The argument over the contraception mandate in health care coverage remains the top news story. The Washington Post reports that White House advisors are asking President Obama to seek compromise on the issue, but a new poll shows that a majority of Catholics don't really object to mandatory contraception coverage in employee health care.

The longer the HHS mandate debate goes on--and the more heated it becomes--the further and further from a rational conversation we get. One casualty is the meaning of the law itself: What, constitutionally, is "religious freedom"? And when, if ever, can the government restrict it for some other purpose?

Amidst all the chatter about the new translation of the Roman Missal in the last few months, did you ever wonder what might happen if a priest just prayed the Mass in his own words, rather than following the text to the letter?

Peggy Noonan over at the Wall Street Journal (subscribers only; HT to Kevin Clarke at America) warns that the Obama's administration's contraception mandate has awoken a "sleeping giant": "The church is split on many things. But do Catholics in the pews want the government telling their church to contravene its beliefs?