Behold! The angel of death has arrived. He carries with him a pack of Trojans, a doctor’s prescription and fistful of Plan B. And hell follows with him.
President Obama has put himself in a very precarious position. The devoted Catholics who once would have unquestioningly followed a different Democratic president into battle now seem apprehensive of Obama. At least that’s what the leaders of this non-taxed organization want you to believe.
Contraception may be a divisive issue, but it should not be ammunition for war.
The First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” And so far it hasn’t. This contraception debate being waged on Capitol Hill has nothing to do with religion. It’s about personal choice and the right to privacy, if you’re into that kind of thing. Women who use birth-control aren’t pointing to the heavens and mocking Jesus on their car ride to Planned Parenthood.
The argument has been made that Catholics should not be forced to use contraceptives. This is a legitimate argument. However, the argument becomes void when you step back and realize no one is forcing contraceptive pills down the throats of good God-fearing Catholics. All that is being asked is that employers and insurance companies offer the birth-control option to those who want it.
The next logical step in the argument would say that the Catholic Church shouldn’t have to provide birth control if it finds it morally inexcusable. And Obama couldn’t agree more, which is why churches don’t have to offer contraception. It’s not like they’ll be handing out condoms instead of the Eucharist. The churches would merely have to let their insurance companies offer contraceptive plans.
When you listen to people like Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich or any Catholic priest Fox News chooses to interview, you notice a very common theme: a bunch of old men telling women what they can and cannot do with their bodies, their privacies and their futures. And there’s something downright funny about Gingrich telling us what’s morally just in a world full of heathens. The thrice-married adulterer has already broken one of the Bible’s biggest taboos involving that whole “sanctity of marriage” thing. But that’s beside the point. He’s squared himself with his Lord. The rest of you sinners? Not so much.
Clearly the Catholic Church is infallible. Its leaders have never been wrong before, nor will they be wrong at any point until the end of time. So I take their word on every little detail about my day to day activities. This is why I don’t eat shellfish (Leviticus 11:10), why I don’t wear polyester or any mixed fabrics (Leviticus 19:19), and why I still have slaves (Leviticus 25:44-46). And that’s just one book of the Bible. You sinners should all go read it now.
Do not be distracted by the rhetoric about this being an issue of an entrenched religion up against the right hand of Satan currently occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This is not Obama’s war on the Catholic Church. Rather, this is the Catholic Church’s war on Obama. And the terrible part is the Catholic Church is willing to sacrifice all of us to win that war.
