What I can’t get over is that people like Patrick Lee can say that taking the Pill is “gravely morally wrong” and keep a straight face. When 99% of women use contraception at some point in their lives, it appears obvious that only the truly deranged think there is something gravely morally wrong with using birth control. Yes, I know that the Vatican holds that position but the Pope also wears a funny hat. If Catholics don’t take him even remotely seriously, then why should I? Why should everyone else?
This is a theological problem for the Church and its followers, but it’s only a political problem if the Republicans want to get their asses kicked like they’ve never been kicked before.
Let me make something clear. The priesthood, Bishops, and Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church have got to spend less time lecturing the rest of us about their outdated views on sexual morality, and discover some modern sexual morality:
An attorney says at least 8,000 kids were sexually abused by over 100 priests and other offenders in the Milwaukee Catholic Diocese. Jeffrey Anderson made the assertion yesterday at a court hearing on the first compensation claims filed by abuse victims as part of church’s bankruptcy proceedings. Anderson told Judge Susan Kelley that sealed bankruptcy documents outlined the extent of the abuse. He said the offenders include 75 priests who have not been previously named by the archdiocese. Anderson represents over half of the 570 victims who filed for compensation.
Victims’ advocate Peter Isley of the Survivors Network questioned how eight-thousand crimes could be committed with no accountability. Isley speculates that some of the offenders belong to religious orders — and the archdiocese claims it’s not responsible for those groups, even though Catholics provide staffing for them. Isley called the matter a “public safety crisis.”
Did you see what Cardinal Egan did? Joe Paterno was deservedly vilified and lost his job for the tiniest fraction of what Cardinal Egan did. And Paterno never claimed he was blameless or had the best record of any “bishop” or that there were no victims.
The men in charge of the Catholic Church have presided over the most widespread and rampant sexual child abuse network in the history of the world, and yet we’re supposed to show deference and respect for them on matters of sexual morality?
If you’re telling me something that makes sense like don’t screw around with my neighbor’s wife, then fine. Don’t use birth control?
Take that to the polls and see how you do.
Yeah, but they all took a vow of celibacy, which means they are more pure than you and me.
Have you seen the Spilled Semen Amendment? Now we’re talkin’.
A. Sinner
Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate!
It’s a clever amendment, but I can’t support it.
In other, related, news, Chimps have big balls.
Sooner or later a Dem candidate that is behind and with nothing to lose will start talking about this type of thing with the Catholic Church.
Lets hope he/she wins so we can get started on the National Debate to emasculate the Catholic Church.
by emasculate, do you mean women priests?
Obama and the team are getting quite good at these moments where he dangles the ‘here kitty kitty’ morsel out for the Rep immoralists to pounce on and then pulls the public into the conversation and then arguably strategically comes up with a workable compromise.
He left room for only the narrowest of arguments and even those are gasping for air and then as men who make them come home to spouses with crossed legs…well I’m sure there’s gonna be alot of tv’s bought for Rep households in the near future.
Imma let you finish, but right now I’m too busy laughing at all of the ZOMGOBAMACAVED “progressives”.
No way, man. I reserve the right to my reactionary emo-outrage if it will help the overall narrative. Overton Window and all that. I can have my cake and eat it too, and all I have to say is “oops, my bad.”
you missed the landing. Point deduction.
I didn’t miss it. I just didn’t land yet.
LOL. Still twirling?
“We must move forward, not backward, upward, not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!”
Yeah, yeah…that’s it…still twirling. You all look like little ants from up here!
I mean, if my stupid lefty temper tantrums make the President look reasonable, I’m totally happy to oblige. It’s not like I won’t vote for the guy.
Holy Mother of God Jesus H. Christ OMGWTF.
That was so horrifying, on so many levels.
You owe me for making me click on that.
Booman’s job is to crawl the sewers on our behalf…
Riddle me this. Why not just point out the rule has been law for the past 10 years(the same rules were passed under W.), and that Mittens supported it for Massachusetts? Or do you really believe the Jesus freaks like Peggy Noonan and Chris Matthews are going to stop gnashing their teeth over this? Why not point out that 98% of women use, or have used, contraception? Why not point out that this is all manufactured outrage? Just wondering. I look forward to an answer of each one of those questions.
The NYT is on it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/nyregion/catholic-institutions-reluctantly-comply-with-ny-contrace
ptives-law.html?hp
I don’t understand why the religious beliefs of employers should trump the rights of their employees to decent health care.
Good points and there are wider issues Catholics need true leadership on. If the Catholic Bishops spent 20% of this energy on true advocacy for health care and the poor, this country could turn some of that around.
And why weren’t they out front declaring that Catholic men and women had no moral standing as a combatant in the Iraq War?
Yup. I think that’s the more relevant point than the hypocrisy meme. Rome keeps saying good stuff about social justice and the rights of the poor, but the only thing the Catholic apparatchiks jump on (besides children) is this age-of-ignorance “sexual morality” nonsense. If there was some balance, even, to where they put their propaganda resources, I could maybe even respect them as proponents of a philosophical stand for sexual restraint. But I don’t, because they behave not as philosophers but as stupid bullies.
Death penalty too. I have somewhat of a grasp on their “intrinsic evil” doctrine, but given modern conditions in the US the death penalty is also intrinsically evil.
Regarding the child abuse, my take is that a loving Church leadership that wants to set a positive example for the flock would have found a way to turn that around to initiate a massive new movement against child abuse. They had an opportunity to show a change of ways but they lack the courage and inspiration.
Mike Huckabee CPAC Speech: ‘We Are All Catholics Now’
Bit of a variation on “Ich bin ein Berliner” then. I might appreciate the wine, but they can spare me the papal BS.
In Ireland it’s the Prods who get the wine!
After Clint Eastwood these people could not have possibly gotten that dumb over night. Once again, I’ve done what I’ve told myself never ever to do: underestimate the Republican mind’s stupidity.
Do they really want to have this argument in an election year? Really?
Oh, also: screw the pill, if I were a woman I’d be using an IUD. Thankfully with this policy, women can afford one.
The Catholic Church is in Wily Coyote mode: when he’s still running like mad but he’s off the cliff.
In 20 years, you will be able to buy any nice bankrupt Catholic church for a few thousand bucks — but save your pennies to scoop up the nearby rectory, which they’ll be giving away. Hang some garlic and call it home.
There are NO young devout Catholics in America, and not many more in Europe.
Alice’s Restaurant ~ The Sequel!
Ask yourself why Obama caved on the principle though he hung tough (so far, anyway) on the substance in the controversy over contraceptive coverage.
Because the overwhelming majority of Christian clergy in the US, Protestants included, never budged from their traditional views on sex, and those are the same as the views of the bishops.
And because many of those people in the pews who are using contraception, taking advantage of easy divorce, or even getting abortions despite the teachings of their clergy feel guilty as hell about it.
They share the moral views on sex of the Christian right just as so many working people surviving on American social democracy hate it and hate the government because they share the moral views on socialism, taxes, and “spreading the wealth around” of Cal Coolidge, Fox News, and Joe the Plumber.
I could easily be wrong, but so far as I know not even the more liberal denominations have any developed alternative sexual morality to teach.
No longer accepting the traditional morality they mostly just maintain an embarrassed silence on the matter.
And who other than the churches teaches any coherent moral views to the American people about anything at all?
Who other than the clergy are regarded by any serious fraction of the American people as being able to teach morality with credibility and authority?
For many American voters who support social democracy it is an immoral theft at best excused by desperation and necessity.
And for many American voters who support sexual freedom from the dictatorship of the clergy it is a necessary concession to human weakness and human badness.