I know nothing in this diary is new but I just need to get it off my chest. And want to point out a couple of things about Religious Freedom or Freedom from Religion that are my own personal view. Thanks for reading my rant.
This past week in America, we have had our GOP candidates and current members of Congress discuss contraceptives. This is now on the public stage and will be included in the next clown car debate between Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and ultra -Catholic Rick Santorum. This all started because President Obama made a declaration that if you worked for a religious affiliated organization, such as a church or university and that employer objected to the use of birth control, then the woman and the insurance company would work together, bypassing the employer, and she would be able to obtain her prescription medication for free, like the rest of the women in America. The Catholic Church objected to the original mandate that all contraceptives must be covered in health insurance programs, so the President made this adjustment and everyone said they were happy. Well, that was wrong. The Right Wing Extremists (RWE) decided that this was an attack on religious freedoms. WHAT??!! An attack on religious freedoms??? You know what, if you don't want to take birth control, then DON'T TAKE IT, but don't make it harder for a co-worker who wants to plan her family size or need the medication to regulate her period. That is forcing YOUR religious beliefs on someone else. Guess this goes along with the It's Okay If You Are A Republican (IOIYAAR) mandate, what I say is fine if I follow the GOP but if you say the same thing and you are a Democrat, then it is horrid and wicked and you must hate America. This includes adultery and cheating on your taxes.
This is why I detest public displays of religion outside of your worship location. The ultra religious say they are being persecuted every time someone disagrees with them but they have no problem pushing their views on the people sitting next to them. I am an Atheist, but this is something I would never sit and declare while sitting in my cube at work. I am very tolerant to other peoples views on religion. In fact, I have co-workers that are probably the gambit of the melting pot of religion of America. Hindus, Christians and even at least one Muslim. I find them all interesting. One of my co-workers has religious posters and sayings on his cube walls and his bible sitting on his desk. I am pretty sure he is the one that left the religious literature sitting in the break room for people to take. Did I go to management and complain that his literature and cube decor offends me? No, of course not. I personally don't care. BUT if I would have some poster about not believing in a supernatural being that in some way controls the outcomes of my life, and sporting events, I am sure that someone would complain and I would have to take it down. It seems that if a comment, remark, or action is disagreed with, then the person that disagrees with such comment, etc. is being persecuted but if they turn around and do it to someone else, it is education. This weird thinking works for the RWE when they talk about 'activist' judges. A judge is an 'activist' judge if they rule against the RWE view but if a Democrat would call the Robert's Supreme Court, activist judges because of their ruling on Citizens United, then we are being sore losers. IOIYAAR, I guess.
All of this brings us back to the discussion on contraceptives and religious persecution. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) convened a Congressional hearing this week to discuss this subject, only problem was, he only had men of faith on his panel. No women of faith were invited to discuss women's health care issues. A couple of Catholic Priests, a Rabbi and probably a minster or two. Sounds like the beginning of a really lame joke about a bar, doesn't it. He said that women weren't needed in the discussion. HOLD ON THERE, JERK. You can not talk about women's health care issues if you ARE NOT A WOMAN. And I am sure that a few women of the cloth would object to the absence of a woman's perspective on religion, families and health care. Men don't give birth, don't have periods, don't go thru menopause. What the hell would they know about a woman's health care issues especially regarding contraception. Most men don't even know enough about a woman's body to understand her let alone a Catholic Priest. (insert your own joke here). And what men don't seem to understand, that contraception is about more than just sex. You know, S-E-X, that dirty thing that you are only supposed to do to create a baby, not to show love and get pleasure from your partner. NO, that is forbidden, just ask Mr. Sexually Repressed Santorum. The most ironic part of this whole discussion is that 28 states already mandate that if an insurer covers any Erectile Dysfunction drug then they must also cover birth control. Cause and effect. COMMON SENSE.
What is missing from this discussion? Economics of families and family size. Healthy Families. Frankly, it is a whole lot cheaper to dispense birth control then it is for 9 months of Prenatal care and child birth, let alone 26 years of having a child on your health insurance. Families that are poor and struggling need to be able to limit the size of their families for economic reasons. Then, there is the discussion that women that are able to control when to have a child are healthier women and healthy women make healthy families. This is the party of FAMILY VALUES and yet, they just don't get it. This is also the same group of yahoos that blame poor people for having babies in the first place, yet refuse to make birth control accessible and free. Hello that is PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S Mission Statement. This group of RWE have created their own Catch-22 but are too ignorant to see it, let alone see the irony or hypocrisy of their views. Going down the rat hole of Abstinence Education vs a real sex education program would just drive me to drink. Oh and if we start to discuss the Party of Small Government.. I might just start screaming.
So the moral of the story, if you want to be an ultra religious family like the Duggers and have child after child even when you are grandparents, go ahead. I am sure TLC would love to follow you around with their cameras. BUT if you are a family that wants to control the number of children you have, good luck to you. Your employer may object to you having access to contraception.