One of
the hot topics is government supported contraceptives and whether than is a
first amendment issue. Planned Parenthood is under attack and Religious Medical
institutions that receive government funds are required to provide the
contraceptives. And we have heard from the young graduate student speaking
before a group when she was not allowed to talk in front of an all male
congressional group on this subject.
Now I
believe in separation of church and state. But we need to understand the
separation does not mean equality. In the end the government has the last word.
They are the ones that say whether a religious group is valid or not. We are
not involved in the old historical battles over the control of nations by
churches or governments. Religious freedom is important but government does have the last word on the public good.
One poll/graph
I read recently (I think it was in Christian
Century by I can’t find it at the moment,) said that 98% of Americans use
or have used contraception and 98% of Roman Catholics in American use or have
used contraceptives. So, who do the complaining bishops think they are fooling?
One ponders what the bishops/cardinals think of
ReplyDeletefinding themselves supported by the likes of
Rush Limbaugh....
Freedom of religion isn't absolute -- if your religion requires you to sacrifice virgins to the volcano, you'll run into trouble with the law, first Amendment or no.
ReplyDeleteAnd if your freedom of religion hinges on depriving someone else of their freedom of religion, or depriving them of something that society has decided they have a right to, similarly there will be trouble.
But what's self-evident is the absurdity of a zero-tolerance policy towards contraception in a world of 7 billion people. Imagine if 7 billion people decided it was against their religion to use any birth control at all.
Some religious dogmas are simply out of date. The notion that all forms of birth control are forbidden on a planet teeming with 7 billion humans is one of them. The 'go forth and multiply' imperative has been satisfied. Mission accomplished.