Can you imagine Jesus saying someone forced Him to contribute to killing innocents? Anyone pretending times are so tough that they cannot do what Jesus teaches is not aware of what Christianity is. That’s all
So true, and I don’t think this comes under “render unto Caesar” either!
What if the USCCB simply said OK, we will close the hospitals, close the schools (the few that are left), shut down our soup kitchens, legal aid, CCHD, etc, and even temporarily lay off our chancery staff, parish staff, etc, because we are not buying health plans that destroy life.
This is like what happened with adoptions in Boston, the Church was “forced” by the govt to facilitate homo adoptions thru its highly-respected charity services, which the govt has used for many years because no one was as good at placement as the Catholic Church. Bishop said, sorry we can’t participate in homo adoptions, and they quit facilitating adoptions for families altogether. Thousands of children and babies were left in the lurch without hesitation when it contradicted Catholic faith.
The govt does not care about that, but they will care when social and economic structures that are huge are in danger if the Church does not participate. The Church is a major creator of jobs, and almost the sole facilitator of thousands of semi-socialist programs with the govt.
The Church has been doing charity work a few thousand years longer than the U.S. govt and it’s a mutual thing. If the bishops take a firm stand on principle, they may get a compromise on the law and still keep their integrity. But if they capitulate to “force” by the government - as you say, they are not even Christian. They will become despicable to all of us, Catholic or not.