This summer, Americans of every faith and of none have been subjected to the propaganda machine of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and their "Fortnight for Freedom" campaign. By all measures, the fortnight fell flat. There was no religious persecution to decry; Catholics were too busy living their lives and planning their summer vacations to show up en masse for the bishops' rallies; and the Affordable Care Act, the threat to religious liberty (according to the bishops), was upheld by the Supreme Court.
What we know, and what the bishops missed, is that religious freedom deserves more than a fortnight -- and it's about protecting more than the interests of a small group of men whose demands don't reflect the needs and desires of the people they claim to represent.
Throughout history, good people -- religious and secular -- have been harried, hunted and harmed because of their religion or in the name of someone else's. Irish Catholics lost the right to worship, and many their lives and livelihoods, to the English crown merely because they were Catholic. European Jews, for no reason other than their faith, were persecuted for centuries, and the Shoah remains an appalling testament to the capacity of human cruelty and religious repression. But religious persecution isn't only history. If you adhere to the Baha'i faith in Iran today, you live in fear, monitored by a government that has a history of arresting, torturing and killing members of your faith. In Indonesia, the refusal to confess a belief in God will land you, badly beaten, in prison -- in 2012.
Today's American Catholic bishops would have us think they are the latest victims of religious persecution. Their claims denigrate the suffering of those who know the true meaning of that term. A few powerful conservative religious leaders, not joined by the majority of their faith or even of all their fellow bishops, have opened their coffers to sue the government to allow them to force others to live by their rules and to deny them what everyone else is guaranteed by our society. This isn't about religious liberty. It's a sham. And a dangerous one.
It's been said that perception is everything, and it's a lesson some American Catholic bishops have taken to heart. Claiming religious persecution and wrapping yourself in a flag on the Fourth of July in an election year is sure to get you in the paper. It doesn't make what you're saying true. Having failed to convince Catholics, clergy and laity, that the use of birth control is a moral offense, the bishops have set their sights on the law that guarantees healthcare to all Americans, and some have also openly criticized the president who signed it. This is what the bishops' campaign is really about. You can be sure their bogus claims about religious liberty will be fanned by those who share these and other more political and partisan concerns, especially as the election draws nearer. They'll say it's about religious freedom, but it's up to all of us not to fall prey to the tawdry abuse of a principle that is dear to us.
It is the rights and health of men and women of every faith and of none that hang in the balance with the bishops' latest grandstanding. When the demands of a powerful religious minority are privileged over the rights of every citizen in a society, the results are never good. We can expect the same if we acquiesce to the bishops' demands. Hard-working families will not be able to afford contraception; with a shrinking safety net, more children will grow up in poverty. Victims of sex trafficking will not receive unbiased counseling and will endure a forced pregnancy. Lesbian, gay and transgender people will be refused jobs and services; committed couples will be denied the rights and benefits of marriage. Men and women won't be able to get their prescriptions filled if their employer or pharmacist judges the use or provenance of the medicine immoral. People at risk of contracting or spreading HIV won't learn that condoms can help save their lives and the lives of people they love. Women who need abortions, even to save their lives, will be turned away. This is not what Americans want, and it's not what America is about.
This isn't a battle for religious freedom -- at least in the way the bishops and their allies have styled it. Religious liberty is, and should be, sacred to us all. Equal justice under the law should be more than a slogan. We know that one's conscience must lead each person to a judgment about how to act, and that conscience must not be subverted by someone else's demand. It's up to our leaders in government to ensure that these principles, the freedoms each American is guaranteed, are not compromised for a political gain by an influential minority- -e ven, perhaps especially, when that minority claims a religious mantle.
For far too long, too many people have enjoyed neither the freedom to believe as they choose nor the freedom from living according to others' beliefs. On Independence Day, we recall the American promise of both of these freedoms -- for every single person in this country. It would be a shame to throw away this ideal just to appease a few disgruntled clerics who think the rules shouldn't apply to them.
Jon O'Brien is the president of Catholics for Choice, which is a co-convener of the Coalition for Liberty & Justice.
Follow Jon O'Brien on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Catholic4Choice
and try rationalism. Religion causes too d--- much trouble.
Exactly, it would be laughable if there weren't so many people falling for it.
This is a basic historical fact that every 6th grader should know well.
(...sigh...)
This is different from the vertical relationship the government has with society. Yes, government derives it’s mandate from the people (aka society) but the government is de facto the authority that regulates society. I think we all agree on that.
Now if we assume religion also is part of society, a peculiar paradox occurs. As an isolated entity, religion is equal, but separate from government. But as part of society, it is suddenly placed below (in the terms of a vertical relationship) the government and has to adhere to it’s rules. It is actually quite simple to resolve this. Wherever religion touches society (and politics, the realm of the government) it is to be considered part of society, and therefore subject to governmental regulation. Think marrying people with legal authority instead of solely spiritual, participating in politics (something different than simply voicing an opinion about it) etc. etc. As part of society, it should be treated as such, including taxation, following the same rules other institutions follow etc. etc.
It is increasingly difficult to have any trust in people, in particular a man, speaking for the Catholic Church.
It is sad; because as a group the Catholics are perhaps the most tolerant, compassionate group around.
So, I believe most of us think the Nuns should be leaders and the Pope and his cardinals and bishops are ready to go!
"What we know, and what the bishops missed, is that religious freedom deserves more than a fortnight"...I might be wrong, but I would assume that the bishops know this as well.
"bishops...claims denigrate the suffering of those who know the true meaning of that term." I don't see how their claims denigrate others' experience, since there many forms of persecution (which he mentions). Why is it denigrating just because it's not as bad as (some of) the "counter-examples" he provides?
"We know that...conscience must not be subverted by someone else's demand."...UNLESS YOU'RE A CATHOLIC. Does the (Catholic) writer not believe the Catholic dogma re: the infallibility of the Pope?
"Hard-working families will not be able to afford contraception..." Does the writer does not believe the Catholic dogma that contraception is a sin?
It's denigrating because what the Bishops are "suffering" isn't religous presecution, it's being denied the opportunity to flaut legitmate govenrment laws and regulations in secular insititutions that they are affliated with. The Bishops are actually trying to make the argument that when they are thwarted from imposing their religious beliefs on others, they are being persecuted. And that does make a mockery of anyone who has truly been persecuted because of their religion or lack of one.
He doesn't explain it in detail but that's because it only requires grade school logic. If Bob and Alice disagree on beliefs they can't both have the right to force their own beliefs on the other person: you cannot be someone's subordinate and master at the same time. But you can't give only one of them that right either, because then they wouldn't have equal rights. The only other option is giving neither of them the right. It's amazing how many catholics can't be bothered to actually pucnh through the BS a minority of bishops are feeding them. Then again, that's the function of organized religion, has been for 10.000 years: get people to mindlessly accept dogma that always happens to align exactly with the will of the clergy and the king.
I understand your logic about Bob and Alice, and I grant you your point. But when you are writing, and if you are writing to persuade, then you can't just preech to the choir, and what you think is self-evident. The issue of separation and church and state, and the question of where we set the limits, seems to be less than black and white to me.
I'm just curious what you think. Since it seems you think the Bishops/The Church has an ulterior motive, what is it in your opinion? Why do you think the Bishops care so much about this? Do you think the church simply wants to control women's reproduction in order to control their sexuality (let's say, to prevent more women from having sex before they are married, or to have sexual relations with men outside of their marriage, because birth control purportedly helps enable these things?)?
You are free to believe what you believe. But where you get the nerve to claim you are the sole holder of wisdom is beyond me. Frankly, I think you are a well indoctrinated parrot.
beliefs. The Catholic church has lasted 2000 years;...it is not an American institution, but
my family has tried to live by the rules, and you know what we are happy. we help people
and we may not agree with all choices people make, but we will be there and care for every neighbor.
I agree with the bishops.....I think sometimes obedience is important and I think respect is
also important
But surely within the rules of society, and so long as these beliefs don't hurt the rights of others?
And how is it respectful to deny providing proper healthcare when you are an employer?
Why shouldn't Catholic institutions obey the law when they operate in the worldly realm?
Everybody is free to respect and obey a god personally and not take contraception. But show others the same respect and don't force them to obey your god.