The US catholic church appears unhappy with a provision of Obamacare that requires health insurance plans offered to employees of catholic institutions (churches, catholic hospitals, catholic schools, catholic charities, etc) to include abortions, abortion inducing drugs, and birth control.
The Obama administration initially responded by saying that the catholic church would be given a one year waiver to comply. The church decided that was not acceptable.
The Obama administration has now said that although they will still require all health insurance plans to include abortions, abortion inducing drugs, and birth control that the church won't have to directly pay for these provisions that they find objectionable, instead the insurance companies will be required to offer these provisions as "free" benefits to employees of catholic institutions.
Yeah right, "free" benefits is right up there with free lunches and the tooth fairy. Although I guess when one looks at the Obama deficit perhaps democrats have convinced enough people to believe in free stuff, and a right to free stuff like cell phones, free health insurance (that includes abortions), free flat screen TV's, free housing, free food, free internet, free unemployment benefits, free bailouts for unions, free mortgage bailouts, free retirement benefits, free education, etc. But I digress.
The catholic church has no one to blame but themselves on this issue, Obamacare would not have passed if not for the support of catholic hospitals, nuns, and other "progressive" catholics. I think it's quite fitting that the Obama administration will force the catholic church and it's institutions to pay for and to offer health plans that include abortions, abortion inducing drugs, and birth control.
I've watched what the the US bishops conference has done, and more importantly what they have not done, over the years as many core catholic beliefs have come under attack from the left and have decided that the US catholic church is headed by a bunch of liberal socialist wimps. How many Bishops and priests lost their jobs, houses, insurance, retirement, or vacations during the Obama recession? Well, at least the US catholic church is funded by voluntary contributions at this time and not by mandatory confiscation of wealth from taxpayers.
I feel that since the church is not part of the solution then they are part of the problem. The action I recommend is to stop contributing financially to the catholic church and instead redirect those funds to support conservative pro-life pro-family candidates and members of congress.
It's time for the Catholic church to figure out what it believes in and to stand up for what it believes in. A call for prayer, a public wringing of hands, and issuance of a strongly worded letter are not an adequate response to the continual assault on core catholic beliefs by the democrat party. A good start would be for the church to excommunicate all abortion rights supporting "catholic" members of congress, including the current vice president and house minority leader.
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Chip, I think that your solution is brilliant. Stop giving money to the church, starve the Catholic Church. It will give strength and vigor to our Moslem brothers who, in turn, will make their cherished Shania Law the Law of the Land. No more problems, the State and Church will be one: Allah is Great! Yea right! Kick the church while it is in the process of righting itself.
No, I will not stop my contributions, because the church, with all its faults and weaknesses, still brings us comfort, and I firmly believe that the majority of priests, bishops and nuns are honest and good people. As a matter of fact, the Church may need an extra push to upright itself.
All Christian’s churches are run by humans, and therefore have experienced trouble times from the beginning to the present. “Errare humanum est.”
However, I agree with most statements enumerated in your blog and in the piece by Hillsdale Professor Paul Rahe.
In my opinion, the way to go is to let our voice be heard by talking to other people, by writing to our bishop, and by letting our local pastor know our disapproval of the direction taken by the Catholic Church. Also give extra financial support to the politicians who, like us, believe that it is not the job of the government to take money from some to redistribute it to others under the disguise of charity. To be silent would be the worst choice, but there is no need to fall into radicalism, and I disapprove of taking extreme measures at this junction. Papa
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