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Contraception Blowback 2/10/2012 10:07:17 AM
Do Catholic bishops have the right to impose their
beliefs on their non-Catholic employees?
Despite the fact that 98% of Catholic women admit to using birth control some time in their lives, Catholic Bishops and hospitals are (were) throwing a hissy fit over the Health Care Act mandate that they cover contraceptives and birth control.
An even bigger concern than federal bullying is sexually transmitted disease; Pope Benedict recently flipped on the church’s position in Africa where AIDS was running rampant, allowing African men to use condoms. Why not America? Despite what Catholic Bishops might want to believe, Catholics do have affairs just like everyone else and sometimes they don‘t use condoms. What's worse a terminal disease or your ideology getting roughed up? And is it really moral to have as many children as you like when we have 46 million people hovering around the poverty line? Minnesota GOP Tom Emmer, 2010 candidate for governor, ran commercials exploiting his seven children. I imagine Rich Santorum does the same thing. What if everyone had seven children? How long would it take before the United States became another India or China? We already have a pollution problem, and we’ve only got something like 315 million people. Do the math.
Doesn’t the Catholic church have more serious issues? Many of those same Catholic bishops who claim to be so moral, looked the other way while Catholic priests abused children. Many of them are preaching against gay marriage from the pulpit, a violation of federal law. Non-profits who violate federal law should be paying taxes. If I tried something like that I'd be in leg irons right now. There’s also a suggestion that the church blamed their problem on homosexual priests when we know heterosexuals are just as capable of child abuse as anyone. Jerry Sandusky is not a homosexual; he is now whining that his grandchildren are not allowed to come and see him in jail.
Ironically the church used to be a much more liberal institution. I was raised Catholic; John XXIII called the Ecumenical Council, trying to bring the various faiths closer together. Today they side with the Christian Coalition whose former leader was noted hypocrite Ralph Reed who, along with his buddy Jack Abramoff, stole millions from Indian casino owners they were supposed to be lobbying for. For what it's worth Wikipedia says he laundered the money through Grover Norquist's "No New Taxes" foundation or he'd be in jail now, too. Coincidentally, when asked about a Christian Coalition meeting between Catholic bishops and Southern Baptists Opus Dei member Sandusky said, “It made me want to puke.”
Protestant religions also allow contraception and birth control. The only other religion I know of that forbids it is the Orthodox Jews; you know, those chauvinists who tried to send that woman to the back of the bus a while ago in Israel?
Politicians also need to stop attacking good people. Planned Parenthood has done a lot more good than any GOP politician pretending to govern in Congress. Teachers, firemen, and police officers are losing their right to negotiate because they belong to unions. I can’t think of any better people than those three professions, unless you count doctors who have their own lobbying entity, The AMA, and nurses who also belong to unions. Have you been to a hospital lately. Aren’t they great?
I guess it really doesn’t matter because Obama seems to have caved, giving Catholic hospitals a pass and requiring insurance companies to provide free contraceptives to those same women. I’m from a small town in central Minnesota. The formerly Catholic hospital in St. Cloud has been sold to CentraCare a large health care company. There was a statue in front of the hospital of Father Pierz, founder of the small town I came from. He was a Central Minnesota missionary to the Indians. CentraCare removed the statue and gave it to the town of Pierz. I guess they didn’t want to offend any non-Catholics who might be treated there. How about the non-Catholic nurses, doctors, and clerks who work at Catholic hospitals?
