Quote of the Day

. . . Perhaps the [hierarchy of the] Catholic Church has outlived its usefulness in this world if it has sunk so low to be willing to let hungry people starve and sick people die as a way to throw a temper tantrum over contraception that prevents unwanted pregnancies and therefore prevents abortion. I have never seen an organization that is so willing to put others in harm’s way in order to advance their agenda. Oh wait, I have. The Tea Party. And coincidentally, I’m sure, the Tea Party also thinks we should let the poor starve and let the sick die. And what’s up with this $2.9 billion that the Church has gleefully been collecting from the government? As it turns out, that money comprised 62% of the total revenue of the Church and they paid nothing in taxes on that revenue. So not only did the Catholic Church collect almost $3 billion of taxpayer dollars, they didn’t have to pay a cent in taxes. And that taxpayer money didn’t just come from practicing American Catholics. It came from every hard working American in the nation.

Just this funding alone makes me wonder if the Catholic Church could properly operate without it. It just seems to me that the Catholic Church is whining over something that they really have no business whining about. If you’re going to take federal cash, you should accept federal laws, especially when those laws do not directly apply to you and only apply to the insurance companies that cover your employees. Not a dime of the Church’s (or the government’s) money will have to go toward covering contraception. Insurance companies are required to now offer contraception to employees of religious institutions free of charge. In other words, there is no violation of religious freedom in this case. So this isn’t really about religious liberty as much as it is about women having access to contraception. . . .

– Stephen D. Foster Jr.

"Catholic Cardinal Says Church is Willing to Let
Poor People Starve in Protest of Contraception Mandate
AddictingInfo.org
May 23, 2012

Related Off-site Links:
Catholics Caught Between Bishops, Obama’s Birth Control Mandate – Lisa Miller (The Washington Post, May 24, 2012).
Did the Catholic Organizations Have to Sue Over the Health Care Mandate? – E.J. Dionne Jr. (The Washington Post via The Progressive Catholic Voice, May 22, 2012).
The Catholic Bishops Behind the War on Women – Laura Bassett (The Huffington Post, January 1, 2012).
43 Catholic Dioceses, Groups Sue to Stop HHS Contraception Mandate – Nancy Frazier O'Brien (National Catholic Reporter, May 21, 2012).
A Week of Catholic Turmoil: Signs of Hope Ahead? – Stephanie Niedringhaus (Network, May 25, 2012).