Open Letter to President Obama, etc--- (Catholics, pray, verses, exist)
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But, the Catholic hospital is a religious institution. For example Catholic Hospital do not perform abortions.
The patient or worker is free to go elsewhere. The government cannot manipulate a religious entity.
that in many small towns, there ONLY is a Catholic Hospital. So everyone in that town is Catholic? Then Non-Catholic will have to following THEIR religious teachings?
This is what happened where I used to live. The Catholic Church took over the only hospital in town. Do you know that the police took rape victims to the state hospital 20 miles away so the woman would have a CHOICE of getting the Morning After Pill which the local Catholic Hospital would tell her it was against THEIR religion.
This the problem. YOUR religious rights END where somebody elses begins. When did we become a Catholic Theocracy in this country? Incidentially, I say all this as an EX-Catholic, although I am sure the church still counts me as one of their members. It seems you cannot LEAVE them either.
Most of those who are so concerned about "religious liberty" in reality want everyone else forced to live as though they believe the same way they do. No dissenting opinions allowed. There's your "religious liberty".
The lack of respect for our freedoms is disturbing.
When government imposes its will on the actions of its private citizens to coerce them to hold to the standards that only the government is Constitutionally mandated to abide by . . . they are exceeding their authority and violating the freedoms the Constitution granted us from government coercion. A Catholic hospital is NOT government and should be free to establish its hiring, firing, and employment conditions including health coverages as part of its free exercise of its religion, period. No one is required to work in a Catholic hospital or any other private religious enterprise. The increasing creeping intrusion of the government into the private sector is unconscionable. But this is a direct violation of the free exercise of religion protection from government coercion.
Most of those who are so concerned about "religious liberty" in reality want everyone else forced to live as though they believe the same way they do. No dissenting opinions allowed. There's your "religious liberty".
This is not just a straw man . . . it is a preposterous exaggeration of the issues. The coercion is coming from the government and it is a direct violation of the free exercise of religion protections in the Constitution.
When government imposes its will on the actions of its private citizens to coerce them to hold to the standards that only the government is Constitutionally mandated to abide by . . . they are exceeding their authority and violating the freedoms the Constitution granted us from government coercion. A Catholic hospital is NOT government and should be free to establish its hiring, firing, and employment conditions including health coverages as part of its free exercise of its religion, period. No one is required to work in a Catholic hospital or any other private religious enterprise. The increasing creeping intrusion of the government into the private sector is unconscionable. But this is a direct violation of the free exercise of religion protection from government coercion.
Moderator cut: inappropriate language . When it is simply a church, then it can claim religious exemption. Anyone working at a RCC hospital is bound by the same ethics of the medical profession and because they charge for services, then they are construed as a business and as such pay taxes, and are under scrutiny of govt.
If these hospitals ONLY appointed catholic staff and did not charge a dime for services rendered, then they could claim exemption.
This is not like the govt insisting that BC methods be supplied to parishioners overriding their preferred bronze age edicts.
This is hardly the govt. installing condom vending machines in the RCC restrooms at a particular church.
Moderator cut: Orphaned When it is simply a church, then it can claim religious exemption. Anyone working at a RCC hospital is bound by the same ethics of the medical profession and because they charge for services, then they are construed as a business and as such pay taxes, and are under scrutiny of govt.
If these hospitals ONLY appointed catholic staff and did not charge a dime for services rendered, then they could claim exemption.
This is not like the govt insisting that BC methods be supplied to parishioners overriding their preferred bronze age edicts.
This is hardly the govt. installing condom vending machines in the RCC restrooms at a particular church.
It is government making a law respecting the free exercise of religion which it is proscribed from ever doing. There is no clause specifying that if in the course of exercising its free exercise of religion a religion runs a religious "business" it somehow waives its free exercise protection, Seeker!
If you had read the entire post, I said nothing about turning over the religious institutions (the churches). I said that churches should divest themselves of the hospitals and concentrate on running their churches.
Same as turning them over---who cares if it is the government or some other entity. If they can do it to churches they can come into your business and do it to you.
This is what socialists countries do. Take over companies and property.
That is quite a scenario. If the woman had a medical problem that required BC the Catholic hospital would have no problem letting her get it with their insurance policy.
If a big corporation takes the stance that they won't offer BC and not just for moral reasons then people have a choice not to work for them. If enough people decide not to work for them they will need to close their company. I don't think many companies will do that. Maybe you will have small companies that do but people can work elsewhere.
It's not much different than a person who does not want to work at anyplace they don't like. No one can tell a company to change because they don't like something. No one is a slave---get a job somewhere else. Move is you need to. I have a friend who would not go to work at a big airplane company. She hated to work on an assembly line. She can't go there and insist they don't have assemble lines so she would like them---she just got a job elsewhere.
It's still a free country, we still have freedoms. BC is readily available, it's not like if the church doesn't offer it no one can get it.
Most of those who are so concerned about "religious liberty" in reality want everyone else forced to live as though they believe the same way they do. No dissenting opinions allowed. There's your "religious liberty".
Where is this happening? I don't think you can give even one example.
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The lack of respect for our freedoms is disturbing.
