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Socialized Medicine: Blame the Bishops
Accuracy in Media ^ | December 23, 2009 | Cliff Kincaid

Posted on 12/23/2009 7:53:08 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM

The only real chance of defeating the health care legislation came when the bill was lacking a majority of votes for passage in the House.

A lot is being said and written about why national health care legislation is becoming a reality. The simple fact, available for all to see, is that the U.S. Catholic Bishops ensured passage of the bill in the House, enabling the Senate to move forward with its version.

(Excerpt) Read more at aim.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: 111th; bhohealthcare; catholicvote; usccb
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To: Arthur McGowan

What you are describing is absolute moral corruption. As a Protestant I respectfully ask, “Why do people still belong to this church?”


21 posted on 12/23/2009 8:48:17 PM PST by wintertime
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To: GOP_Resurrected
The Bishops did the only thing they could

They could, and should, have opposed this socialist expansion of government control over the lives of the Faithful.

The bishops had a moral obligation to oppose it, on grounds of subsidiarity. They have also ignored the loss of conscience clause protections, and abandoned any pretense of opposing the passive euthanasia agenda that is inherent in every bill that has been debated under this Democrat controlled process.

A Guiding Principle to the Debate on Health: The Principle of Subsidiarity
August 22nd, 2009 by Charles J. Gernazian

As a Catholic-American, the most frustrating thing about watching our Catholic public officials in action is that they undoubtedly fail to capture, much less present, Catholic insights that might be helpful to our American society at large. A prime example of a missed opportunity is that Catholic members of Congress have utterly failed to raise an aspect of Catholic Social Teaching that is particularly instructive in the current healthcare debate — the Principle of Subsidiarity.

Given the anti-Catholic bias in many circles, I must point out that the Catholic Church has no desire to gain power over the State, or even impose its teachings on those who do not share our Faith. Nevertheless, the Church offers her various social teachings, such as the Principle of Subsidiarity, as guiding principles in order to do Her part to promote reasonable dialogue and to make the Church’s own contribution toward the common goal of a just solution to social issues such as healthcare.

We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est , 28).

The Principle of Subsidiarity, which has been an integral part of Catholic Social teaching for over a century, states that only things that need to be done at the national or “federal” level should be done by a “federal” government; and allows for things that can be done at the local or smaller level to be done at the more local and smaller units of society. Where individuals, intermediary groups, or small private groups of persons can address the particular exigencies and realities of a given situation, it is best to defer to such smaller groups because human beings need some flexibility and autonomy in order to effectively address their particular circumstances.

As with all things Catholic, Pope Benedict XVI describes it best when he summarizes the Principle of Subsidiarity as “the coordination of society’s activities in a way that supports the internal life of the local communities.” As if he were acutely aware of the genius of our American system (i.e., a system which has successfully balanced federal, state and private initiatives for over two hundred years) the Holy Father observes that the principle of subsidiarity helps governments at the national level “attune themselves to the natural human desire for self-governance.” The Holy Father most recently pointed out that the principle of Subsidiary prevents a completely dehumanizing and “all encompassing welfare state,” which inevitably leads to a form of “paternalist social assistance that is demeaning to those in need” (Caritas In Veritate , 57, 58).

Thus, the Principle of Subsidiarity can serve as a guiding principle in the Healthcare debate because it comports with our American history of governance and provides a means by which we can somehow find a middle ground between an all encompassing welfare state and a laissez fare system with no safety net for its citizens.

Moreover, the Principle of Subsidiarity provides a refreshingly non-partisan principle, as it is rooted in the common good and thus ultimately transcends political affiliations. If nothing else, the Principle of Subsidiarity offers a means of discussing healthcare in a non-caustic and principled manner. Whether we are really in a “cultural war” or not, we could use a guiding, non-politicized criterion upon which we can ground true dialogue and reasonable discussion about healthcare. Because it is a guiding principle rooted in natural law and the common good it necessarily eschews simplistic slogans and avoids the temptation of prioritizing votes and reelections over principles and justice.

Furthermore, applying the Principle of Subsidiarity to healthcare can help local communities and smaller governments better coordinate their healthcare issues with other societal issues such as generating sufficient revenue for other societal and human needs. Some local communities might coordinate their approach to healthcare with their approach to immigrant workers who not only thankfully provide value and enrich their communities but obviously greatly increase societal costs such as healthcare.

Although I do not have a prediction as to where the dialogue will end, I believe that if we apply the Principle of Subsidiarity to healthcare issues, we will most fully ensure that competition in the marketplace, human and charitable initiatives and creativity can all flourish. As Pope Benedict XVI reminds us, when those responsible for the common good allow people to govern themselves and address their own problems, those public officials “leave space for individual responsibility and achievement.”

The Principle of Subsidiarity should serve as our national GPS in the healthcare debate, pointing the way for countless groups of Americans. Through their genius and hard work, attuned to their own local and unique realities, they will yield true and genuine reform of our healthcare system. It is only in this way that we can meaningfully address the healthcare needs of persons of all ages and illnesses and yield surprising and innovative solutions that an all-encompassing welfare state simply can’t produce.

Charles J. Gernazian is an attorney in Atlanta, Georgia and is the Director of Catholic American Center on Law and Religion - www.Catholic-American.org.

22 posted on 12/23/2009 8:50:15 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Arthur McGowan

Thank you for telling it like it is. The Catholic Church needs more priests like you (and bishops too, of course).


23 posted on 12/23/2009 8:54:07 PM PST by Zionist Conspirator (Vayo'mer Yosef 'el-'echayv "'Ani Yosef, ha`od 'Avi chay?" Ve-lo' yakhelu 'echayve la`anot 'oto . . .)
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To: wintertime
As a Protestant I respectfully ask, “Why do people still belong to this church?”

John 6:52-68

24 posted on 12/23/2009 8:57:34 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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church bureaucrat ping


25 posted on 12/23/2009 9:03:32 PM PST by campaignPete R-CT ("pray without ceasing" - Paul of Tarsus)
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To: Arthur McGowan

Oh, I see. A groups of CATHOLIC BISHOPS working to insure pro-abortion language is stripped are “not pro life.” I hope you realize how absurd that sounds.

They are clergy, they are not political or legislative strategists. They can’t deal in hypotheticals about what will eventually pass or is likely to pass. Their job was to oppose abortion funding at the stage of the process where it was important.

Call them shortsighted, naïve, whatever, I might even agree. But they don’t deserve to be accused of bad faith just because we don’t like the outcome.


26 posted on 12/23/2009 9:06:44 PM PST by GOP_Resurrected
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp

“”As Pope Benedict XVI reminds us, when those responsible for the common good allow people to govern themselves and address their own problems, those public officials “leave space for individual responsibility and achievement”””

The common good is a right when it’s understood through the Church because it’s something not forced on man, but what mankind is called by God to participate in freely along with the State that is supposed to understand that power is given to only follow God’s laws,not its own selfish laws of greed of state.

Some Catholic teaching of true common good...

The responsibility for attaining the common good, besides falling to individual persons, belongs also to the State, since the common good is the reason that the political authority exists. (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1910.) The State, in fact, must guarantee the coherency, unity and organization of the civil society of which it is an expression, in order that the common good may be attained with the contribution of every citizen. The individual person, the family or intermediate groups are not able to achieve their full development by themselves for living a truly human life. Hence the necessity of political institutions, the purpose of which is to make available to persons the necessary material, cultural, moral and spiritual goods. The goal of life in society is in fact the historically attainable common good.

The principle of the common good, to which every aspect of social life must be related if it is to attain its fullest meaning, stems from the dignity, unity and equality of all people. According to its primary and broadly accepted sense, the common good indicates “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfilment more fully and more easily.” (Gaudium et Spes, 26.)

The common good therefore involves all members of society; no one is exempt from cooperating, according to each one’s possibilities, in attaining it and developing it. Everyone also has the right to enjoy the conditions of social life that are brought about by the quest for the common good. The teaching of Pope Pius XI is still relevant: “The distribution of created goods, which, as every discerning person knows, is labouring today under the gravest evils due to the huge disparity between the few exceedingly rich and the unnumbered propertyless, must be effectively called back to, and brought into conformity with, the norms of the common good, that is, social justice.” (Encyclical Letter Quadragesimo Anno, 197.)

The common good of society is not an end in itself; it has value only in reference to attaining the ultimate ends of the person and the universal common good of the whole of creation. God is the ultimate end of His creatures, and for no reason may the common good be deprived of its transcendent dimension, which moves beyond the historical dimension while at the same time fulfilling it.


27 posted on 12/23/2009 9:12:17 PM PST by stfassisi ((The greatest gift God gives us is that of overcoming self"-St Francis Assisi)))
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To: GOP_Resurrected
"They are clergy, they are not political or legislative strategists"

People who lack expertise in a field should stay out of it, especially if it is something important. "Know-it-all-ism" results from arrogance, not humility. Bishop Murphy acts like he's president of the American Actuary Society, when, in fact, he flunked out of high school calculus.

Ignorance and Incompetence are not among the virtues. Are they now fruits of the Holy Spirit?
28 posted on 12/23/2009 9:18:33 PM PST by campaignPete R-CT ("pray without ceasing" - Paul of Tarsus)
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To: GOP_Resurrected

“They are clergy, they are not political or legislative strategists. They can’t deal in hypotheticals about what will eventually pass or is likely to pass. Their job was to oppose abortion funding at the stage of the process where it was important.”

US citizens should know how US politics is played. These aren’t isolated African clergy straight out of the bush, although if they were I bet we might be in better shape.

“Call them shortsighted, naïve, whatever, I might even agree. But they don’t deserve to be accused of bad faith just because we don’t like the outcome.”

If you had to guess, what % of bishops would vote dem if it wasn’t for abortion? What % would vote dem anyway?

“Raymond Arroyo: ...The bishops I spoke to say that maybe half of their brother bishops if not more voted for Obama. Because they thought the symbol of Obama would overcome racism and be a great healer and unity.”

I wouldn’t be suprised if that was true at all.

Freegards


29 posted on 12/24/2009 6:35:02 AM PST by Ransomed (Son of Ransomed Says Keep the Faith!)
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To: iamweasle
NO it's NOT about LIFE, it's about YOUR $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to pay for all the Illegals in their Pews!!!

It truly is all about MONEY; MONEY for abortions (murder); MONEY to fund embryonic destruction (murder): MONEY to pay "non-profits" for Illegal Aliens (many of whom are murders!)

There is nothing that the corrupt Bishops care more about than $$$$$$!

30 posted on 12/24/2009 8:51:36 AM PST by zerosix (native sunflower)
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp

John 6:52-68
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is why I have occasionally posted that Catholics are caught in a cult.

Cults teach that they alone have the true priesthood, and it is **only** through **their** priesthood that they can have true saving sacraments ( in this case Holy Communion) and fullest connection with God. Worse,... they teach that if they leave the cult they are cut off from the true priesthood, true sacraments, and God,...and even risk eternal damnation in hell.

Protestants believe differently. If their ministers or church organization is corrupt, then that organized church is corrupt and does not in any way represent the body of Christ nor does it hold any authority. Members are completely free to form another more perfect union of the saints.


31 posted on 12/24/2009 3:12:21 PM PST by wintertime
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp
John 6:52-68
^^^^^^^^^^^

Another characteristic of a cult is that there is no mechanism or process for the common member to join together to reform the hierarchy.

32 posted on 12/24/2009 3:19:22 PM PST by wintertime
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