Unacceptable?
The CNN Political Ticker notes: Bishops slam ‘unacceptable’ health care bill
Washington (CNN)– The US Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a strongly worded letter to members of the US Senate Friday, terming the abortion language in the Senate Democrats’ health care bill “completely unacceptable.”
“The new Senate bill is an enormous disappointment, creating new and completely unacceptable federal policy that endangers human life and rights of conscience,” reads the letter obtained by CNN Congressional Producer Deirdre Walsh.
I guess it was an oversight that the Bishops didn’t mention the financial involvement of the Church in the debate as one of the largest hospital systems in the country, nor stress how change the wording would benefit that network financially. “Conscience” has been a fluid concept with the Church when it involves its financial interests.
The Bishops might want to spend a little time considering the concept in Matthew 7:3 before making pronouncements.
9 comments
…I think Matthew 23:23-24 would be a pretty good choice, too…
That’s a bit harsh, Jack, but not unwarranted. I was going to respond at your place that while the fundamentalists have a lot of book marks in the Old Testament, they never seem to make it into the Gospels, which are pretty much the foundation of the Christian church.
The Catholics do read the Gospels regularly, but the hierarchy doesn’t seem to remember the messages that they contain.
The Catholics do read the Gospels regularly, but the hierarchy doesn’t seem to remember the messages that they contain.
LOL Ahhh… but you neglect the word that the Catholic Church (and pretty much every other Religion) lives, and occasionally fights deadly wars, by… “interpretation”. 😉 It was the reason for the whole Protestant, Anglican, Baptist, etc split, witch then further split into subgroups. In fact, a slow mutating virus would be an apt biological (or pathological) metaphor for church subdivisions over the Centuries. 😈
Actually, most of the disagreements were over power, procedure, and money, which is to be expected after it got co-opted by the Roman Empire and became a bureaucracy. Mixing church and state always corrupts the church, because government is almost always corrupt by its very nature.
Almost every Christian church agrees on the basic meaning of the Gospels, but many would just as soon not be reminded of the duties and responsibilities that the knowledge entails. I have seen Christains putting their lives on the line based on those principles, so it would be nice if their church showed a bit more respect for them. There are a lot of good people out in the world working in very unfriendly places based on their beliefs, and they do needed work. I have also seen others who claim to believe the same things leave death and destruction in their wake. The people who got things done didn’t seem to spend much time talking about their belief, they just lived it.
Why is the Conference of Catholic Bishops issuing one inarguably political announcement after another? and how do they not lose their tax exemption?
I’m a live-and-let-live sort of guy, and that’s how I’ve behaved toward the Catholic Church to this point. But I have a dog in this race… my background with Planned Parenthood… and if they pursue the matter politically, beyond the pulpits of their churches, I’ll pursue the matter of their tax-exempt status. That wall of separation needs to be wide and high.
Oh… I wasn’t (and never have) knocked the faith of the flock’s. It’s the institution’s I have problems with. 🙂 And yes, I agree about what the disputes were really about, but ‘officially’ it was generally said to be interpretation that was the root. 🙂
But… it’s always about power and control. 🙂
They’ll claim that it is issue advocacy, Steve, but the fact that they have commercial interests makes it lobbying. Further, now that the Vatican has diplomatic status they technically may need to register as agents of a foreign power under the existing law, they are appointed by the leader of a “foreign government”.
This is why the wall is needed because there is no way of separating the status of the Bishops in their religious roles, as opposed to their role in the commercial interests of the Catholic Church.
Actually, while I generally limit my complaints, Kryten, towards the institution, when the “flock” decides to recruit in an obnoxious fashion because of their belief, then I have no problem criticizing them. If someone’s faith intrudes on my space, they have abrogated any restriction I might generally feel about denigrating the beliefs of others. Individuals who push their belief system into the public space are asking for it. Asking others to abide by restrictions because of personal beliefs is over the line, and the beliefs are open for criticism.
The religious institutions are no better, and oft times worse [see Jonestown massacre] than political or business institutions. People are free to believe anything, and are rather amazing in their ability to ignore reality in order to do it.
Hmmm. I guess it’s a matter of perception and labeling. 🙂 😉
I call those groups ‘terrorist groups’, not ‘religious organizations’. Religion is only a cloak for their extremism, ignorance and cowardice. Of course, the fact that the Governments of the World allows them to exist, and as *Religious* groups shows the ignorance and cowardice of Gov’s. Or, that they agree with their agenda’s, even to the point of collusion. The Bushmorons certainly showed that. 🙂
Religion has always been used as an excuse for mass murder and evil generally. And probably always will. Crusades, Inquisition, Witch hunting in the USA… etc. These were all (and others) Gov sanctioned, and sponsored, terrorism. The ignorant flocks generally thought these were all great ideas, until they were on the receiving end. 🙂 Funny how that works… 😉
Actually, it is interesting that you say that, because the US government is in a bit of a bind about the so-called extremist imam that corresponded with Major Hasan and, who now lives in Yemen. It turns out he is fairly middle of the road for Yemen or Saudi Arabia, another Wahhabi cleric whose views are the same that you would hear in any Saudi or Yemeni mosque. He may be “extreme” for US mosques, but Yemeni authorities don’t think he’s especially radical, although they threw him in prison for mediating a dispute between two of the trouble-making tribes near the Saudi border. His links to al Qaeda are rather thin, two of the highjackers attended mosques in San Diego and Virginia where he was working, but as Saudi Wahhabi Muslims, that’s not particularly surprising. They have been watching the guy for years but haven’t come up with enough to charge him with anything. Pretty weak evidence for any kind of terrorist case.
Taxes are fine, as long as you don’t have to pay them. Everything is wonderful, until it affects you personally. That’s how abominations like the US PATRIOT Act get passed – it only affects the guilty, and you’re not guilty, so no problem. Never underestimate the general stupidity of people, or those they elect.