from military actions . . .

This is an odd example now that we have an all-volunteer army. In any case, the military conscientious objector must be opposed to all wars. If someone currently in the military is not a pacifist, but he believes the war in Afghanistan is immoral, he can be sent to Afghanistan no matter how much it offends his conscience.

I am hoping that some way around the contraceptive mandate can be found, but it bothers me when the issue is discussed as if all religious organizations or individuals had to do was establish that something troubled their consciences and that very fact alone obligated the government to accommodate them.