Who Are We?: Catholic Faith in Light of the HHS Mandate

Catholic Culture ^ | 10/5/12 | Pete Jermann

[marshmallow]

Who do they think they are? Such must have been the thought of many Catholics when the Obama Administration ruled that Catholic institutions must provide contraceptive services to their employees. We responded with outrage, indignation and, perhaps most of all, surprise over an assault on our complacently assumed right to religious freedom. As a Catholic community many of us gathered on common ground to defend our Church against this attack on a constitutional right we considered entrenched and unassailable. Our bishops publicly proclaimed that we neither can nor will succumb. As a community we asserted a claim to live our faith freely. As citizens of a constitutional republic we have both the right and duty to do so. But as Catholics perhaps the question we should ask is, “Who do we think we are?” Or we can simplify the question and ask, “Who are we?”

Biblical Israel confronted this question throughout the Old Testament. When the people of Israel saw themselves as children of God, obedient to God and trusting in God, they either lived in the Promised Land or were traveling toward it. When they lost trust in God and failed to honor their covenant or obey His commandments, Jacob’s descendants found themselves exiled to deserts both real and metaphorical. In the Exodus, God took the people of Israel under his wing to lead them out of Egypt. This clearly should have answered the question of who they were. Yet, in transit to the Promised Land, they soon forgot who God was and who they were. No longer trusting a God they could not see and touch, they replaced Him with a golden calf. For the next forty years they wandered the desert rediscovering who they were. Having finally gained the Promised Land the people of Israel mixed and......

[Tax-chick]

Good article.

[Gumdrop]

This oped piece explains very well how we (the Cathoic Church, Christians in general, and all faithful, God-fearing citizens) got to where we are today.

The federal government does not recognize or respect the beliefs we claim to hold dear - because our past conduct has not indicated that we cared one iota for these beliefs.

I have often told my Catholic friends that if the Catholic bishops had stood firm following the Roe vs. Wade SCOTUS decision, and if they had clearly stated that Catholics could never accept or support politicians who carelessly threw out the “personally opposed, but pro-choice position”, the abortion holocaust would certainly have been diminished considerably. For example, it might not have been so easy for so-called Catholic politicians to all join the pro-choice crowd, or for average Catholics to go along with the Democrat Party’s slide into full hedonism. They might have reconsidered staying within the ancestral bosom of the Democrat Party.

I am not being Pollyannish about this. I know abortion would have grown, but we would not have so much confusion with Catholics about the seriousness of the matter. Because the bishops were weak in their response in 1973, many Catholics to not take them seriously now. So, this writer has stated the problem perfectly. Obama does not care whether the bishops support him, as he thinks it will not cost him any votes.

As for the bishops, Cardinal Dolan has stated that he/they will not yield to such tyranny which requires we all violate our consciences. If Obama wins this election, people of faith will have to step forward and be willing to become 21st Century Thomas Mores.