Monday, May 21, 2012

Bishops and Lady Parts: Kalli Joy Gray at Daily Kos on Waning Moral Credibility of U.S. Catholic Bishops



And finally this morning, for a glimpse of how the eminently unpastoral behavior of the Catholic bishops is now causing them to be seen by many U.S. citizens these days in the public square: here's Kalli Joy Gray at Daily Kos, with an article, "Catholic Bishops Threaten to Sue for Their Right to Hate Lady Parts":



Gray notes that last week, the bishops sent a letter to federal regulators threatening to file suit for their "right" to block contraceptive coverage in health care plans for women (Catholic and non-Catholic alike) working in Catholic institutions.  And then she adds,

Talk about sore losers. The bishops had their chance to weigh in on the Obama administration's new policy to require health insurers to cover birth control without co-pays. The Obama administration generously carved out a boatload of exemptions for them to address their "concerns." The bishops even got their puppets in Congress to introduce bills on their behalf—which the American people overwhelmingly opposed. They even got themselves invited to the boys-only congressional hearing on birth control—because who understands birth control better than a bunch of supposedly celibate men? 
At the end of the day, though, they lost. They made their case that basic health care for women violates their "religious liberty" and makes Jesus sad—and they lost. They launched a charm offensive to "set the record straight," arguing that the Catholic Church totally loves women's health care and has been "the most effective private provider of such care anywhere around," and people better stop saying mean stuff about them or they won't be able "to live out the imperatives of our faith to serve, teach, heal, feed, and care for others." And no one bought it.

And she concludes,

Given that one federal court has already ruled against the bishops' absurd argument that their definition of religious liberty trumps all else, any future lawsuits are most likely destined for the same fate. But since stopping women from having access to affordable health care has now become the Most Importantest Issue Evah!, little things—like being completely wrong—probably won't stop the bishops from continuing to stamp their feet like petulant two-year-olds who don't want to take a nap. 
Because that is totally what Jesus would do. 


And she's right.  (And this is who the bishops now appear to be and what they appear to be all about for increasing numbers of Americans.  With friends like these in its bosom, the church hardly needs enemies, if its real goal is to wield credible moral influence in the public square.) 

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