A Catholic woman wrote a LTE in my local newspaper here about an hour upstate from NYC. I just couldn't take it anymore listening to her whine about how Catholics are being persecuted and how they answer to a higher authority (reminds me of old Hebrew National hotdog commercials). So i penned this screed and posted in the online comments section in response to here self-pitious whinge. Was it too much? Did I go overboard? Pass the squiggle of socialism to read my response. Would value this community's critique of my diatribe.
Catholic Woman's LTE:
Where is the outrage at the violation directed chiefly toward the Catholic faith by our very own government?
The Department of Health and Human Services has attempted interference with a basic right of our religion. Do not be misled to believe it is a political issue or a woman’s issue.
When a government tries to order a decree that is contrary to our Catholic faith, we will not accept it. It is irrational for all Americans to ignore the issue on the basis that it is directed toward Catholics; keep in mind that it is only a matter of time before the intrusion from the government will affect Americans of all faiths.
Our freedom of religion is something we will not give up; we hold to a higher authority than the government. One need only look throughout history to realize what can happen if it is forsaken. We cannot and will not accept this interference from the government with regard to our religious beliefs. Let us all pray for this country that God will continue to be patient and merciful with us.
Paula Fabbro
Warwick
My Response
I for one am exhausted with the way Catholics and other dogmatic American strands of Christianity (Evangelicals and Baptists in particular) parade around with great indignation and a horribly inflated sense of victimization. Enough with the self-pity already! I read Paula Fabbro’s opinion piece in this week’s paper and I had to respond.
First of all, let’s make clear that this country is predominately comprised of Christians. So let’s stop pretending that any strand of Christianity is some horribly oppressed minority.
Ms. Fabbro, Rick Santorum and other Catholics whine about the new Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) provision requiring all publicly available health insurance policies to cover womens’ contraceptives. Catholics and other orthodox Christians are upset because they want an exemption from this rule in businesses run by the Catholic church. Places like Catholic hospitals and charitable organizations for example. Their position is that since contraceptives run afoul of their religious beliefs, they should not be “compelled” by law to have them included in the health insurance they provide their employees. Here are a number of reasons why this is a spurious argument at best.
1) Hospitals and other public, for-profit ventures run by the church are public institutions serving (and employing) people of all faiths. If the church cannot conscion providing legal medical procedures and products to all Americans, they are free to get out of the business of serving the general public.
2) Employees in these places may or may not be Catholic so your religious rules should not govern their access to legal health care including contraceptives and abortions.
3) Workers in these places EARN THEIR COVERAGE. It is not “a gift” given to the employee by the largesse of their employer. It is part of the compensation they EARN for their work. This is like suggesting that Catholic employers should be able to withhold any portion of an employee’s paycheck that might be spent on anything un-Christian. “Sorry, we took an extra $500 out of your paycheck because we know you’ve planned a trip to Vegas and gambling is immoral!” Would that fly? Don’t think so!
4) Moreover, this contraceptive coverage clause in the ACA had already been codified into the state laws of more than 20 US states for many years. It is largely settled law, yet Catholics had not been vocal about the issue until it became a part of the Obama healthcare law. I wonder why there was no complaints about this before the ACA?
5) President Obama, in a nod to the sensitivities of Christians, respectfully amended the clause to allow for religious employers to “opt out” but mandated that the insurers would have to provide contraceptive coverage instead to these employees. Yet this was simply not enough. This is not about religious persecution for these people. Their rejection of this compromise reveals their true agenda: to outlaw legal practices which their religion deems objectionable. They simply don’t want ANYONE to have contraception.
6) Look Ms. Fabbro, as much as it may bother you, America is a secular democracy and we are free to worship as we please or even not to worship at all. The Constitution is clear about mandating “No laws shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This also protects the rights of Americans to live free of any religious orthodoxy should they so choose. Giving Catholic hospitals or Evangelical-owned pharmacies special dispensation to opt out of laws they feel run counter to their religious strictures is an egregious assault on the First Amendment. It borders on the same theocratic fundamentalism we revile of the Taliban.
7) My religious views hold strong aversion to violence toward my fellow man and war. By Ms. Fabbro’s logic, I should be exempt from paying taxes as that money is used to fight wars overseas. Yet, I do not make that self-entitled argument, as I understand that as part of a pluralistic society, I must cede some of my closely held beliefs in exchange for the benefits provided by membership in the larger society. It is part of the social contract. Don’t want in? Then YOU withdraw. But don’t expect everyone else to adhere to your preferred belief system. That would be un-American!
8) This clause is not an “intrusion” into your faith. It is a law designed to protect the rights of ALL AMERICANS from the tribal beliefs of a select group of Americans. No one is forcing you or your daughters to use contraceptives and if you do not wish to, then you’re within your rights not to. But to make them unavailable in the workplaces of millions of American women – some who are Catholic but use contraceptives nonetheless and millions more outside your faith – is the true intrusion. Contrary to popular republican claims, USA was not founded upon Christian faith. This system of government was founded specifically to protect self-rule from being subsumed by religious creeds of any stripe. Our founding fathers were especially leery of the role of religion in interfering with the inalienable rights endowed to us all by our creator. This is where you religious types come off the rails. The Founders weren’t atheists. They acknowledged “the Creator” in the Declaration for crying out loud. They just knew that religions always preach the infallibility of their belief and the heretical nature of all “other” beliefs. This government was formed to PROTECT all belief systems from the prejudices of any other belief system. Folks like you would see that protection weakened or even eliminated. We must not allow that to happen.
So in closing, Ms. Fabbro, please do NOT give up your religious freedom. And DO NOT expect me to give up my beliefs in favor of yours. From where I sit, when I look upon history to “realize what can happen” I see organized religion at the core of many of the most vile, repugnant and pernicious atrocities in human history from The Crusades, to the Holocaust, to the Armenian Genocide to Islamic Fundamentalism behind 9/11 and countless others. Please, be a good American and keep your religion out of my politics! And quit pretending you’re some kind of victim. It’s a big world and you share it with others who don’t agree with you. Get over it!