did anyone hear the piece on NPR this morning about jehovah's witnesses claiming that allowing insurance companies to pay for blood transfusions was a denial of their religious freedom?
no? you didn't hear that?
of course, you didn't. that would be ridiculous. there was no such report.
but just substitute rick santorum and birth control and then decide how ridiculous he sounds...
I'm sorry, but you are totally misrepresenting this debate. No one wants to prevent contraception from being sold, but religious institutions don't want to be forced to violate their conscience by selling them. And not just the Catholic Church, but Baptist universities are objecting to this as well, and other non-catholic institutions. Would you use the Dept. Of Agriculture (or whom ever controls restaurants and grocery stores) to force Jewish kosher delis to sell bacon? Or a Muslim grocery store to sell pork chops? Or a vegan to wear leather shoes? It is the FORCING by the Federal Government that is the issue. This is a religious liberty Constitutional issue, not a medical insurance issue.
ReplyDeleteI must respectfully disagree. Once the church enter into a very public arena, where involvement is not based on religious beliefs, it becomes a matter of civic policy.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe in war, so should I should not have to pay taxes to support the war. I am not catholic, so I don't want my taxes supporting their hospitals. This is not a matter of religious liberty.
The easy answer to these hospitals (and again, it is not just hospitals; it is universities and other institutions beyond the Catholic church) is to not take federal money, antd quite possibly, these medical institutions would go bankrupt and be forced out of business. Where would that leave us? Medicare and the threat of Obamacare are already forcing physicians and other medical professionals to leave their practices. If the Catholic hospitals in my area leave, we would be screwed. But back to the original issue - should the federal government be able to force religious people to violate their conscience?
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