Catholic Church Shows Its Influence In Health Care Fight

Wall Street Journal:

Injecting itself aggressively into the health-care debate, the Roman Catholic Church in America has emerged as a major political force with the potential to upend a key piece of President Barack Obama's agenda.

Read the whole story: Wall Street Journal

Comments

[discerningcitizen]

The last thing I want is the Catholic Church or any religion deciding what is best for me. The National council of Catholic Bishops is a PAC.

I live in Rhode Island and have seen the Bishop Tobin vs. Rep. Kennedy ordeal first hand.
The Bishop is an arrogant man working to get ahead in his corporation (The Church).
I have some Catholic friends who wish him sent back to Pittsburgh. In his opinion, you cannot separate your job from your religious beliefs. You should just quit your job.

[dansup]

ante up religous zealots, and start putting in our collection plate, via the IRS!

[dansup]

Italy also has the lowest birthrate in western europe

[Javaline]

As an escaped catholic, I have wondered all my life why anyone wants to listen to a bunch of sexually repressed old guys who wear dresses telling them how to live their lives. If you believe in god, you don't need a church or a religion salesman to get in touch with that god. God is already in you.

As previously stated many times here, this is not all about abortion. It's about backwards evangelical control freaks trying to shove women back into the dark ages where they think they belong - barefoot, pregnant, and useful only as servants to their men. What a bunch of horsepucky. Call your reps and read 'em the riot act. We didn't fight for these rights 3o+ years ago to see it all go to hell now.

[NeoconGal]

Don't forget that condoms spread aids.

[DRaymond]

I knew this thread would bring out all the catholic bashers, but a few things need to be pointed out.

Outside of the government­-paying-fo­r-abortion­s issue the Catholic Church is fully in favor of universal health care, including the public option, as a matter of human dignity. They aren't the ones trying to throw around bogus arguments about 'socializm' and 'government takeovers' or whatever like some other people claiming that they are religious leaders. Get beyond sexual issues and the Catholic Church is quite liberal. The Catholic Church doesn't have the bizzare contradictions like being against abortion but for the death penalty.

Sure the anti-abortion groups are throwing some weight around about the abortion issue, but in all honesty aren't both sides doing more than a little of that. I mean we now have the pro-abortion folks threatening to scuttle the whole thing over the Stupak ammendment.

In fact were it not for the predictions of doom from the pro-abortion rights folks the Stupak ammendment is a pretty minor matter. It says that abortion coverage needs to be included in supplemental coverage, not primary coverage. Certainly you can see from the example of Medicare that there will be lots of folks offering supplemental coverage plans.

[Petesdaddy]

The Catholic Church is liberal? Ya gotta be kidding. I recently heard two Cathlic bishops involved in a very serious discussion about exorcism. There may be liberal Catholics, but the leaders of the place are living in the dark ages. And that they should be directly involved in driving political initiatives and writing laws is simply outrageous. I hope the members of congress who were consulting with them in the final hours of the House healthcare bill are exposed.

[AtomicallyLiberal]

Not all of them... I had priests (order not diocesan) tell me that gay marriage should be legal.

[wackylady]

hit them where it hurts, the collection plate....g­ive your money to homeless shelters or a deserving food pantry

[BambooHarvester]

Tax all houses of warship !
~

[wackylady]

I am Catholic and probably will always be, have raised my kids in the church etc etc. but their recent spoutings in Mass about the health care system and abortion really gets on my nerves.
The church should be worried about their parishoners who have no food for their children etc etc.
not forcing their political views down people's throats, even my 16 year old son is now turned off by their style.
we have stopped giving collection because of that. it will probably go towards ads and robo calls for some wacko conservative politician!
separation of church and state please

[arthuride]

I taught Roman Catholic church history at the Roman Catholic University of San Diego in California--and from my research (and later rejection of my conversion to Roman Catholicism) I realized how the Roman Catholic church, from its inception in the fourth century when the Emperor Constantine called the warrior bishops to Nicea to stop the intrafraticidal feuding and debating over trivia so that he could focus his attention on stablizing the empire, that the church was from then (as it had been from its early communities in the second century) the greatest preying monster on the rights of mortals. From the bloodstained hands of ecclesiastics under Charlemagne to the evil crusades launched by Pope Innocent III and later papal wars under Julius II, the Roman Catholic church has always labored to destroy human rights and civil liberties. It is wrong that the IRS does not remove its tax exempt status, and a crime that the RC hierarchy is not expelled from the USA as agents of a foreign nation (Vatican City) intent on destroying democracy and the Constitution of the USA.

[kobio]

Well said. All I see are criminal predators preying on the week and vulnerable. The insanity of no abortions while also abolishing birth control is a crime against women. I can see the catholic church's position though, they do need as many future victims as possible to keep their power.

[kobio]

excuse me-I meant weak

[AtomicallyLiberal]

Man you sound like a 1928 Republican.

[ProgressiveBetty]

The Catholic Church needs to stop all the horrible things that it does. It needs to stop providing education. We need to rid our nation of oppressive schools that only produce mindless zombies such as Notre Dame, Villanova, and Georgetown. I don't even want to get started with the Catholic schools system around the country that educates our children better than our public schools do. I get so mad when I think about this. They are indoctrinating children with things such as science and math.

What really grinds my gears is this life of luxury that the Catholic priests live. They live in their swanky 1000 square foot houses and spend lavishly on items such as toasters and microwaves.

And furthermor­e.... what about their helping of the poor? What an outrage that they provide services for single mothers, the homeless, and others less fortunate than them. Really angers me that they do work with patients with terminal illnesses as well.

We really need to get rid of the Catholic Church because they only do horrible things and seek to control minds.

[AtomicallyLiberal]

As a Catholic, I think you're making massive generalizations. I am the product of 16 years of Catholic education and I'm a card carrying member of the ACLU. My father is the product of 16 years of Catholic education and he's a liberal. We both received great educations. And we were not indoctrinated, I learned about evolution at a Catholic high school, while many of my friends who were "publics" didn't.

I actually worked in a rectory (a thousand square foot house, which is rather small) it is not what you think. This building is not lavish by any means and the priests are given a stipend of $25 per week. Many of the priests I knew donated that stipend, in full, to charity.

I realize the Church has flaws, but it has done a great amount of good in the world as well. Our government, which is not a democracy, has done horrible things and yet a great amount of good.

[CollinJE]

How can you say you are not indoctrinated right after saying you are Catholic after 16 years of Catholic education.

Your parent's indoctrinated you into Catholicism like it or not. Maybe later in life you took a step back and objectively looked at your beliefs and remained a Catholic. But the wouldn't change the fact that as a child you were indoctrinated.

[AtomicallyLiberal]

As for helping the poor:

http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Document.Doc?id=1924

[DRaymond]

I think some people are missing your sarcasm.

[AtomicallyLiberal]

You got me!

[Golfer59]

I say at the top of me voice "TAX ALL CHURCHES"!!!!!!!!

[AtomicallyLiberal]

Every Sunday at Church I leave ticked off because my pastor MUST tell us that we should be calling our Representatives and saying we don't support tax payer dollars supporting abortion. And every week an act of God keeps me in my pew rather than standing up and yelling, "What about tax dollars supporting war, the death penalty, greedy corporations, etc.

There's a scene in a fantastic movie The Wind That Shakes the Barley in which Cillian Murphy's character, Damien, stands in Church and yells at the priest, "And once again, with honourable exception, the Catholic Church sides with the rich!"

One of these days...

[fairness4all]

Just out of curiosity, what church is that?

[bluerthanblue15]

Maybe your standing up and setting the record straight --would be-- an act of God.

[CollinJE]

Fear keeps you in that pew, and by being there you empower that message.

You can either be part of the solution of part of the problem.

[AtomicallyLiberal]

I don't think fear keeps me there... Patience is more like it. And the absolutism of "not part of the solution" never seems to work.

[pattio66]

Didn't Fiorello LaGuardia get excommunicated for saying about the Catholic church's anti-contraception dogma "You don't play the game, so you don't make the rules"?

[AtomicallyLiberal]

I don't know, but that was hilarious!

[fitzag]

This is only the begining of what they will ask for women are the targets.Ge­t religion out of politices.
Separating of church and state that what are founding fathers wanted.Mos­t wars are started because of religous believes including the catholic church.The­y use God as a weapon to controll and brain wash people.Thy are no better then the taliban when it comes to controlling women.
Everone who wants a abortian should have the baby and drop them off a the catholic church and tell here you support them.Next will be a band on birth controll pills.
They won't stop till they take all women freedom of chose in ever thing away.They are the enemy .
Read the bible who suffer the most and are surpress women.Stan­d up against this now before it is to late.We owe it to all the women who fought for our rights and even die doing it.
Tell them to clean there own house before they tell others what to do.