Once again, the Republicans have found something to get all indignant over from the Obama White House. Quelle surprise. Their manufactured outrage at the requirement that religious employers obey the same laws as any other employer has been fun to watch. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences really ought to have a category for political speech, because some of Boehner's performances have been breathtaking. I'd say the same thing about Rick Santorum, except in his case I think he actually believes the things he says. He's that deluded. Regardless, anger over the proposed rule almost certainly was what drove the former Pennsylvania senator over the top in last Tuesday's events in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado.
As an atheist, I find it all a little bit funny and a little bit depressing. I take a much narrower view of the separation of church and state than do many people. I take the phrase...
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof
...to mean that Congress shall make no law regarding religious
doctrine. They would not, in other words, tell people what to believe. But nowhere does it suggest that religious institutions should be above the law. If it were up to me, churches, temples, and synagogues would be required to pay taxes like anyone else. Let them apply for charitable nonprofit status if they think they deserve it, but based on their good works, not on their inherent belief in this or that superstitious nonsense.
So obviously I have no problem with the requirement that religious employers' health insurance plans provide birth control and other reproductive services. The Roman Catholic Church and others (like Rick Santorum) claim this restricts these institutions' religious "freedom." Apparently they mean the freedom for men in vestments to dictate to women what they can and cannot do with their bodies. But no, Catholics, you're thinking of 1220, not 2012. Things have changed a bit. But just to be clear: No one is trampling on your precious religious rights, oh woeful, persecuted Christian minority. Just because these services are available does not mean you must avail yourselves of them. If your religious views taught that Nautilus machines were sinful would you automatically reject any health plan that offered a health club membership? Whatever. You're all a bunch of idiots.
The Catholic Church, of course, rejects birth control as sinful and immoral. Listening to the Catholic Church talk about morality is a little like listening to Chris Christie talk about the importance of exercise and eating right. It's a tough sell. Frankly, considering their recent record on issues of morality, I would think the Catholic Church just might want to keep it's mouth shut on this one. Something about casting the first stone comes to mind.
No, the only thing immoral here is the religious community's refusal to yield control of women's bodies to, you know, women. But that should be no surprise -- their whole raison d'être is based on maintaining the social order of the "traditional" family. God bless Mom, Dad, and apple pie. Cue flag waving in the breeze, fields of wheat, and happy-looking family marching boldly into the future. Yeah, they wrap it up in patriotic bullshit, but it all comes down to the same thing: Control. Right-wingers love to talk about government trying to "control our lives," yet they seem blind to religion trying to do the very same thing. Or maybe it's just that they don't care.
Despite Santorum's (and others') vocal accusations, the only one trying to take away anyone's freedom in this scenario is the Catholic church, who want to take away a woman's right to choose. Her constitutionally guaranteed right to choose, according to the Supreme Court of the United States (at least for now). All because they think their Big Book of Make Believe says birth control and abortion are sins. (By the way, you can search the Bible as much as you like, you won't find the word "abortion" in it.) That's utterly ridiculous. The government is not going to come in and start making you buy condoms or get abortions. You are still free to live in your Medieval fantasy world. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life -- why can't you afford me the same privilege? Why are you so concerned about people who have nothing to do with you doing things you don't approve of? If they're sinning, your own beliefs teach you that they will be punished in the afterlife. So why do you need to pick on them here? Considering where they're headed, you'd think you could be a little bit nicer to them.
But see, that's the thing about the religious right: They say they're all about freedom, but that's bullshit. Their paranoia about an Obama dictatorship is driven by the same dynamic that makes a thief paranoid about his money being stolen. They know that if they were in power they would be dictatorial, so naturally they assume that anyone else would do the same. They so routinely and casually abuse power that they cannot conceive of those in authority doing otherwise. Their fear says much about them.
Frankly, I have had more than enough of religious institutions believing they are above the law. For me, it all boils down to a simple equation:
State > Church