I am not Catholic. But, I am a product of a Catholic Mother who believed abortion was wrong. And, I am a Christian, who believes that separation of church and state is as important as our right to breathe.
I don't want anyone trying to dictate what I can/can't believe about my God.
And, that, in a nutshell, is what is happening with the Catholic church at the moment.
The federal government somehow believes it has the right to dictate* to the Catholic church that it must violate its policy of "no contraception" by forcing them to include contraception coverage in the medical insurance policies they provide.
I've never quite understood the big deal about contraception/no contraception, but I respect the right of that group of Christians to decide that is a very important part of being Catholic. They also strongly oppose abortion, so to be a Catholic means you very well may end up with a house full of children; again, not exactly MY cup of tea, but that is so irrelevant. I am not being forced to practice Catholicism.
But, if you are a Christian, you should be VERY concerned about what is happening in Catholic circles. Because, if you think this issue won't eventually touch your church, you may very well be wrong.
Think critically: what is next? The church must provide medical insurance that guarantees abortion services? Must offer equal employment, meaning an equal mix of all races, sexes, and alternate lifestyles in all parts of the church, from Bishop/pastor down to the janitor? Must guarantee "membership", regardless of the status of the person?
There are certain tenets the Christian church is founded on. Those are called commandments, not suggestions. Beyond the commandments, there are principles, based on scripture, that vary widely from church to church.
I don't want the leader of our congregation to be female.** In our church, that will never be an issue because this is one of the principles we were founded on. But, if the government were to decide we should provide equal opportunity for all, this would create a real problem. It would run completely counter to what hundreds of parishioners agree is best for OUR church: we want a male leading us.
In other churches, the exact is true: they want female leadership. But, if the government stepped in and said "equality for all", and the leadership were skewed toward women, this could open the church up to lawsuits by men.
Do you see the inherent problem here? Once the church cedes a little power to the government, it is a well-greased slope off Mt. Fuji. It will mean disintegration of the church as a whole, even if it starts with just one group.
You should be concerned. You should take action, by standing behind your Christian brothers and sisters in the Catholic church and letting them know you strongly support them in their quest to keep the government our of their perfectly-legal, no contraception, policy. You should let your voice be heard on this. You should be praying that God would protect our rights to serve our Him in a free country, and that, worldwide, that would become the norm.
The time is now. Because, if you don't treat this as an attack on your personal church, it will BECOME bigger than that and become an attack on our Christianity.
This great country was founded on the principle of religious freedom. Many of our forefathers shed blood to make this our right. To give it up without a peaceful and prayerful fight would be to turn a blind eye to an attack on the religious freedoms we enjoy.
Under One God: let's keep it that way.
*And, I've chosen that word VERY carefully. And used it twice, so far, to make that point. I do not, one bit, like the power grab that is happening in Washington right now, with the massive amount of legislation and regulation that is choking our country to death.
**I'm extremely open to your comments on this, but please leave the vitriol out of it.
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