How do you REALLY feel, Jimmy? :)

It is puzzling when you also take into account that there are many many non-Catholics that either work at, or are served by, a Catholic institution that they do not want to see shut down.

Personally, I am enjoying the bishops strong push back here.  Even the wishy-washy bishops are growing backbones here.  And I love the fact that we are separating the wheat from the chaff with our left-leaning Catholic brethren: Choose you this day whom you will serve!  Are you Obama zombies, or are you Catholics?

Could this move just be a back door way to help sway favor toward a public option?

It’s unbelievable how blatently offensive the administration has become when it comes to curtailing the individual freedoms that are garunteed by the U.S. Constitution.  The fact that this is already law, proves that they have already violated the Constitution as it states that congress shall make no law that violates an individual right to his religion.  This law, explicitly states that your religious beliefs will not be tolerated by telling you that regardless of your belief, you MUST (insert whatever they tell you here).

Why did the Administration do this?  Well, for starters, they actually DO believe that the Supreme Court will side with them…  they don’t believe that the U.S. Constitution is a legally binding document, they have explicitly said they don’t take it into consideration - so why should this new law matter to them as well?

Yes, the Administration DOES believe it has the votes to stay the course, and they DO believe that the Supreme Court is on their side.  Remember, the President made it clear in his state of the union that nothing will stand in his way of getting his agenda pushed forward.

I think it’s a way to make Obamacare, as a whole, look so bad that the main thrust of it (the public option, insurance purchase mandate, etc.) will look good by comparison.

In other words, “if we just cut out this, and just cut out that… see? now that’s not so bad!  Not nearly as bad as before, and I think we can all agree that we can live with this, right?”

They’ve already got some of the shavings ready (e.g., repealing the CLASS Act) to make the rest of Obamacare “more palatable” and less likely to be repealed by the next President because “we’ve already gotten rid of the really bad stuff.  Aren’t we wasting time over trifles of healthcare law that most people agree on (which they really don’t!)?  Isn’t it more important to focus on jobs and the economy?  Why aren’t you doing something more constructive instead of focusing on social issues?”

It’s bait-n-switch, it’s already taking place, and our bishops are the bait.  They were the ones that got us into this (with the weakly-phrased “Faithful Citizenship” documents) and now they want an exemption (similar to how members of Congress are exempted from the laws they create).

I call “Foul”!  Shame on Obama and shame on “Catholics” who supported his election in 2008.

They’re trying to do the same thing the fictional Palpatine does in _Star Wars_ - incrementally turn a republic into an empire/dictatorship.

Maybe we should put signs on our Catholic intuitions, schools, universities,hospitals and all our charities that states: 
Catholics Only by order of the President.

I think it’s a move recommended by Secretary Sebelius and possibly VP Biden, designed to drive a wedge deep between Catholics and their bishops.  I think they’re counting on a lot of apathy on this issue or a lot of Catholics breathing a sigh of relief, saying “Finally!” and not caring what the hierarchy says in reaction.  Why?  Because they’re looking at the figures which say 98% of Catholic women use contraception.  They’re looking at pieces like this <http://ncronline.org/news/politics/which-catholics-are-against-contraception-coverage> and figuring their chances are pretty good.  If they can split the Church, they may be able to seriously weaken us and perhaps even cause the schism which seemed all but certain to occur in 1968 over just this issue: contraception.  At which point, they would have a compliant, patriotic church to deal with and a marginalized, laughable Roman Catholic Church which could be safely ignored.  Whether or not they succeed is up to the laity, at this point, and so far, the indications seem pretty positive for the bishops.  I think the Church may emerge from this one with deeper unity rather than schism.

Maybe they really didn’t figure that the “liberal” and “squishy” Catholics to be so offended.  The administration probably figured that that Catholics in America feel that contraception is morally o.k. (since a lot of American Catholics use it without being exhorted to do so otherwise by their pastors). This would give them the green light for these Catholics to formally go against the Magisterium—“hey, we still need to help the poor…” —and to set up an “American Catholic Church” akin to the government recognized one in China.  As usual, the devil always overplays his hand and did so this week.

I agree that this will likely be overturned.  Or perhaps the adminstration will let it boil for awhile and then reverse course to make themselves look like they listened and compromised.  We’ll look at it as some sort of victory while the net effect is as you say: most Americans will be paying for free contraceptives and abortifacients.

I think we need to look at this as an opportunity.  I suspect most Americans are already paying for contraceptives and abortifacients through their company-sponsored health care plans.  Most have a portion deducted from their paychecks before they ever see it to that pays a portion of the health care premium.  And if you opt out, some companies will pay you a portion of what they would have paid towards your health care.  If we could get more private health plans that do not cover abortion, contraceptives, in-vitro fertilization, etc., we could at least have the option of paying for our own health care where our premiums don’t help pay for others’ procedures that we find morally reprehensible.

I think Asmodeus is drunk on the blood of over 54 million unborn American children and overestimates his sway in the slavery over the purported more than 50% of Catholic men (who go to confession regularly and admit to being) addicted to pornography,- he now blatantly rattles the cage of a sleeping giant. Will the Church rise up behind bishops who have realized they are MEN of God, now galvanized by our grave recognition of the mess we have allowed made in our midst as we anesthetized ourselves on our prosperity- or will the numbers of ‘professing’ Catholics who trample the lavish gifts of faith, hope, and charity in denying belief in the Real Presence increase to 75% or more?
I think that when this giant is fully awake he will remember his family code written in the blood of martyrs and hell will begin to reel.
I hope. The time is now.

Jimmy, I’m afraid I find you a bit too optimistic.
You ask, if they don’t have all the bounce back they could ask for… and going this far is pushing too hard…  well, with just a few posts on Facebook, I have found that people I would normally consider “reasonable” agree with the ruling… and don’t even see the threat of religious freedom!!

.
I hope, and will pray fervently, that this will be as obviously overturned as you seem to think.
I think Obama has brainwashed more people than we could imagine.
.
We must pray the rosary for this.

Quite regardless of all moral and constitutional questions, as serious as they are, this is politically as stupid a suicide as Obama and his re-election team could possibly dream up.  Whatever their own inside differences, the Republican candidates have to be unanimous in dining out on this exercise of pure sophomoric jackass-ery.

Mr/Mrs Obama, K. Sebelius, the media, et al…“Let them them eat cake.”

I do believe they are living in their own bubble and do not truly
know us - or care to -  the average Joe & Mary America.

Ora pro nobis.

Please pray for them - and us - PLEASE!

The inmates are running the asylum!

It might be a political move to satisfy his base knowing that it will get overturned.  Then they can say: see, we tried but failed.  If so, someone did not think that one through - it is not only Catholics who will be part of a backlash - everyone who has a religious faith ought to be extremely concerned.

Yes, Obama and his administration are evil.  Look at the day chosen to announce this - the week=end of the March for Life! This action is COMPLETELY CONSISTENT with his full agenda and actions so far. 
I can’t believe anyone is still thinking of giving him the benefit of the doubt.  If you go back and look at all of his campaign issues that were never addressed, you will see many red flags leading in this direction.
Barack Obama is the biggest mistake this country has ever made!

Jimmy,
Politico has the reason why the administration pursued this. They figured it would play to the base and wouldn’t cost them any votes, since so many Catholics already use contraception. What they didn’t consider is how intrusive the decision would be and how it goes against the religious freedoms promised by the Constitution. If the government can force you to purchase healthcare, and force you to provide abortifacient contraceptives against your conscience, then what will they be forcing us to do next? Michelle Malkin had it right when she wrote “First they came for the Catholics.” Here’s an excerpt from Politico:

The handling of the issue offers a hint of Obama’s approach to governing and campaigning in 2012: When confronted with a position close to his heart — and dear to the base — Obama is increasingly inclined to side with people who will vote for him even if it means enraging those who might, but probably won’t, vote for him.

“Who are we going to really lose over this? Ron Paul voters?” asked a senior aide to a Senate Democrat, who thinks the administration should have handled the situation more quietly by punting a decision until after Election Day. “Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. … Catholics who don’t believe in condoms aren’t going to vote for Barack Obama anyway. Let’s get real.”

Added Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), an abortion-rights advocate who supports the provision: “I don’t think people’s minds will be changed by this debate. As for the president, leadership can’t take the election year off.”

The vast majority of Americans back the use of contraception, and about three-quarters of Catholic women in recent polls part with the Church on its prohibition of condoms and the pill.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72345.html#ixzz1lEYZka79

John Ata, SFO, you are right - persons of good faith, of all denominations, should see the evil intent in this imposition by Obama et al. 

At the 2012 March For Life, (not covered, of course, by the mainstream media like the NYTimes), a half dozen Jewish rabbis walked at the head of the parade, followed by hundreds of thousands of Christians.

I think it was a smart move:  (1) Many American so-called Catholics consider it delightful and liberating to disobey the Bishops who have shown themselves to be weak (at best) and corrupt. (2) Along the lines of bait and switch, if the decision is overturned, the Administration can then trumpet that now, Obamacare has been fixed so it is OK for so-called Catholics to vote again(!) for BHO ... as if the multitude of other horrible things about this Administration no longer count. (3) If it is not overturned, it will be just another victory for forward-looking people and a defeat for the reactionary, oppressive Catholic Church.

This is also the time to explain to own family members and those we come in contact with in our own lives, why contraception is wrong and why we are so upset about the administration taking away our religious liberties.  Note:  stop hhs.com has a petition going to obama, if you have not already filed your protest with them.  Ave Maria.

The HHS mandate can be described in no other way but a declaration of war! My wife is a pharmacist in a Catholic hospital so this is extremely upsetting for our family on so many levels.  THIS WILL NOT STAND!

While I certainly agree this is a horrible injustice to religious freedom, it also makes me wonder what else they are up to. I have seen it to many times in my own state as well, where they do something to garner alot of negative attention and then slip something equally as disturbing in under the radar.  Watch out, be diligent and prepared, we know not when the Master will return.

Deep down I don’t truly think Obama would be in league with those so called Catholics who simply don’t agree with the Church (though Sebelius is right there with him, so perhaps this isn’t too far fetched) - however, if he were its an interesting move to force the Church’s hand.  There are so many “Catholics” and fallen-away Catholics that think that the Church can just cast a vote and change her moral teaching but the Pope and Bishops have just been stubborn.  Get the Church to change their moral teachings on contraception and abortion, next stop the definition of marriage being between one man and one woman, and then hey why not have married or female priests.  They are sorely mistaken though, the Church, the bride of Christ, and her beautiful moral teaching is protected by God (how else could we as an institution, have survived this long if it weren’t truly under the protection of the Holy Spirit).  As disturbing and upsetting as all of this is, my prayer is that those Catholics who love the Church and her teaching won’t be pulled into the great sin of despair, hopelessness, and bitterness.

Stand back and look at the whole picture.  Little by little this Administration is taking away all our Rights and infiltrating every aspect of our lives, one step at a time, emulating…what country?....Hmmmmm.

Part of this is the remaking of USA in the secular progressive vision and part if it is their methodology of ruling by decree like all totalitarians do. “We know better than you and you have to submit because you’re not forward thinking like we are”. So it will be with gay marriage as well.

The other thing about this is for the Church in USA: the chickens are coming home to roost ie. contraception has always been the issue parked in the living room which we have danced around since Humane Vitae. How can something intrinsically evil be accepted and used by over 90% of Catholics with no one going to confession and everyone going to Communion and nothing is said? What’s up with that?

Lastly, how can Catholic pro abortion politicians for nearly 40 years be allowed to receive Communion, not be excommunicated in the vain hope they will repent publicly? When has it happened—-ever?

The good thing about the HHS decision is that we will have to take a stand one way or another. It will show where our hearts are-with the Lord or against Him.

Hmmmmmm,

Obama’s no dummy; in fact he is very politically astutue; so you have to wonder.

The mandate was made on January 20th, exactly one year to the day of the next presidential inauguration; wonder if that has any practical significance.

But, I was wondering, reading your article….again, he’s no tactical dummy; so maybe he is releasing this issue (along with one he knew would be defeated recently on religious liberty 9-0 supreme court decision) to get us vehemently involved in this gravest of issues, that he might know he would lose, to side track us so that he could slip in some other issue.  Keep you eyes open Americans.

This is just the wondering of a non-political, little-shrewed man.

Evil pretty much describes how I have seen this president from the get go. Never voted for him. Never will. And I honestly, from the deep down bottom of my heart, do not understand how any Catholic did. But now we all pay the price for ineptitude.

I’m going with “evil” all the way. There is no incompetence with Obama. He is a very smart man. My opinion is that the latest HHS fiasco had two and only two motives: anti-Catholicism and winning more votes. Both motivations are going to backfire, in my opinion, and may very well cost him re-election (I hope and pray). Excellent post, Mr. Akin.

PS: to answer your question “what do we think” ... I think this was all mapped out by Sebelius and the Planned Parenthood moguls. Of course they want us to pay for procedures and products that fill their pockets to the gills. And what poetic justice to them it would be if even Catholic institutions would do such. I honestly hope this issue helps him loose the votes he needs to get re-elected. Any Catholic, or american citizen for that matter, that votes for him will be signing off his and her freedom. We live in a time of persecution, and Obama is leading the way. Good riddance to this president, and God save us all from these forces of evil! -

I hope Ray is right!  If all Catholics voted against him, we may have a chance, but the young people who vote, are infatuated with him, mostly college kids who are influenced by their professors.

I think it’s a campaign tactic. He knows two of the three remaining potential opponents are Catholics, so if one of them wins he can use this to start saying that his opponent will follow the Vatican’s dictates rather than the will of the people and American laws, etc., so we can’t trust him. This is basically what was said about JFK and Al Smith (way back when) as well—don’t trust the Catholic. If Romney pulls out the nomination, then the issue gets funneled to the background.

Fr. Brown—Is Obama really that politically astute? He’s succeeded as a campaigner and rhetorician, but when it comes down to it, his major legislative accomplishments have been won through a brute-force vote with him holding a majority of Congress.

Isn’t it curious that Obama has allowed over 1,000 of his union cronies/thugs, etc to opt out of his Obamacare, yet he imposes this on the Church?

When will the Bishop finally refuse the Eucharist to Sebelius and publically excommunicate her!

This mandate is just a drop in the bucket.  It’s laying the road for forced use of contraception, sterilizations and abortions.  Oh, don’t think they won’t do it.  They could tax faithful couples that would lead to govt. dependency and then if they(Catholics, that is) apply for govt. funds they would have to be sterilized.  Does China ring a bell? We have come this far because many clergy have not spoken against this president when campaigning in 2008 leading 54% Catholics to vote for this anti-life president.  Time to scream at the top of our lungs.  Good, faithful Catholics must vote for true prolife candidates.  There, I said it!

I think it is actually mostly political myopia.  I think that the administration has surrounded itself with mostly like-minded advisers.  In doing so, they’ve really only engaged “their kind of Catholics,” Catholics who are Democrat first and Catholic second.  I honestly think that most of administration really just didn’t think this would be a big deal.  Their kind of Catholics were already on board and had convinced them that the vast swath or typically-rather-apathetic Catholics were on their side.  And they saw that their infringements on Catholic belief in the past had been largely tolerated or even supported (with very weak caveats), that they didn’t think the objectors would have much teeth.  Meanwhile, their intrusions on civil liberties had also gone largely unchallenged. 

I think they simply didn’t calculate that combining the infringement on Catholic belief with the infringement on civil liberties would finally push the opposition to a crisis point.

Who knows,but this may not be such stupid politics after all! Maybe a good number of the liberal Catholics who have reacted negatively to the HHS mandate are simply posturing. When November comes along and they hear Obama say that he is a good Christian, and only in favor of those oppressed women about whom those out-of-touch old men in Rome do not care, they may, in the cover of darkness, vote for their social gospel hero, Barack Obama.

Our country is a country of wimps, our Church is a church of wimps (most bishops). [Always bad examples set by our leaders in both government and Church] My husband fought in WWII; can you imagine our country trying to placate Hitler and make a friend of him? [as Obama does] No way, I am really beginning to believe that we really were the Greatest Generation. Now our soldiers are coming home from Iraq and we have not even begun there. The enemy is still there. How many of our young men died there, in vain.  Also, I want to make note that my parents came here in 1895 and 1910 with all the other Ellis Island immigrants. They are the ones who made this country…they are the ones who worked hard…they are the ones who asked for nothing in return, only to come here and have the Great Depression to face. They are the ones who were 100% Americans and brought there children up that way.  I honor those immigrants. Today the immigrants ask, ask, and ask, desecrate our flag, fly their own,  want sharia law, etc.  If they want to live here they should live according to OUR law. Mr. President, we are not Europe, we are the Good Ole USA, of which you know nothing about. You are not progressive, we are definitely going backwards.  Sorry, had to get that out…I am truly fed-up with it all.

The Bishops really have no moral credibility on this issue: 1) they’ve been openly tolerating overwhelming support for contraception in the pews for decades; 2) millions of Catholics ALREADY pay into health insurance that covers contraception, sterilization, and abortion through their workplaces.  The bishops have not ever addressed that issue with the faithful.  It’s little wonder that non-Catholics look at us as simply a bunch of hypocrites.

I believe they are doing this, as they have tried with other mandates and legal avenues, as a test for a response from the people. If the people don’t go into a complete uproar, they can go ahead and push the mandate as hard as possible. I think this administration tries a lot of sneaky things to get past the American people, just like Obamacare. Nancy Pelosi said we had to “pass it to know what’s in it”. I’m no law major, but I can see the utter stupidity on her part and others who think we should just pass stuff that sounds good but not know the details of. I do believe this administration believes the average person in this country is dumb and won’t catch on to what they are doing, and to an extent, they have been able to pass things and use sleight of hand to get what they want accompished. These are very shady people who work in the dark and pass law on the eve of holidays when the people aren’t looking toward the Capitol. They tried to see what the response would be with this HHS mandate, so we better make it a BIG one!—Travis Dover, Catholic1.net

Jimmy,
Your naivete on this matter is nothing less than stunning. Why would he do this? Let me count the ways.

1) Let us consider Kathleen Sebelius. Graduate of Trinity Washington University, the same school Nancy Pelosi went to. Former governor of Kansas. Close friend of George Tiller “the Killer”, as well as a regular recipient of his blood-soaked largess. Persecutor of Phill Kline. Recipient also of public rebukes by Archbishop Joseph Naumann. Current Secretary of HHS. Now why on Earth would she want to impose this rule on the Catholic Church in this country? Hmmm, let me think here. Nah. Can’t come up with it.

2) Let us now consider Barack Obama. Disciple of Saul Alinksy and Bill Ayers. Promoter of Planned Parenthood and regular recipient of their blood-soaked largess. Man who “would not want to punish my daughters with a baby”. Man who, if he wins again, will not have to face re-election and thus will feel free to do whatever he pleases. Why would he do this? Uhh, let’s see. Nope, can’t think of it.

3) “I mean, if you’re already mandating free contraceptives for virtually the whole population then you’ve got about all the bounce from your base that you are going to get.” False. Ever heard of blood lust? Cage fights? The Coliseum? He can get a base bounce by taking it and forcing down our throats. I think you underestimate the absolute hatred, contempt, revulsion and zealous abhorrence these people have for the Church.

4) “Forcing Catholic schools, hospitals, and charities offer free contraceptives to those they provide insurance to is going to create a lot of bad press…” False. In fact, by and large, the media are ignoring it (http://www.getreligion.org/2012/01/catholics-outraged-media-unimpressed/). Granted, the WaPo editorialized against it. But for the most part, it’s like the MSM are holding their ears in front of a couple hundred bishops saying, “I’m not listening” (cue Miracle Max from The Princess Bride).

I hope this helps.

I REALLY DO think the purpose of the Administration’s approach is to take an extremist view of a contraception mandate and then “accept” a compromise position that is really more than private employers should find acceptable anyhow.  Many employers choose to provide contraceptive coverage.  Okay, that’s their choice.  But other employers, legitimately, do not.  In many cases where coverage is not provided, the reason is not necessarily religious, but economic.  NO employer should be mandated to provide a benefit in a health care plan that is not a health care benefit.  The employers who choose not to cover contraceptives take a very reasonable, logical position that pregnancy is not a disease to be prevented.  By making this a “conscience issue” or a “religious liberty” issue, the Administration has neutralized the threshold argument: HHS’ conclusion that contraception is “preventative care” is INSANELY illogical in the first place.  Once a person becomes pregnant, of course, they have a condition that requires medical management.  But that doesn’t mean that contraception is “preventative care.” Is abstinence “preventative care”?  SEE?  By doing something grossly stupid, the Administration doesn’t have to answer for something else that’s only commonly stupid.

In the unanimous Supreme Court decision in the Hosanna v EEOC case on Jan 11, 2012, Chief Justice Roberts, siding with the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical School and dismissing the ADA lawsuit filed on behalf of a fired employee, writes:

“…the First Amendment itself,… gives special solicitude to the rights of religious organizations.”

And:

“The present case, in contrast, concerns government interference with an internal church decision that affects the faith and mission of the church itself.”

In a concurring opinion, Associate Justices Alito and Kegan write:

“To safeguard this crucial autonomy, we have long recognized that the Religion Clauses protect a private sphere within which religious bodies are free to govern themselves in accordance with their own beliefs. The Constitution guarantees religious bodies “independence from secular control or manipulation—in short, power to decide for themselves, free from state interference, mat¬ters of church government as well as those of faith and doctrine.”

In light of this ruling, it is doubtful that the Health and Human Services edict, for the Catholic Church and Her institutions to provide free Birth Control, Abortion Coverage and the like to employees, can legally be enforced against a defiant Church.

Doesn’t something like 95 percent of Catholics use oral contraception? 

Where was the bishops “tough stance” then?  Why blame Obama when Catholics are using the evil contraception already?!

Laura, your observation may be true, but that doesn’t mean others should be required to pay for contraception through insurance premiums, which validates, and may encourage, its use.

@Laura: How they know it is 95% is beyond me, but regardless ‘one wrong does not make a right’.  This article is not covering it, but all Catholics reading this article know it is also about abortion, the morning after pill, etc. They are trying to force Catholic Hospitals/Doctors/nurses to do abortions, as well as having free contraceptives in their insurance….when it is against the Laws of God. The Catholic Church is for Life, not killing.  I know this sounds far-fetched to most people; but if everyone followed the laws of God [Catholic Church teaching] there would be no aides, STDS, etc. in the world and this can follow with less divorces, and more. We humans are imperfect but the problem is we have stopped trying. Also, the government should stay out of our personal lives.  It makes no difference what denomination or religion you practice or don’t practice, or how you practice it, the government has no right to CONTROL us. Our whole country suffers from GLUTTONY, food, sex, whatever.

I agree with Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz’s comment, above, especially his point number 3. 

This action is demonically punitive: when your foe is vanquished and you not only not withhold the coup de grace, but execute it in a punitive, gory way, your sadistic nature reveals itself.  That is this fascist government’s (by which I mean not the present president or administration, but just the ruling class of luciferian elites who continually hold power and pretend to swap it out occasionally) hatred for Christ and His religion.  No, not all religion.  Just Christ and His.

Yesterday was the now-hidden feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch, who was torn to shreds by lions in the very coliseum in Rome that all the Christian tourists now go to ogle and don’t even comprehend what happened there to whom: endless Christian red martyrdom.  2000 years from now will Christians visit abortion clinics on their holidays and have no idea what the building were used for?

But the great cloud of red martyrs of the last 2000 years does not begin to compare to the 53 million very innocent small martyrs who have been dissolved in black and green acid or torn apart with pruning shears in this “great God-fearing, oh so Christian nation” in the last few decades.  Only a nation that openly worships satan would do this and do it with GUSTO.  Only a nation that worships satan would let it be not only legal but be more than legal: mandated and expected and encouraged.  Encouraged!

I recommend my fellow Christians rent an old movie called The Sign of the Cross with Claudette Colbert.  At first you will be bored with its quaintness.  Then you will will see the horrid persecution and fear.  The red martyrdom.  The girls facing crocodiles.  The girls facing crocodiles.  The girls facing crocodiles.

Which leads me back to Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz’s point 3: evil prefers, with demonic glee, to dispatch its foes with crocodiles rather than a quick blade or bullet.  And evil will never grant mercy, never.  That is a trademark of God.

Yes, but forget about this topic, the USCCB wants us to start fasting to reduce Global Warming! Did anyone tell the USCCB the import about staying on message, or are their supporters of the mandate within the USCCB?

I agree with CS: ”This is designed to drive a wedge deep between Catholics and their bishops.” & Tim Drake: “They figured it would play to the base and wouldn’t cost them any votes, since so many Catholics already use contraception. “ I would add that the Catholics that use NFP are pro-life and they would not vote for Obama anyway..

Abortion and gay marriage are certainly on the agenda; how better to try rid themselves of a pesky Catholic Church than use a contraception wedge. And it will definitely not end here if it does not end here. This is one evil camel with a nose in the tent, and the best way to keep it out is to hit it hard on the nose and pull hard on the tail.

Slap the Obama administration, and pull our brothers and sisters back into the fullness of the Truth. This is not 1968, the effects of wide spread contraception are obvious, and NFP is very reliable -it’s more reliable than any contraceptive and certainly healthier for body and soul. And how about a Government Health Care plan pay for NFP training?? Development of a thermometer that connects to an IPOD with fertility sign input?? Make NFP even easier and known.

Another thing is stop beating up on the Bishops, rally! They, like us are weak human beings, but the Church is the BODY OF CHRIST.

All logic goes agaisnt Obama doing something as sweeping as this. IN one word it’s PRIDE! Pride destroyed Lucifer, Pride will destroy this administration!

The times they are a changing to steal a phrase from another time. May God’s Spirit set all hearts on fire for truth. I hope we don’t lose our Catholic hospitals. They are one of the few places left where one can feel somewhat safe without them trying to bump you off.

I think one of the keys to deciphering the HHS puzzle is to consider it in light of our leaders’ increasingly bizarre and tyrannical actions.
SOPA is a prime example. It was so poorly conceived as to be denounced by anyone with an ounce of technical knowledge. The fact that it was proposed at all seems baffling until you consider that SOPA was introduced around the time of the NDAA debate. Though foolish, SOPA pales in comparison to the draconian NDAA; yet the former mustered enough public outrage to table it, while S 1867 was signed into law with negligible opposition.
If Congress flaunted SOPA to deflect attention from the NDAA, the HHS rule could be a similar diversion. Remember that wise strategists always make contingencies to ensure some gain even if their main plan fails. I’m sure that Jimmy’s fourth option at least is true. The administration knew that the best way to quell Catholic opposition to universal contraception and abortion coverage was to launch a hamfisted attack on Church institutions. They correctly predicted that the bishops’ response would focus on conscience exemptions. In the end, contraception and abortion expand drastically, and Catholics settle for a pyrrhic victory.
I agree that the Church is likely to get its conscience exemptions. Our enemies know this, and know that it won’t matter in the long run. If the polling data can be trusted, over three quarters of Catholic women already approve of artificial contraception. How much will those numbers explode after a decade of free nationwide birth control?

I think one of the keys to deciphering the HHS puzzle is to consider it in light of our leaders’ increasingly bizarre and tyrannical actions.
SOPA is a prime example. It was so poorly conceived as to be denounced by anyone with an ounce of technical knowledge. The fact that it was proposed at all seems baffling until you consider that SOPA was introduced around the time of the NDAA debate. Though foolish, SOPA pales in comparison to the draconian NDAA; yet the former mustered enough public outrage to table it, while S 1867 was signed into law with negligible opposition.
If Congress flaunted SOPA to deflect attention from the NDAA, the HHS rule could be a similar diversion. Remember that wise strategists always make contingencies to ensure some gain even if their main plan fails. I’m sure that Jimmy’s third option at least is true. The administration knew that the best way to quell Catholic opposition to universal contraception and abortion coverage was to launch a hamfisted attack on Church institutions. They correctly predicted that the bishops’ response would focus on conscience exemptions. In the end, contraception and abortion expand drastically, and Catholics settle for a pyrrhic victory.
I agree that the Church is likely to get its conscience exemptions. Our enemies know this, and know that it won’t matter in the long run. If the polling data can be trusted, over three quarters of Catholic women already approve of artificial contraception. How much will those numbers explode after a decade of free nationwide birth control?

Obama is a wicked man and so are his appointees. It was clear when he was running for president and it’s becoming clear to those who wore blinders at the voting booth in 2008.

How any devout Christian could rationalize voting for this snake is beyond me.

Let’s call evil for what it is and vote for someone who will be more amenable to overturning Obama’s wicked structures of power.

@Martin: I agree but unfortunately I know a few Church-going Catholic Democrats who will vote vote for him.  These are educated people who should be able to see through him.

In regards to the Bishops “Urgent Action Alert”, I would like to give my own “Urgent Action Alert” back to the Bishops.

Their support of Obamacare, knowing it was being pushed by people who advocate things that Catholic doctrine has defined as evil for centuries, as well as accepting the same kind of demands for support of them as long as they weren’t “in your face” have led up to this.

Our taxes, that the Bishops have clearly stated we are “obligated to pay”, have for years gone to support not only sterilization, & artificial birth control, but also direct abortion, through things like Medicare.

This “mandate” brouhaha merely is making that enforced material support obvious. If nothing else, at least no one will be able to plead ignorance….

Repent of supporting totalitarian government, only to be surprised when that government turns around and bites the Church, much like the scorpion stung the frog.

Mathew 25: 31-46 comes to mind. The Holy Spirit must be separating the sheep from the goats.  And in my view we shall see if we are to be led by sheep or shepherds.  No one can claim to be Catholic and vote for President BHO.

Well, You ever so “Cool Cultural Catholics” gravely sinned and voted for Obama, despite the fact you knew he was radically pro-abortion and simply un-American.  As his teacher and mentor Jeremiah Wright stated, “your chickens are now coming home to roost”. Maybe, this Lenten season you can pray, fast and do Catholic works of charity to beg for God’s forgiveness. Perhaps with mega doses of rosaries, we can begin to repair the “transformatin of America” you blindly fell for when you voted for this man who can not pass a security clearance for Pres. of the U.S. in Nov. 2008. Heaven forgive and help us !

Next:
Teach our children the meaning of belief in The Nicene Creed and the Ten Commandments - their future and the Church will fall into place. They need to know for the sake of their souls.

For any Catholic who “has trouble” with the contraception teaching:

Marital sex without contraception is true lovemaking. 

Is that really so hard to believe?

If you’re always using contraception, over and over, for years - well, that just doesn’t lead to happiness. Nor to good sex. Nor to loving sex, nor to the excitement of lovemaking, open to life.

Yes, maybe difficult always to follow it, but it’s a good teaching.

My thoughts:

1)  This is not an isolated incident:
  a)  his recess appointment of a bureaucrat while Congress was in session, meaning the Senate couldn’t confirm the candidate, in blatant disregard to the Constitution.
  b)  the insurance mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which has been deemed unconstitutional by three lower-level judges, two of which ruled the entire Act unconstitutional as a result.
  c)  the attempt of the Administration to force Belmont Abbey College to provide contraception to women on its staff
  d)  Fast and Furious
  e)  his use of executive orders, when Congress was in session (and his press secretary saying that he’ll use them more often)
  f)  the war in Libya

2)  Communist countries like East Germany and the USSR created situations that undermined the Churches in their nations, and then lured some weak-minded clerics into becoming tools of the state.  The same thing has been going on here under the Obama administration: note the prominence of so-called Catholics on his staff and in his circle: Sebelius, Biden, and Pelosi.  This isn’t the first step.  Consider that a few days after his inauguration, he very publicly rescinded the Mexico City agreement, while the March for Life was going on.

3)  Obama has, in the recent months done some really puzzling things, apart from this, leading me to conclude three possibilities:  1) he’s not all that politically adept, 2) he doesn’t expect to be re-elected, or 3) he knows with absolute certainty that despite what the people want, he WILL be re-elected again, and there will be nothing to prevent that.  I vote for 1 and 3.

What a terrble society! Co-habitation, condoms and abortion reigns supreme. Very sad, in deed.

Before I read all your responses,thank you Jimmy for this sentence :  ....“deliberate evil—the same kind of disturbing, jackbooted, Orwellian authoritarianism that the Obama administration displayed in its bid to tell churches who they must hire as ministers”....this is who, my beloved Americans you voted as your President….My firm conviction and belief is this : no Empire, no Authority ever attacked the Catholic Church frontal - as Obama has done - and survived.  History proves this.  Obama has declared War on God…..he will not win this one…..as I had stated somewhere else earlier, this man is pure evil….he is the High Priest of Satan

To legitimately claim a religious exemption, it seems to me that the Church must be able to demonstrate a clear and consistent teaching regarding healthcare coverage that includes contraceptives.

There are millions of Catholic business owners.  Has the Church ever instructed them that they may not cover contraceptives when providing their employees with healthcare?  Tens of millions of Catholics contribute to the cost of their employer-sponsored health plans.  Have these employees ever been instructed to opt out of such plans?

If the Church has issued such instructions, I sure can’t find them.  If not, the prohibition against paying premiums for healthcare that includes contraceptives is incredibly selective.  A clear and consistent teaching?  I don’t think so!

These things which Obama does, are already warned in the Holy Bible, it is the time for the true Church of God to be revealed itself, its the time for Christians to choose to be with God or Employment/business, its like those time of dying of Christ. Please Catholics, work up and pray, decide now to suffer for Christ, decide now to leave the world for Christ.

BTW, our pastor was interviewed by our local Fox affiliate about the HHS mandate applying to religious institutions as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvEKM2c-HCk

Although I mostly feel he did a decent job on such short notice, I disagree with his last statement that it’s just this *one* provision we feel is unjust.  I think the Church (and her officials) should speak out more vehemently about the fact that birth control is mandated as zero co-pay for all health plans, as well as the fact that Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers will get back-door funding through Obamacare.

We need to unite as Catholics and pray, pray, pray.

On top of the religious institution exemption being sought, I have even graver concerns, because *all* plans are required to cover these things.

1) What about the rest of us Catholics, who work in the secular world? We should not be asked to pay for immoral drugs and procedures for other people either, any more than the bishops, or colleges, or hospitals should. This affects every Catholic.

2) Twenty-eight states already have such mandates. When I checked my own employer sponsored policy, I was appalled to see that it already covers these things. Why are we only hearing about this now, and what are we going to do about these other laws?

3) A parent with family coverage could unknowingly have one of his teenage children make use of contraceptive or abortifacient coverage. The parent would not know about it in states with no parental notification laws. Thus, a faithful Catholic, whose child had gone astray, could be forced to pay for the abortion of his own grandchild. This final horror is utterly unconscionable.

Everyone likes to attack our bishops and then we complain they are “weak.” There strength, in a democracy at least, comes from us - the laity. SUPPORT YOUR BISHOP!

As for Mr. Obama, I think he hates the Church and everything she stands for and is happy to beat her over the head with any stick he can find. Maybe he doesn’t even care if it doesn’t stand.

@Mike

You ask, “What about the rest of us Catholics, who work in the secular world?”

Many Catholics opposed to the HHS mandated contraceptive coverage argue that people of other religions who want contraceptives to be covered and who work for Catholic institutions are free to find employment elsewhere.  That’s a two way street, of course.  Catholics whose employer healthcare plans include contraceptive coverage (that’s 95% of all health plans in the secular world) also are free to work elsewhere.  It may create extraordinary hardships for you and your family, but if you truly believe your participation in your employer’s plan is immoral you really have no choice but to terminate participation in the plan if that is allowed, or quit if it is not.

@Jim978

“if you truly believe your participation in your employer’s plan is immoral you really have no choice but to terminate participation in the plan if that is allowed, or quit if it is not.”

Well, no. If the mandate stands, I will have nowhere to go to buy insurance that does not cover these things, paying for them with my premiums. I should at least be able to choose a plan that does not go against my religion, no matter where I work. And the mandate says I cannot choose to not have insurance. (And why should I have to give up my insurance just because I am Catholic!?!)

And there is a difference here also: it is not against anyone’s religion to offer insurance that omits contraception/abortion drugs. You see, it is not a matter of preference, it is a matter of religious principles, which are (supposedly) protected by the constitution’s 1st amendment.

God is always in control and cannot contradict Himself.  I think this may be why for instance that embryonic stem cells don’t work, but adult ones do.  History clearly shows that all kinds of evil directly caused by contraception have come about since laws against it were dropped in 1940.  For instance, NFP, as stated above, is more reliable and doesn’t cost anything, let alone the benefits of discipline and chastity that is part of the NFP training.  Serious servants of God should understand this if the information is made available to them.  I also think we must be more careful about what we assume our Founding Fathers would say about a lot of what we do today if we really want to remain One Nation Under God, and not re make God as we want Him to be.

Aaron said: “Communist countries like East Germany and the USSR created situations that undermined the Churches in their nations, and then lured some weak-minded clerics into becoming tools of the state…”

Agreed!  If the administration can confuse and co-op the Catholic Church in America, we are in BIG trouble. Just look at a few examples from history, whenever the state thought itself more powerful than the Church (and the results that ensued):
- Henry II killing Thomas Becket, because he was a “turbulent priest” (continued civil war)
- Henry VIII killing Thomas More and splitting from the Catholic Church (blood shed by many more Catholic priests and religious intolerance enshrined as law, as well as the Christian Wars of Europe)
- the French Revolution (priests and bishops killed and blasphemous “Temples to Reason” set up in holy places)
- Napoleon and his threat to destroy the Church (war across all of Europe for the first time)
- the Bolshevik and Soviet Revolution causing Catholic Churches seized, priests shot or sent to gulags (Cold War, Stalinist purges, etc.)
- the Rise of Nazism and their undermining of the Church, particularly priests who spoke from the pulpit against them (WWII, Holocaust, humans used for medical experimentation, etc., etc.)

Each time, there was a warning, about 20-30 years in advance, usually in the form of a papal encyclical. (For example, we were warned about the USSR in Rerum Novarum on May 15, 1891 and by Our Lady of Fatima on May 13, 1917.)

We got our warnings on May 1, 1991 with the release of Centesimus Annus (the 100th anniversary of the work that condemned socialism) and on March 25, 1995 with the issuance of Evangelium Vitae (which told of the problems associated with birth control, abortion, and the Culture of Death). Too bad more of our priests have not read these (some have, but not recently; others have only read excerpts that fit one, favored worldview) and acted on them.

Aaron said: “Communist countries like East Germany and the USSR created situations that undermined the Churches in their nations, and then lured some weak-minded clerics into becoming tools of the state…”

Agreed!  If the administration can confuse and co-op the Catholic Church in America, we are in BIG trouble. Just look at a few examples from history, whenever the state thought itself more powerful than the Church (and the results that ensued):

- Henry II killing Thomas Becket, because he was a “turbulent priest” (continued civil war)
- Henry VIII killing Thomas More and splitting from the Catholic Church (blood shed by many more Catholic priests and religious intolerance enshrined as law, as well as the Christian Wars of Europe)
- the French Revolution (priests and bishops killed and blasphemous “Temples to Reason” set up in holy places)
- Napoleon and his threat to destroy the Church (war across all of Europe for the first time)
- the Bolshevik and Soviet Revolution causing Catholic Churches seized, priests shot or sent to gulags (Cold War, Stalinist purges, etc.)
- the Rise of Nazism and their undermining of the Church, particularly priests who spoke from the pulpit against them (WWII, Holocaust, humans used for medical experimentation, etc., etc.)

Each time the state was getting ready to overwhelm the Church, there was a warning, about 20-30 years in advance, usually in the form of a papal encyclical. (For example, we were warned about the USSR in Rerum Novarum on May 15, 1891 and by Our Lady of Fatima on May 13, 1917.)

We got our warnings on May 1, 1991 with the release of Centesimus Annus (the 100th anniversary of the work that condemned socialism) and on March 25, 1995 with the issuance of Evangelium Vitae (which told of the problems associated with birth control, abortion, and the Culture of Death). Too bad more of our priests have not read these (some have, but not recently; others have only read excerpts that fit one, favored worldview) and acted on them.

(Sorry for the split repost - it kept reporting that it couldn’t post, so I thought it was a problem with length of post and split it.  Didn’t realize that it did, in fact, post my comment after all.)

@Mike
“And the mandate says I cannot choose to not have insurance.”

The HHS ruling applies to employer sponsored plans, not private plans.  Private plans may cover contraceptives, but they are not required to do so.  In addition, the so-called mandate does not require anyone to have health insurance, it simply provides a penalty for those who can afford insurance but choose not to obtain it.  This means you don’t have to go against your conscience.

“It is not against anyone’s religion to offer insurance that omits contraception/abortion drugs.”

True, but are we only going to create separate health care options for just one religion? There are religions that forbid blood transfusions, some oppose the use of drugs and medications (or just certain drugs and medications), other object to vaccinations, and still others oppose organ donations.  The government cannot favor one religion over another.  Create a separate rule for one religious group and you will have to do it for all.  Sounds totally unworkable to me

@Jim978
1. I should not have go buy private insurance when I have employer-sponsored insurance, just because I am Catholic.
2. It is totally unworkable. The federal government has no business regulating the entire health insurance industry. It has completely overstepped its bounds, and for Catholics, crossed the line in the sand.

Perhaps the Obama administration believes the U.S. Bishops are still on the ropes from the scandal of their decades long protection and concealment of serial child molesters and rapists so it believes the timing opportune for a few haymakers against a hurt and scandalized opponent. And while I agree that this seems almost certain to backfire, one must applaud the sheer audacity and courage of the move, a courage and audacity that the USCCB itself has never once demonstrated in my lifetime.

Max, your acerbic comment continues to ‘flog the dead horse’ of clergy sexual abuse, aided and abetted in the past, of course, by reporters like the NYTime’s Laurie Goodstein.  Where is she in all this?  Oh, she’s probably out West in the LA Unified School District investigating the latest teacher/child molester story from a public school system, in the interests of fairness.  Yeah, right…

@QuoVadis: I agree, the pedophlia always has to be brought up. It is worse in the public school system, also covered over at times. The other day I went on the internet and checked pedophilia in each religious denomination and it is in all churches, boy scouts, everywhere. When are people going to realize that this is not just a problem in the Catholic Church but a WORLD PROBLEM. Just check it out on the internet. We all know why the Catholic Church is condemned on this issue, even though Pope Benedict has done all he could with this problem. The Progressives are anti religion and we are the largest denomination in the Christian community. That is okay with me because it has brought it out in the open and maybe because of the CC, it will eventually stop. Who knows, we have to keep praying.

Of course, you are all correct. I would much rather see a bunch of 15yo girls pregnant with no chance for a future than have free contraceptives available because the Good Lord knows how we Catholics despise women.

@Mike

“The federal government has no business regulating the entire health insurance industry.”

The federal government had nothing to do with the fact that your employer plan includes contraceptives.  The federal mandate does not kick in until 2014.  If you’re unhappy with your plan, place the responsibility where it belongs ... with your employer.

“I should not have go buy private insurance when I have employer-sponsored insurance, just because I am Catholic.”

Growing up, I was taught that it’s not supposed to be easy to be Catholic.

Francis Michael Calolini - TROLL ALERT!!!

Just another deluded person who thinks that birth control actually reduces the number of abortions, in spite of the Guttemacher Institute’s own numbers (they’re the “research” arm of Planned Parenthood) that show most of the people who come in for abortions are there because their artificial contraception failed.

I don’t think we’ll suddenly see an upswing in the number of 15-year-olds getting pregnant, if the pill suddenly disappeared.  Just the opposite, in fact, because parents would actually have to parent, instead of letting the government be the nanny.

Jamie B… Parents are not going to parent regardless because many of the parents who have risky daughters, the ones who would benefit from contraceptives and sex educations, were pregnant at 15 themselves and do not know HOW to parent, so the said mothers and daughters are stuck right where The Church wants them - Poor, Pregnant, and Uneducated. Thus, in many cases, some children are better off IF the government were their “nanny” because, let’s face it, if an adolescent wants to have sex, he/she is going to have sex just like if a priest wants to have sex, he is going to do so regardless of the possible ramifications, so we should not fight contraceptives OR marriage for priests. But, of course, those of you who wish to stay stuck in the Middle Ages (Jamie B) with your Inquisitions and Purifications will probably not agree, and that is your right.

@ Francis Michael Calolini,
Actually you’re out of step. NFP works. And contrary to what you believe human beings are not cows, chickens or pigs. We have a mind and free will. We can choose not to have sex.

On a separate note I’m very tired accusations of the priesthood. The number of priests that solicited sex from children is less than the problems that exist in the general population. And over 80 percent of the cases involved boys between the ages of 11 and 15. I don’t believe that homosexual men are attracted to girls anymore than I believe that hetrosexual men are attracted to boys. A man with same sex attraction could possibly be a priest, but I think that this disordered weakness makes the priesthood very very difficult.

@David…“And contrary to what you believe human beings are not cows, chickens or pigs. We have a mind and free will. We can choose not to have sex,” OR we can choose TO have sex AND because we are not “cows, chickens, or pigs,” we have the tools that allow us to have sex and not have a child if we are not ready for a child. So David, somebody with as liberal of a stance that would allow homosexual priests (i.e. “A man with same sex attraction could possibly be a priest”(see previous comment)) probably can see that the fact that we have a free will, as you said, works for both sides.

@Francis Michael Calolin,
YES. We are free to choose our own will and not God’s will.
There’s a place where they sing “I did it my way”.
It’s called HELL.

And NO. I’m neither Conservative nor Liberal.
One either believes in Christ, and that He teaches through His Church, or one does not.
The Whole Plate, or Nothing.
The Church is Not a mere Human Organization.

What about people who pay for insurance out of their own pocket. Even if policy is reversed, it doesn’t protect the private individual. It does not give us the option of having birth control/abortion procedures removed from our policies. WE have no voice in the matter.

@ Francis Michael Calolini

Sure old chap, you have free will to choose many things and enjoy their ramifications, including adultery, murder, the free will to abuse children and have immoral sex thus warping your understanding of truth as God created sex to be, thus wilfully choosing not to do as He says nor enjoy creation as He created it, nor be prepared for you inevitable journey into eternity after you die, but you’ll choose Hell instead because that’s where you’ll feel most comfortable.

I feel sorry for all those you have likely misled in your life to continue doing immoral things for the sake of corporal pleasure. They will be there to accuse you for your crimes before the throne of God on Judgment Day for the evil you inflicted on them of your own free will.

@ Francis Michael Calolini,
NFP and contraception do both have the same end, but are different means. Contraception says NO to God, and seeks pleasure over a Great Good - Fertility to cooperate with God and create a new human life destined for eternity. The basic principle is “the end does not justify the means”.

“Morality is all very complicated to a man who has lost his principles.”
GK Chesterton

Yes, you are all correct. However, not everybody are as grounded in their faith as you. Not everybody has the available teachings to refrain from sin, so, instead of condemning them, we should try to help them however we can and leave the judgements to God. For God will forgive them if they do not know what they are doing, but will He forgive us if we knew we could help them and did not?

If providing contraceptives prevents a person who does not know what she is doing from having a child she cannot afford, then we need to provide them because that is the only way we can help. We cannot force-feed our beliefs to anybody who is not willing to listen, so the simple truth of scripture is not enough in many cases. They will come when they are ready, or not, but either way we should not condemn (because that is God’s job), nor should we turn our backs (because God would not) on those who actually NEED the services in question.

“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.”
Dalai Lama

Contraception, for those who want it, is readily available in our society.  Condoms are ubiquitous.  Why, then, would health insurance have to cover such a commonplace commodity, particularly when so many people honestly oppose it?  The only reason is political.  Obama and company give out ‘freebies’ to the entitled populace, and then they gain control.  This is totalitarianism, pure and simple.

why can’t I post this to my FB ?

Francis Michael Calolin,
It is wrong to judge anyone, we’re not God; but it is Equally Wrong Not to Judge Actions.

This action seems to be settling a score. HHS secretary was excommunicated by her bishop for her radical pro abortion stances, and it seems likely that she and others are using their power to undermine the Church or change it to their image and likeness. She and others probably think it quite likely that many Catholic employers will swallow this rather than deny their employees healthcare—some are doing so already. http://archive.lisagraas.com/2011/11/15/did-sebelius-excommunicate-the-catholic-church-from-service-to-victims-of-sex-trafficking/

One word: ideology. An ideological, materialistic commitment to “Our Body, Ourselves.”

I personally find the photoshopped image to be offensive and a source of fear-mongering. The right has constantly tried to paint Obama as a socialist and a communist. The use of the hammer and sickle and yellow star on the red background (as seen on the Soviet flag) promote this myth. Sadly they fail to have any concept of the difference between socialism and communism—and by portraying the Obama administration as such pay a grave disservice to those who suffered under the dictatorial regimes of the Iron Curtain, in China, a nation that is our ally and was buddied up to by every administration since Nixon, and North Korea. My family suffered under communism. America and the HHS mandate is not communism. To toss a hammer and sickle at is to deflect from the real issue. Odd how many forget that Medicare and the VA health system IS socialism.

The real issue is that as long as big insurance has its hooks in you, you will be denied treatment, you will be denied medication, you WILL have death committees at insurance companies deciding that you aren’t worth treating, and you will have premiums that people cannot afford to pay. You have the right to affordable healthcare. You have the right to not be told you can’t have a treatment because you have no quality of life. Think about that.

And how is big insurance doing this? Every cry of communism and socialised medicine strengthens them. You are being manipulated. What’s bad is deemed as good and what’s good is deemed as bad.

How many of you work for a company that provides health benefits that cover abortion of birth control. No doubt the vast majority of you. Do I hear a hue and cry against that. No.

I am not saying that the administration is right in what this mandate is. They are wrong, dead wrong. But—as America is a democracy and has a constitution and bill of rights that guarantees redress, you can fight this mandate. That alone is proof that cries of communism around anything that Obama does is wrong. You have the right to fight against this mandate. The system of government works. Use it!

I live in Canada and I have been praying for my country and yours especially since obama became president. This man not only agrees with abortion but also sided with those who believe in half birth abortions and killing a new born baby if it is done with so many minutes after they are born. He also stated that he wished that he had agreed with taking life support from Terry Schiavo. To me this man has no respect for life and this HHS shows that he also has no respect for religious freedom either. If he remains as president your country is in big trouble!

A couple of months ago it was news that Obama left “our Creator” out of the Declaration of Independence, on three separate occasions on video, indicating that the state is the endower of our unalienable rights and the gift of LIFE. I believe it is a concerted effort to create an atheistic state dominated by one tyrant. Contraception is just the vehicle. If not contraception, there will come another agenda, since the “state” has seized the public square and evicted the Person of God. Man’s freedom has been eclipsed. Obama may win the election, but I have no doubt that it will be illegally.

@Mary Delaney: In the case of Terry Schiavo, the state redefined the corporal works of mercy, feeding the hungry, as a crime and took power over a charity which is over religion and God. Therefore we have a Godless state with no reason. The Absurdistates of America.(Havel)

I think they’re just checking to see how much they can get away with. They chose perhaps the most ignored/derided Church teaching; probably half the priests don’t even think contraception is wrong.

They are measuring the response, which will determine how much, what and how they push next. Even if we actually wanted to ‘overturn’ the ban on contraception/sterilization, the Church *must* defeat this First Amendment violation in order to protect all others from encroachment on their right to practice their religion freely.

This is only in small part a “Catholic thing” or a “contraception thing”. It is primarily a “First Amendment thing” and if it goes the wrong way, we’re all in a world of hurt that I didn’t think we’d be in until sometime way in the future.

Everyone is on Francis Michael Colini’s case:  He is not all wrong. The Church is forgiving and there is always the exception to the rule. Yes, some priests will say to use your conscience when it comes to contraception. I know of a case where a young man was retarded (sorry, mentally challenged)...living in a group home with males and females. His mother wanted him sterilized because he did have sexual feelings. The State said “No” & something about his civil liberties. These things happen in life and that is why I say there is always an exception to the rule. When Jesus said “multiply” did He really have contraception in mind….when Jesus “healed” did He have in mind that science should not go forward and find cures for diseases? This subject is very complex as we can see by how many have blogged.

@Sue,
I have met many priests that say you can use contraception if your conscience allows it, but that is not what the Church teaches. I sincerely hope these priests are ignorant, even though I don’t see how they can be.

The bottom line is NFP is as reliable as any form of contraception.
And this statement is always true: “the end does not justify the means”.

It’s very hard to escape from this contraceptive mind set in this present passing society, but once you do you’ll see what I mean. Contact CCL or another organization, take a course.

@David: You know when this blog started, I was on your side, but no longer. Supposing that retarded boy got a retarded girl pregnant, can you imagine that poor girl going through something that an adult should go through. My sister had 6 children, the last two twins, she had heart valve surgery, to no success, her Catholic Dr. put her on birth control pills.  She got pregnant several times using NFP. It really and truly does not work for everyone. I was told recently [by an Argentinean] that our previous Pope when visiting a So. Am. Country where the people were very poor, said something to them in Spanish which meant propagate. Why would a Pope tell these poor souls to have as many kids as they can. Most of them were not intelligent enough to use NFP. Also one of my past Pastors when questioned about a young girl being raped by a deviate said that if taken to the hospital right away they could handle it. I know the CC is a dictatorship and not a democracy, but in all my years I have seen many, many things change.  I shall look up CCL and see what they have to say about this, but as an 85 yrs-old widow, I can look at things from a different prospective. The CC is not as perfect in following the laws of God as you may think.  The hierachy also picks and chooses when it wants.

@Sue,
NFP works! It’s easy and in phase 3 after ovulation, it’s 100 percent effective. There is no way a woman can conceive after ovulation.
But I think you know that, so this post is more for people that don’t.
If there are any in this cyber space.

My wife has irregular periods and we have four children each 2 years apart. We had 4 because we love children and we thought about having children.
That’s different from planning not to have children -which is what contraception does to the mind of a person that uses it.

@All,
We really need to promote NFP. Showing God goodness in Creation. It’s not enough to say we are against contraception. People are afraid, they need to know that there is a way to plan a family and there is nothing wrong with planning.

Defender said: “The use of the hammer and sickle and yellow star on the red background (as seen on the Soviet flag)... by portraying the Obama administration as such pay a grave disservice to those who suffered under the dictatorial regimes of the Iron Curtain, in China…”

On the contrary, I feel that the best service and tribute we can pay to those who suffered and/or died under the communist socialist “republics” of the Soviets and Red Chinese is to never allow it to happen again.  This entails calling out *anything* that begins to smell of communist socialism, including our current administrations health care legislation and the stance they’ve taken against the Church.

I have not had a chance to read through the whole blog so hopefully I am not repeating someone else s theory, but I believe the Obama strategy here is to lay the ground work for the next logical step of liberal totalitarianism. Euthanasia! Catholic hospitals will never allow this so by forcing them out of business one way or the other will lay the ground work for the next logical step of the Pro-Death platform.

@Jamie B: Socialism is not the same as communism. the VA system is socialism. Medicare is socialism. Your public school district is socialism. In some states, liquor stores are an example of socialism. Socialism is not by definition against the church and carries no such ‘plank’ in its platform as does communism. If America were truly as communist as some make it out to be, you would not be sitting there typing your protestations. If anything, big business such as the insurance companies are far more communistic than anything Obama could dream up. Where’s your right of redress against them.

Stop drinking the kool-aid and remember that the forefathers of American democracy put systems of checks and balances into place to prohibit abuses by government such as the HHS mandate.

@David: “That’s different from planning not to have children -which is what contraception does to the mind of a person that uses it.”  Using a thermometer is an appliance so as not to be able to get pregnant, so is a condom an appliance so as not to get pregnant. What is the difference. Whether you want children spaced or not have any. You are still using a “method” to avoid pregnancy. I am not speaking about ingesting pills, just another barrier.

@Sue “Why would a Pope tell these poor souls to have as many kids as they can?”
I believe this is very simple, and, although I have no hard evidence, it seems logical enough that the Pope wants poor people to propagate to KEEP them dependent on God. In other words, THE CHURCH does an enormous amount for the poor. Because of this, it gets loads of positive attention, which increases conversions. Thus, if the Pope tells the poor to propagate, they will stay poor, which gives the church somebody to help, which increases the positive attention, which increases the number of followers, which is what it’s all about. The sad thing is that there would be just as many followers without all of this unnecessary reproduction of people who cannot afford to feed themselves, let alone a handful of children.

Nope. NFP means you know when fertility is present and when it’s not. A window of time usually between 10 & 14 days per month. An Awesome window of time where a man a woman can cooperate with GOD to bring forth a new human life now and into eternity. Draw a window, now cross it out. That’s contraception. Contraception literally means “against the beginning”. The fertility to bring forth a new human life is not a disease.

The reason behind the move is that it is good science and good public policy to reduce sexually transmitted diseases, improve woman’s health and reduce unwanted pregnancies which reduces abortions. Do we follow an old belief that is bad policy or sound science?

What is missing is that these Catholic institutions, Hospitals, schools and charities serve the general public and hire non-Catholics. They take public money (pell grants, government backed student loans, medicare, medicaid and other grants) to serve the public, but they want to do it on their terms. No strings attached. Sorry, but my tax dollars cannot be used to subsidize a religious belief. The courts have consistently upheld this.

Secondly the Bishops argue “Freedom or Liberty of Conscience”. But this cuts both ways. They want Liberty of Conscience for themselves and to take away liberty of conscience from others. They want to deny you the choice of using birth control. Give me the choice and I will decide for myself. But it is a phony argument since the church relies heavily on forced obedience. Not Liberty of Conscience.

The Bishops are wrong on this issue. Religious liberty is not under attack. They are attempting to redefine religious liberty to “Do what I want in the public sphere with public money”.  They need to get over themselves.

@David: The thing is David, only a small number of women use the fertility method ‘to get pregnant’, [because they have a problem getting pregnant]. The biggest percentage of women who use NFP use it to avoid pregnancy.  See how complicated this whole thing gets. I am against abortion, the pill, the after pill, etc., but there is so little difference between a condom and using a thermometer. At least with the condom it will help prevent aids, and other diseases, especially in the poorer countries. It is just keeping the ova from getting fertilized, just as the thermometer does.

There is a world of difference. The fertility to bring forth a new human life is not a disease.
Besides this is about religious liberty, the government is saying that Catholic organizations must treat fertility as a disease. “no choice”. It’s not true that fertility is a disease, its not true that there are not other means to regulate births, and it’s a violation of the First Ammendment.
This is worse than forcing a Jewish deli to serve pork chops.
What’s next?

@David: I am not arguing about what the government does or has done. The gov. is into our lives too much as far as I am concerned.  I was just discussing NFP. I am 100% again voting for Obama and remember many, many Catholics did. Wonder what they will do now. As far as what that other blogger said about Medicare and SS, it was the Dems that imposed that on us. I am on Medicare and I need a supplement which costs me along with RX near $300 per mo.+ my medicare pay’t. What is the big break. When Obama tells people they HAVE to buy ins. and there will be some out there that they can afford, what he is saying is: if you are rich, you will have great coverage and if you are poor, you will have the minimum. Again a big deal from the Dems. Ha!

Stedes, you are right that Catholic and other hospitals and colleges, etc.  take some government $$ in grants, loans, etc. and most could not survive without these sources of funding.  They have evolved and grown over time, and would be very hard to eliminate, if this were desired.  The reach of government control has been successful in forcing much Catholic doctrine and practice to the background.  Look how hard it is for Catholic schools to compete with public schools financially - a steady incursion of (nihilist) secular values has followed, 

However, Catholic health care must operate within the current system, because it has historically served all - rich, poor, Christian or not.  Catholic health care is not ‘concierge service’.

Remember, though, that ‘government money’ is funded by our tax dollars, and I daresay that the readers here are sick and tired of being forced to use OUR money - our taxes - to undermine our values.  The HHS mandate will not stand!

irgeriiod aasf r go colWith ingricgotodLook hoeill and othe

Perhaps the Obama administration sees this as a “win-win” situation.  One, he will force the Catholic Church to capitulate (not likely). Second, he waits until October and “graciously” rescinds the mandate in a manner that makes the Catholic Bishops’ response look like foolish over-reaction. Third, he mobilizes his pro-choice base behind him for the November election.
Hopefully, this will backfire and, instead, unite Catholics and all people of faith against this administration’s direct attack on religious freedom and the Constitution.

@Carol,
Great observation; There is certainly cold calculation, even if it’s drunk with power.

My wife said it best, that Catholics in the pews will take contraception/NFP seriously when the (American) Church takes it seriously. I also think that many Catholics are not in the pews -not taking Church seriously- for the same reason.

When I say American, I mean of course the USCCB.  I think we are finally there!

Many are talking about how this proposed mandate has ‘awakened a sleeping giant’...the Catholic Bishops who have permitted aggressive supporters and proponents of abortion both here and abroad to continue to receive Holy Communion (Pelosi and Biden-I believe Sebelius was told she cannot receive Holy Communion)-Pelosi, in particular, has become more aggressive in promoting abortion and has publicly and ferociously not only mocked Catholic teaching but she has also mocked our Bishops…and they have allowed her to do this. She’s basically telling the Bishops and the world: “you won’t dare come up against me! I’m more powerful than you are.” and so our Bishops have allowed her to be seen as a Catholic in good standing…this damages Catholics who are confused, and strengthens enemies of the Church and anti lifers into declaring that if Catholics such as Pelosi, Biden, Kerry, et al are permitted to receive Holy Communion, that shows that abortion is not really considered a grave evil..now we’ll see what happens. Let’s pray that the ‘sleeping giant’ has really been awakened and willing to fight against the enemies of life…

I’m not happy with the Church. No one in it seemed to have a problem with the jackboot technique when Obamacare was first passed.

This feels like a mostly contrived issue.  This decision does not require those who do not support the use of contraception to use contraception. Every organized religion in the United States must exist within the construct of secular laws.  If there exist religions who feel contraception should be illegal in the United States, then let’s have a national referendum (or state referendums).  Otherwise, digging in one’s heels on this issue seems inconsistent.  For example, one central Catholic belief is that the church is apostolic - meaning that the authority of the apostles is still living today in the Bishops and Magesterium of the Catholic Church.  Clearly operators of catholic hospitals are able to hold their apostolic beliefs while recognizing the authority and relevance of building codes, GAAP accounting standards, FDA guidelines, and dozens of other secular authorities in the management of their hospitals.  If you don’t personally support the use of contraceptives, don’t use contraceptives.  End of story.

Michael Rose, we don’t want to pay for abortions, sterilization and contraception in our health care plans.  Certainly, individuals in those plans can choose any of the above drugs/services if they are in the health plans, but the mandate to force any insured group to carry insurance coverage for same is the issue.

This may seem like a contrived issue for you, (and in fact, hospitals in Massachusetts have been required to provide services like morning after pills for several years now), but now is the time to stop this creep of governmental control nationwide.  It is totalitarianism, and we have the right and duty to object!

Quo Vadis - a couple of reactions.  This debate shouldn’t be framed as Catholic vs. Government, but Catholic vs. all those not Catholic.  It is highly discriminatory to suggest that “individuals in those plans can choose to pay for the drugs/services if they are in the health plans”. If I ran a bank, the analogy would be, “African Americans can get a more expensive mortgage elsewhere - their business is not welcome here”.  I don’t believe it is central to your faith that the Catholic Church operate hospitals and insurance plans.  What’s next, Catholic Church operates district courts?  You have the freedom to believe whatever you want to believe - you do not have a right for those beliefs to directly and forcibly impact others.  You are note forced to become a member of a health insurance plan.  If you are concerned that your money may be pooled and indirectly allocated for procedures you don’t support, don’t join the plan.  You can’t have it both ways.

Michael Rose, your last comment confirms the suspicion that you, and the Obama administration, really do want to eliminate Catholic, and presumably other private, sectarian hospitals and social service agencies.  You successfully forced Catholic Charities out of the century-long adoption business in MA by forcing a similar situation regarding ‘gay’ adoptions.  They did a good job in this field, for many years, and at lower cost to society than any government agency could deliver. 

For all who read this, notice what the real intent is for the ‘progressive’ wing - establish the most nihilist, radical secular environment for the provision of all human services - education, health care, etc.  In doing this, a lot of bad things can happen, not the least of which is the breach of social justice norms such as solidarity and subsidiarity, which are good and beneficial for all humans.

Just wait and see what an authoritarian,  totalitarian ‘solution’ will follow if this mandate stands - hmmm, force all girls to start taking birth control pills at puberty, for instance?  Hey it’s ‘free’.

Inside the Mind of Evil: Obama Administration’s HHS Decision
## I had forgotten that 6 million US Jews had been gassed by Obama, that much of the US had been subjugated by the tyrant Obama, that tens of thousands of had been tortured by the USA Gestapo, that the tyrant Obama had bombed those cities which rejected his party into the dust, that the Pope had pleaded unsuccessfully with Obama not to massacre thousands of priests… Sorry, but these attempts to make out that Obama is oine of the Great Tyrants of the 20/21 Century is ridiculous at best; it is very offensive to people from parts of the world where there have been real tyrannies & genocides for thopse cossetted US complainers to try to pretend that Obama is a combo of Hitler, Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, & the Antichrist. And it deprives the costant complaining of persecution by Obama of any credibility. US Christians are spoiled rotten -the tragedy is, that you don’t even know it. If you don’t like your Presidewnt’s policies - then for the sake of God, pray for the man.

Quo Vadis - I’m not sure you know what nihilism means.  If you meant to call me a terrorist, shame on you.  Further, it is the established laws for which I am advocating.  Human services provided by the Catholic church still have to operate in the construct of secular laws.  As I posted earlier, if you think contraception should be illegal, go after that.  Stop trying to mold the world into your individual preferences outside the laws that govern our society.  I suspect the reason you advocate that approach is because you know that, specific to contraception, your viewpoint is in the extreme minority.  Would the members of your own parish vote to outlaw contraception?

For your information most issues are not totally good or totally evil. They are human issues that have many colors, not just black and white.
The media is certainly broadcasting a lot of so-called Christians using a black paint brush healthcare issues these days, while ignoring to criminal activities of banks and corporations that have ruined the lives of millions of people.
Secular people are sick and tired of the lies that are spread by religions and particularlly about Catholics who lie to protect their Pope’s hopelessly Medieval worldview.

@Winston,
The Church’s Teaching on the human person and marriage is THE most up-to-date understanding out there and we won’t stand for atheistic secular humanists forcing a false Religion down our throats. “Fertility is a disease” might be in your Creed but it’s not in Ours.

Michael Rose - Nihilism means, ‘believing in nothing’, which is a good approximation of what secular post-moderns believe.  Read the ‘modernist’ philosophers like Hegel and Kant and Nietzsche to get a feel for this outlook on life - the antithesis of Christianity.  We believe in life and good and truth, and if you want to see where a rejection of faith in the Western tradition heads, read the history of Nazi fascism and communism.  Liberals like Obama think they’re on to something new with their radical, morally relativistic secularism, but it leads to a depressing dead end. 

We should pray for our leaders, and our enemies, which can be one and the same, but we can also hope and pray and strive to vote Obama out of office this year!

David, kudos for stating our Creed - affirmation of life and the dignity of the human person, from conception through natural death.  I am proud of my Church - the body of Christ here on earth.

Quo Vadis - Things I believe in: the rule of civic law, an obligation to others not based on the reward/penalty of the afterlife (a.k.a. genuine morality), and a commitment to my own autonomy.  I don’t reject faith - I simply don’t have faith in your religion.  While you are equating rational thought with Nazism and labeling Obama as your enemy because he is a Christian, just not the right kind of Christian, you are missing a key point.  The world is falling all around you because of contraceptives will be offered through health plans you consider “yours”, but would a majority of members in your parish vote to make contraceptives illegal?  How about putting some energy into issues of substance.

“It’s good to know.”

That’s the slogan of an ad on TV. I like it. It has a ring to it and it’s a perfect fit for sex l’Natural. Imagine “you know” when you as a couple are fertile. You can’t help but cherish this, especially your wife. It’s a Gift. The power to cooperate with The Creator to bring forth a new human life now and into eternity. Sounds American.

If your planning not to have children at that time -Usually 10 -12 days of abstinance is all that is required. It’s a Courtship period. A way to reconnect. Talk. Hug. And then when the time of fertility is over - have Awesome Sex.. And I mean real relations. Total relations. As good. No -much better, better everyday. So Satisfying. No mere mutual masturbation here.
Sex l’Natural is Awesome Sex. ...

(Those dam Catholics how dare they think that way, don’t they know that sex is dirty. It’s where diseases are caught, especially the worst infection - a child. )

This probably will not appear as is, or even in a coherent fashion on this website, but I have never read such a bunch of hyperbolic nonsense in my life. President Obama is no more evil than any of the absolutist nay-sayers on this site. As the Apostle Paul rightly observed, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” There is no one that is righteous, no not one. If you actually believe that your venomous hate speech, slander and false witness are pleasing to God and helpful to the United States as we face many and various serious issues, then God help you! Who do you intend to elect? The treacherous and unfaithful Newt Gingrich? Or perhaps you fancy Rick Santorum who raises cheers from the self proclaimed “tea party” patriots, most of whom have little or no respect or tolerance for the one Holy Catholic Church or it’s adherents or candidates. They are all for cheering for leaving the poor, uninsured, and “least of these” to die in the streets if they dare show up to the hospital without an insurance card. How Christian. How pro-life.They see you as a church of abusing priests and ignorant immigrants and yet you want to bless their every move based on one issue. How simplistic. How unaware of the bigger picture. Wake up before you elect a boatload of moralistic, self deceiving hypocrites that will make life for the average American a living hell. No pun intended, but the answer is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. “Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” The law never saved or helped anybody. Get real!

Where was all the outrage when the state of Georgia mandated the same contraceptive requirement in their state?

@Rev.Dr.E.J. Kern:  #1 When you speak of Gingrich, think Pres. Clinton. When you speak of the poor affording insurance, the insurance they can afford covers next to nothing, meaning if you are rich you get great coverage and if you are poor you get much less. That is what Obama wants. I was forced on Medicare by the Democrate Party and it does not cover everything, therefore I need a supplemental that costs according to what you can afford, more or less again.  The bigger picture is that Obama wants our government to control everything in our lives. Look to Canada, England and other European and So. American countries. Go on the internet and on your search line put in “pedophilia in the Lutheran, Presbyterian, any denomination and you will find pedophilia, along with boy scouts and public schools. It is a world wide problem but the media likes to point their finger only at the Catholic Church. You are the “self righteous” person, the people on this blog are arguing against any type of socialism.  You are the one who cannot see the whole picture. Now I hear they want to instruct us on how to feed our children, big deal. The simple procedure is to take the vending machines our of the schools. I do not need my government telling me what to eat, my doctor will do that. Little by little I think of China. Who is the government to tell us that they passed a health bill and we will find out what is in it after it is passed.  Does that make sense to you?  Talk about “false witness” look to Pelosi for that one, notice I did not say “Senator” because a person who will call the people [who pay her salary] astroturf does not deserve a title.

I am a 56 yr old Catholic woman doctor who has never used contraceptive pills & no one has ever polled me about it. I am so sick of hearing “90% of Catholic women use contraceptives”, I doubt anyone actually knows the correct number. I do think it is time for a term describing catholics-in-name-only [like RINO}, but CINO is unpronounceable. I call them “Nancy Pelosi Catholics”.

@Marian: I was thinking the same thing about the 90% when I heard that on T.V. [in fact if anyone ever polled me on that personal a question, I would say “none of your business”. I am 85 yrs old, had an oophorectomy [for medical reasons] at age 47 and was never on hormones. In fact I am not on any medication, though I was put on an antibiotic two weeks ago and now have thrush on my tongue and the medication they gave me “miracle mouth wash” burned my tongue and lips. I do not believe in ingesting anything in my body unless it is imperative that I do so.

The paranoia that is rampant on this blog is sad. My complaint was towards the government being involved with religious rights. Pure and simple-stop the “hate speak”. If Catholics didn’t ever use contraceptives and never had abortions-do you think the government would have overstepped it’s bounds? And stop with this “holier than thou” stuff-Obama is not the great evil. You can disagree-and if you wish-vote him out of office. My God, St. Paul admonished us to “Judge not lest ye be judged”. Catholic’s voiced their displeasure and changes were quickly made. The NCR and EWTN still have issues they must work out but this is America. And the hammer and sickle crap is disgraceful. Grow up. Keep focused on the issue and please “Pray for our President”.

@Bob,
It is wrong to judge persons, but it is equally wrong not to judge actions.
A President deliberately dismissed the First Ammendment and tried to undermine.

@Bob.
You wrote “And the hammer and sickle crap is disgraceful.”. In my other posts in this thread I expressed the same thoughts. Today’s actions proved how off-base the ‘marxist/ socialist/ communist’ rubbish tossed at Mr Obama and the American government.

If you adhere to this line of thought, just pause for a second. If America had come under the shadow of the hammer and sickle, would today’s compromise have been possible? Would EWTN have been able to file its lawsuit? (Would EWTN or this site in fact exist?) Had such a horror occurred would it not be an indictment that the American government, its constitution, its Bill of Rights is so fragile that one man, democratically elected, can take it down.

America works. Thank God for that

Has anyone noticed that Obama talks of birth control in the same context as women’s health. So women, for free, can ingest birth control pills, and alter their body’s hormones, or the morning after pill, while no one mentions the men and the fact that a condom is not going to alter anything in his or her body.  This is for WOMEN’S health?  I think he is “picking” on women and calling it health and women’s lib organizations have said nothing about this. Hmmmmm While I am at it, the Gov. complains about medicare, medicaid and SS, being too expensive, yet he wants to give all girls and women free contraceptives.  This is how how he is going to win the vote?

There are feminists now screaming about how 69% of women, including Catholic women, want Catholic institutions to provide insurance for contraception…they don’t seem to realize that the Catholic Church is not governed by polls…

What did religious socialists expect? That only their own judgment and conscience in matters directly and indirectly medical was not to be downtrodden by the rulers and regulators imposing the million and one rules authorized by Obamafascistcare? If one awards a government dictatorial new powers, as Congress did when it passed Obamafascistcare over the objections of the merely sane and informed, those dictatorial powers will be used to — guess what — dictate. Persons will be given orders about how they must spend their time and money. And if, today, in response to widespread uproar, the Obamafascistcarers deign to compromise or to pretend to compromise on the exact terms of the latest dictat, one must not be surprised if, tomorrow, the Obamafascistcarers coyly roll back the rollback, i.e., JustMoveOn now that everybody has had a chance to become accustomed to their new roles as meekly subservient thralls to Obamafascistcaring.

David Brown: interesting perspective on the definition of a dictatorship - that laws passed by a bicameral, directly elected legislative branch and reviewed/modified by the federal judicial branch = the unchecked will of a fascist dictator.  I’d say the process worked about as well as our flawed republic is designed to work.  I’d love to hear how you think laws ought to be enacted.  We get all 300 million Americans together and move only when there is unanimous support?  Maybe only via a divine mandate?  Now that you are clearly forced to use contraception against your will, how is that going?

Michael Rose - Yes, our representative republican government did succeed in passing a healthcare bill because the Dems had control of the executive and legislative branches.  Thus, they were able, (against headwinds of opposition from a variety of locations), to pass a 2000+ page bill that nobody had read nor could understand, including the apostate Pelosi, she of the ‘let’s pass the bill so we can find out what’s in it’ stripe. 

Yes, an imperfect system of government it is, and most of those on this web blog will try very hard to put out the politicians who brought us into this disastrous, unethical quagmire.  With a mess as divisive, illogical and rooted in such wrong-headed philosophy as Obamacare, it almost looks like evil intent, doesn’t it?  It certainly won’t take a majority of 300 million to see that, I hope.

To the Catholics who wish that the church change with the ever degenerating ways of global culture:  Personally, if I were in that position, I would find myself at odds with the church and find a more agreeable place to worship, rather than impose my personal differences on the institution.
I see a parallel in those who wish impose cultural changes to the country against the will of whom they disagree with, and those within the church who wish to abolish tradition in the name of pop-culture.

MikeL - The denominations that liberals can join that ‘go with the flow’ of modern, (or post-modern) culture include most of the mainline Protestant churches, particularly the UCC and the Episcopal church.  There is even a prominent lesbian Episcopal bishop and head of a divinity school in MA who once wrote about the ‘blessings of an abortion’!  They are fully ‘with’ with the moral relativist culture today.  Of course, there is also the Universalist church, which looks like a combo of humanist/Buddhist/Wiccan nature worship, with a litte yoga thrown in for fun. 

Thank God we have the Catholic Church which, though imperfect, has the courage to stand for biblical truth that has stood the test of time.

Amen.  And as Catholics are we infiltrating their churches? No.  Are we clamoring outside (or inside!) their places of worship? No.  We simply pray for them.
There is something to be said about the cross-section of the church that remains only to tear down its traditions and principles.  All we can do is hold our ground and pray for them as well.

Inside the mind of evil?  Hyperbole anyone?

Evil = covering up the rape of young boys.

President Obama has been tying to help the poor and heal the sick. Much like a Jewish carpenter whose example I follow.

@Rick,
Obama is the most pro-abortion President in history. He supports even partial birth abortion. While some Bishops did cover up what some (mostly homosexual, >80% of victims were boys 11-16) priests did, that pales in comparision to a man who disregards the First Ammendment, pushes abortion and abortifacients. Full abortion, Euthanasea and mercy killing are next on his list to mandate. He would like nothing better than to see all Catholic hospitals removed from their morals. See how easily contraceptive become abortifacients. Even the “definition” of when life begins was changed from conception to “implantation”, not for any scientific reason but for marketing purpose of drugs that kill. The Father of Lies is behind this. He was a “murderer from the beginning” when he speaks “lies are his nature”.

@Rick: David is right. Get on the internet & on your search line put in pedophelia in the Lutheran, Episcopal, Baptist and any other denomination or religion [Jew or Muslim] or the Public School System and you will find much of it there too. This administration and the press are using the Catholic Church to get what it wants because it is the largest denomination in the Christian Church, and in order to control the other religions, it is going for our Church first. It is so easy to see that. See how the T.V. & Press speaks of “contraception & the Catholic Church; they never mention the ‘after’pill or abortion, which is part of that Bill. Pres. Obama is ruining our health care system. We elderly are not getting the help we need. My daughter has a tumor in her head & needs MRI periodically and her doctor said he is afraid he won’t be able to order any for her, if the healthcare goes through, unless she is definitely showing symptoms and going blind, etc. I have an Argentinian friend and I called 4 doctors to get her an appt. and three said, “the doctor does not take Medicare pts. or he has his quota”. You should hear what she had to say when she lived in Argentina and the State controlled the churches there. Very sad. She would never go back.

David: as the most pro-abortion President in history (ignoring for the moment that a republican, RMN, was president when abortion was legalized in January of 1973), how has Obama expanded access to abortions?  What legislation has he signed that has changed the legal status of abortion in any way?  Abortion is widely supported by US voters - pick any one of the dozen’s of polls that demonstrate significantly more than 50% of US voters believe abortion should be legal.  Contraception is legal and widely supported.  You are free to hold whatever personal beliefs that make sense to you.  The United States of America have broadly decided the abortion/contraception issue.  If that is not to your liking, or you can’t see yourself as a contributing member of this country - feel free to move on.  Unplug, become a founding member of the United Parishes of Catholicism, and enact laws that your constituents support. 

Oh, and I think you hit the nail on the head - I was going to get upset that the Catholic Church didn’t feel compelled to act when systemic pedophilia was discovered.  But then I realized the crime was committed by homosexual clergy on “almost-men” aged primarily between 11 and 16.  I mean, I would have raised a stink if heterosexual clergy were raping boys under 10 - that, my friend, is a entirely different enchilada…..

I do believe, as some have said, tht in doing this, Obama has indeed awakened a sleeping giant. The majority of Bishops have spoken out, but not all of them. Some Bishops have declared that they are ready to go to prison to defend freedom of religion. However, in all of this, there is still the core issue: why are ‘Catholics’ such as Pelosi and Biden and others who publicly stand against the Church and aggressively urge others to do so, considered to be Catholics in good standing and permitted to receive Holy Communion? Pelosi is now aggressively pushing for same sex marriage; she receives huge sums of money from Planned Parenthood and she publicly mocks the Bishops. When confronted about the fact that she considers herself a Catholic in good standing, she declares to all that the Bishops are in disagreement about the ‘Communion issue’ and she is right!! Sebelius was told by her Bishop to refrain from presenting herself for Communion. Pope John Paul, Pope Benedict and Cardinal Burke, a Canon Lawyer and head of the highest Vatican Court have declared that anyone who publicly promotes abortion and urges others to do so, must not consider themselves Catholics in good standing and must not present themselves to receive Holy Communion. I believe this is a key issue - for it is a weapon used by anti-lifers, starting with Pelosi, who say that if abortion was really a grave moral evil, why are those who publicly and aggressively advancing the abortion agenda, considered Catholics in good standing. I hope Pope Benedict will soon speak out clearly and strongly about this since the Bishops are indeed divided.

GOOD Riddance, HELLO, my good man ?? OB, the partying, basketball playing, golfing, bowing, Guiness drinking, Grey Poupon, brackatologist,campaigning, tele-prompting, executive order, czar in chief rock star has the unions in his back pocket, he has the entitlement crowd he buys off every month with the check using OUR tax dollars, he’s got the fraud vote with the thug groups like Acorn and Panthers, unlimited Soros money, he’s got 100 % of the Judas Catholics [Fr. Jenkins,Kennedy,China doll no second guessing Plugs Biden,Sebelius,Kerry,Pelosi,Matthews,Georgetown Univ. [the enemy within Catholics] that have all taken the 30 pieces of silver. This leaves the rest of us Custer Catholics. I believe the odds against us definately qualify us for the long shot, miracle bracket, cinderella team. Enjoy the March/November Madness ! May it not be our Last Stand.

someone should make a bumper stick of that picture and obama tearing the constitution with those words…sorry catholics freedom of religion does not apply to you…. i would buy a couple hundred…

So, now we know that “Big Pharma” has given much, much, much monies to Obama, thus the new Health Care Bill. Even though females can get their contraceptives free, the Big Pharma’s want them to use the expensive ones. Also notice, this is all about female health…..oh yes, nothing is said about male health, so the males no longer have to use condoms because the females are well protected.  Oh my, now Mr. Obama, what about the females getting STD’s from all these unprotected males. Well, that makes even more money for the Pharmaceutical Companies, doesn’t it….or is the male contraceptives “HIDDEN” IN THIS BILL ALSO. Also, when are the Bishops going to excommunicate Pelosi. Yesterday, she was speaking in favor of this bill “as a Catholic”.  I am also wondering how much money Pelosi donates to the Catholic Church [like the Kennedys] Do I sound sour, yes I am totally fed up!!! How many times have I been told “the Catholic Church is not a Democracy”.  The Bishops do as they please, we must follow, yeah,right!

The stocks in contraceptive and abortifacient are up. Insurance companies are not down, they’re not going to pay for these.