Look! I even took some pictures for you guys! Somebody let me stand on a bench in front of them because I'm so puny! SCORE!!!!
The fight, however, is far from over. With many a popular and well worded yet oh-so-cliche opposition to the Catholic (and, well...sane) side of the fight, we've got sleeves to roll up and hands to get dirty. So here I go:
One of my favorites that I will attempt to address with poise and grace is the whole "98% of Catholic women use contraception" statement. Oh boy, it's list time:
- First of all, this is an extremely misleading and overgeneralized statistic that should quite honestly be disregarded and done away with...but don't take my word for it.
- Even if 100% of Catholic women truthfully used some form of birth control, it's irrelevant to the reasons for opposing the mandate. Truth is truth even if nobody believes it.
- If a survey found that 98% of people lied, cheated on their taxes, or had sex outside of marriage, can the government claim it can force everybody to do so? HA. Hogwash.
- We realize that a good number of Catholic couples do use some form of contraception. The Church, unlike the government, respects the freedom of conscience of its persons to choose. Hey government, take a hint, why don't ya?
And that's only one of the opposing arguments! One measly statistic among a few other measly arguments for the mandate. Ha, the Catholic Church has outlived every major empire since its birth, bring it Health and Human Services!
I also managed to get a picture of a beautiful lady I met, she was so gracious to let me photograph her, (right). Though I do believe that she spelled charnel wrong, it really struck me as beautiful and very brave. Which has been eating away at me all day. We need to be brave, courageous men and women-NO - sons and daughters of God (King of the Universe nbd), especially in the face of moral issues such as this one, as well as the fight for human life in our nation. I can't wait for the day, and Lord Jesus I hope it is coming, that we can truly call our nation one of LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We CAN do this guys, for if God is with us who can be against us?
The last two items on your list don't make sense. The government is not forcing anyone to use contraceptives, as you imply; it is trying to extend the freedom to choose to use them to all women regardless of their employers' beliefs. If the "Church respects the freedom of conscience of its persons to choose", why is it attempting to deny that freedom of choice to women who might not be able to afford medication without health insurance?
ReplyDeleteYou're right, the government isn't forcing anybody to use contraceptives, but they are forcing people to pay for them, which morally violates dearly held beliefs of Catholics. The Church does respect the freedom to choose, as we believe in free will. The Church holds true to the fact that everybody has the choice to sin or not to sin, for example, and the if people are going to use contraceptives, that's too bad, but fine! We just won't pay for it. Women who can't afford this medication without health insurance have so many other options, contraceptives are so widely available it's ridiculous. I hope that answers what you addressed!
DeleteI know a lovely Catholic woman who has a very rare genetic disorder that prevents her blood from clotting properly. She uses birth control to lessen the amount of blood lost every month from her period, and without this medication she would have a serious risk of dying from blood loss one week out of every month. It is literally a matter of life and death for her. Is it right to let her die because of contention over a medication that "might" prevent her from becoming pregnant (also a serious risk to her health)?
ReplyDeleteActually, it's a common misconception that the Church doesn't allow this. They do! Birth control pills can be used for serious medical reasons, and the Church totally realizes/allows this. Though it is often not the absolute best option for treating most diseases, and other methods should be considered first, it is acceptable if necessary! The real problem is when couples who are sexually active are on the pill, (especially a low dosage pill)fertilization can occur quite often, and the pill's abortifacient system kicks in. This is obviously very morally wrong to the Church, and to anybody who values human life from conception onward,so Natural Family Planning (a natural way to avoid pregnancy)would usually be suggested along with the administering of the pill.
DeleteWith regard to the 98% of Catholic women use birth control thing. They only included women who were "at risk" where a pregnancy would be unplanned. They also included natural family planning as "birth control" which is against the conscience of 0% of Catholic women. Oh and the Guttmacher Institute who conducted the survey was founded by what is now Planned Parenthood. Although I like your point, even if it were a valid statistic, the HHS mandate would still be wrong.
ReplyDelete