The Catholic bishops have to put up or shut up. I am a lifelong catholic and in my 62 years I have seen the church do a lot of stupid, illegal and illogical things.
The church, in my opinion, functions best when it stays with the core values of the teachings of Jesus Christ. But over the years the church has thrown in its lot with the religious right in this country and I don't think it is a good match. Up until a few decades ago the christian churches of the south could have cared less about catholics or their church. And in my core I believe that is still true. They are only in bed with the catholics to achieve their right wingnut ideas. That is again, in my opinion, a problem for the catholic church.
I can remember when economic justice was a cause of the church, when the poor were a real concern for the the church. Where are they on these issues when so many are out of work or have lost their homes to the corporate thugs that dominate of economy?
Where was the integrity of and christian values of the church when the conspired to hide criminal the criminal activity of its priests and demonize the victims until they could not longer keep that lie going.
And now we have the most intimate assault on women and the family. If the church wants to give advice on the values of raising your family have at it. I have heard these and other things in sermons since I was a child. But, to come out and insist on
controlling the reproductive activities of a family and to use their "power" to force their ideas on the government and the people this is just too much.
Everyone knows that catholics have used birth control for decades now. If they didn't the numbers of kids in Irish and Italian families (I'm of both) would be consistent with the numbers of of their grandparents and great grandparents. The numbers have been
declining for decades. So the church does this dance with their members preaching the evils of birth control while right before their eyes watching the effects of it on their
congregations (wink, wink).
For them to stand up now and insist that they can no longer accept this in the law is bull....! They are only playing up to their buddies in the conservative movement hoping for some kind of lasting friendship based on mutual love and respect. Good luck with that. They will kick you off the island the minute you disagree with them but in the process they got what they wanted from you.
So what am I looking for in response to this abomination by the catholic bishops? I want the catholics to make their voices hear. Go to church but don't put anything into the collection plate. The cannot stop you from going to mass but you can put the hurt on them by just doing that simple thing. If they complain no money not mass then too
bad. I have aunts that are house bound and they have been told by their priests that the masses on tv are perfectly good substitutions. No going out in bad weather, no wasting gasoline, no having to get all dressed up....just relax in front of the tv. Its the same as being there.
Also, if the church which takes money from medicare and medicaid to off set the hospital costs of their patients, the government should cut back on the level of payments it makes to then. You can't eat your cake and have it too. (Thats the real saying not the other way around, the real trick is in devouring something and then wanting it).
Mostly as a catholic I hate the way the church is being manipulated by the religious right. No institution has the authority to school people in the private sexual activities. It is simply none of their business. How you have sex, with whom you choose to have sex with and how many children you should have is the sole responsibility of and decision of the consenting partners. Stay out of our bedrooms or we'll stay out of your churches.
In the case of raising children with christian values the church in partnership with the parents has a role to play. But really bishops, considering how you handled the sex scandal in your own institution you have absolutely not credibility to talk about sex with anyone. Much less force you ideology on everyone.