HHS Mandate, Conscience, and This Catholic

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Update (March 7, 2012)

I've moved the list of posts which began in this post to a new page, under:

• The Department of Health and Human Services vs. Conscience

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The American Department of Health and Human Services is in the process of forcing Catholic doctors to either violate their conscience, or stop being doctors. I think that's wrong: but then, I think there's an authority higher than the HHS secretary, or even the United States Supreme Court.

Since this latest attack on conscience isn't likely to go away soon, I'm starting a list of posts on the topic:

• "My Take on the News: 'Wikileaks,' Italian Style; Conscience and the Constitution; Same-Sex Attraction"
  (February 17, 2012)
  Particularly
  • HHS 'Ignore Your Conscience' Mandate
• "HHS Mandate, Catholic Bishops, and Foster Auditorium"
  (February 12, 2012)
• "My Take on the News: Bishops and Sterilization; Chaplains and Free Speech; Racketeering and Lizard Men"
  (February 10, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Sterilize! You Have Nothing to Lose But Your Future!
• "My Take on the News: Reliquary Found; 'Kill or Close' Order From Washington; the Value of Silence"
  (January 27, 2012)
  Particularly
  • 'Kill or Close'

The latest move by the HHS to force folks to abandon either their conscience or their livelihood isn't surprising. I've posted about what the HHS boss wants, and what the Archbishop of Kansas City said about it, before:

• "Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas: Nancy Pelosi Isn't Alone"
  (March 8, 2009)

Conscience, Life, and Killing the Innocent

I have the rather counter-cultural belief that innocent people shouldn't be killed. Not even if they're too old, too young, or too sick, to defend themselves. That's because human life is sacred. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258)

Respect for life goes far beyond opposition to killing babies:

• "My Take on the News: Stem Cells, Science, and 'The Man with the X-Ray Eyes' "
  (November 18, 2011)
• "Steve Jobs, Jospeh Maraachli, and 'Reproductive Health:' My Take"
  (October 7, 2011)
• "Remember: 'Clinically Dead' isn't 'Dead'"
  (October 22, 2010)
• "Life: It's a Single Issue, and an Important One"
  (November 2, 2008)
• "Capital Punishment: Killing Those Who Deserve to Die"
  (October 2, 2008)

Living in an Imperfect World

I think human life is sacred. I think innocent people shouldn't be killed. But that doesn't make me a pacifist.

That's because I think that there are occasions when it's necessary to keep innocent people from being killed: and that sometimes asking attackers to please stop won't work. I've been over this before:

• "9/11, Just War, and 'Death to Mickey Mouse' "
  (September 11, 2011)
• "World Youth Day Madrid, 9/11, and an Imperfect World"
  (August 21, 2011)
• "Osama bin Laden is Dead: No Rant"
  (May 2, 2011)
• " 'Just War:' Unpleasant, but Not a Contradiction in Terms"
  (March 22, 2011)
• "Pacifism?"
  (March 22, 2011)

I hope that someday we'll have an "international authority with the necessary competence and power"¹ to protect citizens everywhere against tyrants and official nitwits.

About the nearest equivalent to Tennson's parliamant of man that we've got today is the United Nations. It's not perfect, but like the American Congress: it's the best we've got at the moment.

I think we can do better: and that's another topic.

I've been over this sort of thing before:

• "South Sudan, the Táin Bó Cúalnge, and Working for a Better World"
  (January 6, 2012)
  Particularly
  • The United Nations, Congress, and Me

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¹ Cited January 6, 2012, September 11, 2011:

"All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war.

However, 'as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.'¹⁰⁶"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2308)