Didn't anyone teach you at an early age these important basic principles?
They are:
1. Religion is a tool.
2. It is to be used as is appropriate for accomplishing your goals.
3. Any religion will do, as a tool, for accomplishing your goals.
4. You are not bound to any one religion, as a tool, to accomplish your goals.
5. If you desire, you may use religion only at certain times that it applies to your goals.
6. You may also discredit and ignore others who use their religion for accomplishing goals, as your tool is better than their tool, simply by the law of "individual" over "common good."
7. Religion is not to be confused with anything that has deeper meaning or applies to the values of your life. It is a tool.
Maybe something inside of your head is flashing right now, some kind of small red warning signal, hinting that this might be blatantly wrong, or at least illogical.
Hopefully, that is happening.
However, is appears that while many people (thank God), were not raised with such nonsense as what is above, some, including certain leaders, were.
Now, as I do not really know how our President was raised, I cannot say that this is so. I want to be respectful of the man who is carrying the weight of answering for the United States. I disagree with many of his policies and decisions, but I want to clarify that this is not some hateful post or something that is meant to be disrespectful.
That being said, when one reads this article, it is very hard to not assume that the principles listed above are in play. When you look at it from the objective, this is what you see:
- Religious discrimination in the form of a failure to respect religious freedom and conscience rights for the many American citizens (many who are Catholic and Christian) who do not find abortion, contraception, sterilization or embryonic stem cell research to be morally permissible.
So it is acceptable for the Department of Health and Human Services to require that organizations and institutions (such as Catholic schools and hospitals) provide contraceptive services, against their moral beliefs, while it is simultaneously acceptable for the President to state that his decisions on taxes stem from a Christian understanding of shared wealth?
I'm not arguing here about taxes... I'm going to a much more fundamental issue. This is about "when" and "where" is is acceptable in this country to talk about JESUS, and when it isn't. Did we not just see Tim Tebow taking heat for his overtly Christian messages in the public eye? Do we not also see the Susan G. Komen organization taking heat for making a fiscal decision that others are insisting is a ethical/moral decision? The problem here is consistency.
Please don't take this the wrong way: I'm not asking that "if we aren't all allowed to say, 'I live this way because of Jesus,' that no one should be allowed to." Clearly not. That would be a rather extreme persecution. However, I would like to call for some consistency in respecting religious beliefs! If the President can comfortably say that his policy on taxing the wealthy in this country is coming from an understanding of the Gospel, than by all means, I believe that any organization or institution that conscientiously objects to contraceptives/abortion/etc... should be comfortable (and in all legal rights) to say their policy of not offering those things comes from their understanding of the Gospel. End of story.
Now, I know that the President's comments were not so forceful, etc.. to be highly bent out of shape. It is still an issue that I see in the black and white - there is right, and there is wrong. It is not wrong, by any means, to help the poor and needy. I have been fortunate enough to live a life that was provided for, but I have also lived with people who have nothing, and I understand how important this message of generosity and charity is. I simply do not think that it is right to say that this particular moral truth is acceptable in this instance, but the other moral truths, those concerning life itself, are not acceptable.
Let's keep praying for religious freedom and the end to the culture of death that continues to seek ways of seeping into the fabric of our lives.
Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us.
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