Curing the Sick, Helping the Poor; Yes: Killing the Innocent; No

America's national government has decided that freedom of religion means allowing religious people to go into a building now and then, and do religious stuff. I think that's a good idea.

Worship, and More

Worship is an important part of being Catholic. But there's more to it than that. My faith requires that I act as if God matters, whether I'm in a church or not.

The feds have decided that just about every business, hospital, and other outfit in America must pay for what's euphemistically called 'women's health services.'

The Obama administration has magnanimously allowed an exemption for folks with scruples about killing very young people. That seems very broad-minded, until one takes a close look at the "exemption."

As I wrote yesterday:

"...To qualify for the privilege of not killing people, or paying assassins, organizations must:

• "Be non-profit
• "Exist to inculcate religious values
• "Primarily serve and employ
  members of their own faiths

"Think about it. If a hospital exists to cure the sick, it doesn't qualify. If a business makes a profit, it doesn't qualify. If a church hires people without discriminating on the basis of religion, it doesn't qualify...."
(June 23, 2012)

I'm not impressed by that "exemption." Not favorably, anyway. More to the point, every Catholic bishop in America says that forcing America's subjects to kill young people or pay someone else to do the job is a bad idea.

Archbishops, too. (June 23, 2012) Here's more of what Archbishop Lori said:

"...Religious organizations such as Catholic hospitals, inner-city schools and charitable agencies do not qualify for the exemption because they are committed to serving all in need, regardless of their faith.

"Thus, the Church is only 'religious enough' for a religious exemption if it 'confines itself to the sacristy,' but not if it attempts to reach out 'by hiring those of other faiths and by serving the common good,' Archbishop Lori observed.

"He warned that this very narrow definition of church and religion that is embedded in the mandate 'is likely to spread throughout federal law' if not swiftly removed...."
(Michelle Bauman, CNA/EWTN News)

'Human Beings are People,' and Other Counter-Cultural Ideas

What Archbishop Loris said sound very harsh: Catholic hospitals will treat the sick, but not kill people; and that Catholic inner-city schools are willing to educate poor people, but won't kill their babies.

This rigid refusal to go along with legalized murder isn't as uncaring as it may seem. Archbishop Lori is Catholic. We think human beings are people. All human beings: even young, sick, and useless ones.

I wrote about my take on freedom, and what an archbishop said, yesterday:

• "Freedom to Act Like God Matters"
  (June 23, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Freedom, Conscience, and an Archbishop
  • Conscience, Law, and Losing Your Head
  • St. Thomas More, Principles, and Henry VIII
  • St. John Fisher, State Regulation of Religion, and Plundered Churches
  • Religious "Exemption" - Sort of

Folks acting as if some human beings aren't, or aren't quite, people is nothing new. Toward the end of the 19th century, an American author wrote what I think is one of the most eloquent literary criticisms of a traditional attitude:

"...'...We blowed out a cylinder-head.'

" 'Good gracious! anybody hurt?''

"No'm. Killed a [redacted].'

"' Well, it's lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt....'..."
(Mark Twain, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" Part 2 (1885), Chapter XXXII., via Project Gutenberg)
(June 24, 2011)

That book was banned a few decades back, because Twain used the word [redacted], and that's almost another topic.

Human Life is Sacred: All Human Life

I'm a practicing Catholic, so what I think and how I live is counter-cultural. That's nothing new.

The idea that a person should love God, neighbors: and that everybody is a neighbor is nearly as radical now as it was when my Lord was here, two millennia back. We're making progress, though. (May 6, 2012)

I can't 'go with the flow' and accept what America's establishment calls 'women's health services.' That's because I'm a Catholic, and so must act as if human beings are people. All human beings: not just the useful, good-looking, healthy ones. Like I said before, I'm part of a counter-culture.

Here's a quick overview of why I can't go along with killing innocent people. Not even if the president says it's okay:

• Human life
  • Is sacred
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258)
  • Begins at conception
  (Catechism, 2270, 2274)
• Murder is wrong
  (Catechism, 2259-2262, 2268-2270)
• Legitimate defense is permitted
  • But not more violence than necessary
    (Catechism, 2264)
  (Catechism, 2263-2267)
• Abortion is wrong
  (Catechism, 2270-2275)
  • Because even very young human beings are people
    (Catechism, 2273-2274)
• Euthanasia is wrong
  (Catechism, 2276-2279)
• Suicide is wrong
  (Catechism, 2280-2283)
  • But regarding the soul of someone who commits suicide
    • Despair is not an option
    • "The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives."
    (Catechism, 2283)

All Human Life: Really

Since I think all human life is sacred, how can I justify capital punishment? It's simple: I don't. (April 27, 2012, October 2, 2008) (and click capital punishment in this blog's Label Cloud)

I haven't posted as often about capital punishment as I have about abortion and euthanasia. That's because right now, the establishment isn't as enthusiastic about capital punishment as it was in my youth.

Like I've said before, change happens: and some change is for the better.

Related posts:

• Bucking the system
  • "Supporting Freedom, and Other Subversive Activity"
    (June 22, 2012)
    • "The Faith Community" - But Whose?
    • Knights of Columbus Partisan? Yes and No
    • School Bus Firebombed? Ignore it, They're Catholic
  • "Fortnight for Freedom Resources; Religious Freedom Backgrounders"
    (June 14, 2012)
  • "Evil is Not Nice, Religious Freedom, and Other Radical Ideas"
    (May 4, 2012)
  • "Overdue For a Change"
    (May 25, 2012)
  • "Being Catholic: Within Reason"
    (April 5, 2012)
• The establishment
  • "Coney Island School, 'Offensive' Song, and 'Foreigners' "
    (June 10, 2012)
  • "My Way, or the Highway: Academic 'Freedom' at Iowa's Top Law School"
    (April 6, 2012)
  • "What's With "the Establishment" in this Blog?"
    (September 15, 2011)
  • "Huckleberry Finn, [redacted] Jim, and Making Sense"
    (June 24, 2011)
  • "Pro-Life People - 'Domestic Terrorists and Violent Racketeers:' Who Knew?"
    (June 1, 2009)