In alignment with its national organization, the Interfaith Alliance Hawaii said the U.S. Supreme Court made "a grave error" this week in allowing two businesses to cite their owners’ religious beliefs as the reason to deny employees contraceptive coverage, as required by a federal health mandates.

Inclusive Orthodox Church Bishop Randolph Sykes, chairman of the local Interfaith group, said in a news release, "The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii strongly supports women’s rights and respects their decisions about their health. … Hawaii is home to many small family businesses representing a unique culture of diversity in faith and religion. It is very important to demonstrate our resolve to remain an open and respectful society, the essence of the spirit of aloha that is the basis of our culture."

Sykes said the Hawaii alliance agreed with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said in her 35-page dissent that "the mandated contraception coverage enables women to avoid the health problems unintended pregnancies may visit on them and their children."

National Interfaith Alliance President C. Welton Gaddy spoke against the court’s decision Monday in favor of Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp.

"The Supreme Court made a grave error (Monday)," Gaddy said in a news release. "The balance between religious freedom and other compelling interests has always been tenuous, but we may very well remember (Monday’s) decision as the moment that balance was radically recalibrated. Not only has the court, for the first time in history, expanded the definition of religious freedom to include for-profit corporate entities, it has determined that the free exercise of those employers outweighs that of their employees.

"The First Amendment is at its best when it is used to protect the rights of minorities from the whims of the powerful," Gaddy continued. "(Monday’s) decision, which gives the powerful the right to force their religious beliefs on those around them, is a far cry from the best traditions of religious freedom."

Gaddy, whose organization represents 75 faith groups, said the decision leaves questions about religious freedom, including whether the decision "could eventually move beyond closely held corporations."

"Additionally, the court may have only ruled on the contraception mandate (Monday), but there is no reason to believe the implications of this decision will be limited to that issue," he said.

Gaddy’s entire statement can be read at interfaithalliance.org.