"It's Not Fair!" - He Might Have A Point!

By now most folks have heard the WWLTV interview with Obama in which he said of Catholics and the contraceptive mandate that it wouldn't be fair for women to "bear the burden and cost" of obtaining contraceptives.  The interview is below.



Never mind that it wouldn't be fair to force any employer to finance the sex lives of any of their employees.  Obama did say something else that isn't being picked up by many folks, including conservatives.  He made the point of targeting Catholic hospitals that receive Federal money.  It is here where we must acknowledge that "the broken clock is right twice a day".

To those of my friends who laughed at me when I said that the Bush "faith-based initiative" schtick would come back to bite us, I have just four itsy-bitsy little words to say.

I TOLD YOU SO!!!!

Any acceptance of "federal aid" on the part of Catholic institutions is nothing else than participation in "income redistribution".  In other words, the federal government commits legalized sins against the Seventh Commandment and the Church participates in that sin by partaking of the ill-gotten funds.  Of course the "social justice" crowd thrives on this unabashed moral injustice.

More to the point, when the Church attaches itself to a governmental teat and starts slurping away, it relegates itself to the status of just another greedy, squealing piglet.  How is it then, that we are in any way surprised when the goods come with the strings?  Such outrages seems rather hollow, if not downright hypocritical.

If the Church is serious about its quest to preserve religious freedom, it will immediately divest itself of all governmental largess and be free of governmental doles as well.

Catholic Consciense For Sale??

My fellow blogger at Acts of the Apostacy on January 31st put up a post regarding a press conference with White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.  During that conference Carney mentioned that the Feds gave "over $2 billion" to the Church over the past three years.  The AofA blogger seems to think that Carney might have fired a shot across the bow towards the Church, saying "shut up if you like your money".

In far too many ways in the past that is precisely what the various chanceries have done.  I would daresay that is a prime reason why there is no obedience to Canon 915 with respect to prominent Catholic pro-abortion politicians.

AofA made the following key statement: "Should the HHS mandate get overturned in court because it violates the 1st Amendment – and even if it doesn’t get overturned – it behooves the Catholic Church in America to immediately, absolutely and transparently refuse any more funding from the United States government.  Because the bills always come due, and they always cost more than the estimate."  I whole-heartedly agree.  Moreover, I'd add that the Catholic Church should divest itself of funding from all levels of government for the same reasons.  We in Maryland are now feeling the pain from many years of the Maryland Catholic Conference's endless pursuits of state funding for this project or that charity.

He adds, "And if the Church loses its tax-exempt status?  Well, maybe that ought to go as well.  Then, as a result, the Church will be freer to evangelize and perform Her mission in the world.  And maybe – just maybe – Catholics throughout the nation will truly come to depend on God instead of on government, as we ought.   Government doesn’t answer prayers, at least not without some hefty strings attached."  Again, I'm in complete agreement.  The Church needs to start being what Christ designed it to be - not some "faith-based" lackey of the state that's addicted to governmental grants.  

More On Bishops Lusting For Government Hand-Outs

I touched on this in my most recent commentary on the Catholic Standard articles.  In a nutshell, I said that if the bishops continue to ask for government monies for this charity or that program, that they will continue to expose the entire Church to secular malevolence.

Today I happened upon a similar post in "A Blog For Dallas Area Catholics".  This blogger states the case more elegantly than I.  He makes the point that monies taken by force of government do not constitute charity.  Moreover, he makes plain that governmental handouts serve only to foster greater dependence on the state.  That is how the Church puts itself at the mercy of an ever-increasing beheamoth.

Only when the bishops learn that they "cannot have their cake and eat it too" will we see the Church strengthen in spiritual integrity and in the respect that it will command.

Maryland Catholic Establishment And Religious Liberty

There are some signs that the hierarchy in Maryland may be waking up to the malevolent intentions of progressives towards those who profess Christianity.  The most recent issue of the Catholic Standard seemed to be devoted to this very real threat..  See here for a statement issued by the Maryland bishops.  See here for an interview with Mary Ellen Russell, the Executive Director of the Maryland Catholic Conference regarding this matter.

While I certainly welcome these signs of early awakening here, I still am concerned that the Maryland Catholic establishment is not acknowledging how it exposed its own throat - and ours - to those who seek to marginalize us.  In fact, it still continues to make itself vulnerable to the secular elements.

It's no secret to anyone who reads this blog that I have often decried the regretable tendencies of the various state conferences for seeking government grants for this charity or that cause.  I believe that is one key reason why the Maryland bishops are reluctant to deny Holy Communion (as Canon 915 enjoins them) to prominent pro-abortion politicians because the bishops fear the loss of "text-book money" or some other state grant.  So they allowed themselves to be muzzled - a little here and a little bit there.  Then they're shocked (just shocked!) when the pols tighten the noose just a little bit more.

If the Maryland hierarchy is serious about securing relgious liberty, it simply will have to go "cold turkey" and divest itself immediately of all governmental funding, no matter the level of government from which such funds originate.  Its protestations of the loss of religious liberty will ring hollow as long as the bishops and conferences have their snouts buried in those governmental pig troughs known as "grants".  Let's hope the withdrawal process starts immediately.