There’s been a lot of brouhaha from Catholic bishops lately about the Obama administration’s decision to require employers, including institutions like Catholic hospitals and universities, to cover birth control without a copay. It seems to me, however, that aside from Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, I can’t identity any high-profile lay Catholics who are speaking out against it, and most of the hue and cry in the media is coming from right-wing Protestants, while a good many Catholic politicians (e.g. Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray, &c.) are well in Obama’s court on the matter.
I’m not nor have I ever been a Catholic myself, but it seems to me from what i’ve heard in the media that there’s a lot of disconnect between the church and the churchgoers on this issue. I’d like to hear from any Catholic Dopers out there what they think of the issue. Is Obama trampling on your 1st amendment rights? Are the bishops out in left field? Something else entirely?
Personally I think it’s an abomination. Full disclosure; I’m Catholic and I’m more right wing than left; and sad to say neither Biden nor Pelosi are Catholic except in name only.
The basic tenant of the Catholic faith is the respect for life; life begins and conception, and it’s morally wrong to use birth control. How can you now step in and say they now have to act in direct conflict with their beliefs? I feel like it’s a direct conflict of church and state. Just as I don’t feel it would be right for the Catholic institutions to require its employees to not use birth control; I don’t think you should be able to require Catholic Institutions to pay for birth control.
If it were suddenly mandated that charitable organizations must teach dance lessons I’d be 100% against making the baptists teach dancing in their churches.
Presumably this will have no effect on what Catholics do in Church, so I’m not sure why that comparison is relevant.
I don’t see this as a conflict of Church and state any more than using income tax to fund wars or police departments is… I also think the basic tenant of the faith is meant to be the holy ghost. Reason resides in the next city over.
I don’t want to hijack the thread, but are you against the so-called “compromise” that states that only RCC-owned businesses (hospitals and colleges, not churches) don’t have to offer birth control if they offer insurance? Under the compromise the insurance company provides it, absorbing the cost.
Not this shit again, most Catholics could not give a flying franger about this.
We are not some brainwashed fundamental sect where everyone has to believe the same things. You will find that most Catholics are far more liberal than the hierarchy appears to be.
The weird thing is that this does not appear to be a biblical thing, it’s a Catholic thing. And opposition to barrier methods seems a little odd when you say “life begins and conception”. Particularly when the Catholic church actually considered it, and the Pope overruled an independent church commission’s findings in the '60s. Or do you subscribe to papal infallibility? (Not a facetious question - it would explain your thinking.)
All Christian groups were against contraception until the Anglican Lambeth conference in 1930.
All Catholics must subscribe to infallibilityy as per Pastor Aeternus.
So what exactly is the opposition to birth control? I’ve heard that it’s because it interferes with god’s plan. If you’re supposed to have kids, you will. By introducing birth control into the equation, you are interfering with the natural act of procreation and god’s plan. This of course makes no logical sense. If it is god’s plan that you will have kids, why wouldn’t god simply render the birth control ineffective?
What I was taught: “God’s will is God’s will.” No ifs, ands or buts. Which I always thought kind of conflicted with the whole human free will thing. And probably led me into atheism. And there you go.
The really ludicrous thing is that the Church fully supports the use of NFP, aka the “Natural Family Planning” method. While often mocked as the “rhythm method,” it’s actually a relatively accurate and effective means of preventing pregnancy when done correctly.
In other words, the Catholic Church believes that you should do nothing to subvert God’s will when it comes to getting pregnant. Except taking your temperature every morning, charting it, and avoiding sex during fertile times. You can subvert God’s will that way. Just not other ways.
FWIW, my mom is Catholic, and from what I can tell from her Facebook postings, she believes that Barack Obama is attempting to personally destroy the Catholic Church, possibly with incendiary devices and major artillery.
I dislike (to say I’m upset would be exaggerating slightly) a health care system where employers are involved at all. I sort of understand why Catholic focused businesses are upset, but no one is forcing their individual employees to purchase birth control. The businesses are forced to purchase health insurance coverage that gives employees the option for no co-pay birth control. This would not be a controversy if employers were left out of the loop.
I’m not Catholic, but I know plenty of them including family members. Their feelings on the “mandated-birth-control-coverage-via employers-with-no-co-pay” varies greatly. Many Catholics I know do not care. Most Catholics I know have sex outside of marriage. I suppose doesn’t matter as long as they can confess later on.
Its more fair to say that they believe sex without the possibility of life is perverse. It is not about thwarting God’s will so much as it is about not subverting a holy thing for selfish, hedonistic purposes. I do not in any way agree, but I can see how NFP is different under that standard.
