HHS Mandate: 'Kill, or Pay the Assassins;' Catholic Bishops Say 'No'

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More posts about forcing Catholics to violate our conscience:
The Department of Health and Human Services vs. Conscience

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I'm a practicing Catholic, and sometimes my faith won't let me 'go with the flow' of my native culture.

Take the case of a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate, for example. Catholic bishops in America have said that I can't be a nice little American and play along. And neither can any other Catholic who takes his or her faith seriously.

Health is Important: So is Life

The problem is that the HHS mandate will force virtually all hospitals, insurance providers, and employers, to pay for 'women's health care services.' Today, given the values and customs of America's dominant culture, that includes abortion.

The Catholic Church teaches that health care is important. But we're also told that killing a baby isn't right. Even if the kid hasn't been born yet. The Church even says we can't kill people because they're sick, and that's almost another topic.¹

Kill a Kid? What's the Big Deal?

The Catholic Church's position on killing innocent people makes sense, in the context of our beliefs:

• Jesus told us that the Commandments boiled down to
  'Love God, love your neighbor.'
  (Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-31)
• Everybody is our neighbor
  (Matthew 5:43-44; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-30; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1825)
• Human life is sacred
  (Catechism, 2258)

Putting it simply, it isn't very 'loving' to kill my neighbor's baby: or help pay someone else to do the job. That may seem like a rigid attitude: but as a practicing Catholic, I'm stuck with it.

Not Hopeless, Not Helpless

Prayer is a good idea. So is letting America's leadership know what we believe.

Catholic bishops in America want us to write our representatives in the national Congress. There is still a chance that Congress may decide to do the right thing.

The bishops explain what's going on, why the HHS mandate is bad idea, and what we can do. In English and en Español:

• USCCB's HHS Mandate Bulletin Insert (English)
  (February 12, 2012)
  (PDF)
  from http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/upload/HHS_Mandate_English-Bulletin-Insert_Feb2012.pdf
• USCCB's HHS Mandate Volante Para Boletines (en Español)
  (12 de febrero 2012)
  (PDF)
  from http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/upload/HHS_Mandate_Spanish-Bulletin-Insert_Feb2012.pdf

I've prayed, done the 'write your congressman/person/whatever' thing, and have more to say - in another post.

Your Life, Your Soul, Your Choice

Even if I could, I wouldn't 'force' you to act against your conscience. It's against the rules:

• Religious freedom is important (Catechism, 2104-2109)
  • For everybody
    (Catechism, 2106)

Freedom comes with responsibility, and that's another topic.²

Decisions

I'd probably be more comfortable, living in a period when I could at least pretend that my native land's dominant culture was on the same page as the Lord of Hosts. But I've yet to run into something in Holy Scripture, or in what the Church has said over the last couple of millennia, that says 'thou shalt not make waves.'

Today is an era when folks have fairly well-defined choices to make. The trick will be making the right choice. This sort of situation is nothing new:

" 'Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

"³ If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.' "
(Joshua 24:14-15)

Jesus Approached and Said - - -

A bit over a dozen centuries later, my Lord was tortured to death. Then Jesus stopped being dead.

That got the attention of eleven men who had followed him:

"¹⁰ When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.

"¹¹ Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, ¹² and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. ¹³ And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:17-20)

The Winning Side

It's been about three millennia since Joshua told folks to make up their minds; two millennia since Jesus gave those marching orders. My Lord's outfit is still around.

On the whole, I think deciding to serve God, and act as if what He says matters, is prudent. Eventually, God's way wins. But what you decide is up to you.

Conscience Protection: What the Bishops Say

I found these links useful. Maybe you will, too:

• USCCB: Six Things Everyone Should Know About the HHS Mandate
  (February 6, 2012)
  (PDF)
  from http://www.archspm.org/_uls/resources/USCCB-six-things-HHS-regulations-english-2012-02-06.pdf
• USCCB: SEIS COSAS QUE TODO EL MUNDO DEBERÍA SABER SOBRE LA REGULACIÓN DE HHS
  (Spanish) (6 de febrero 2012)
  (PDF)
  from http://www.archspm.org/_uls/resources/USCCB-six-things-HHS-regulations-spanish-2012-02-06.pdf
• USCCB: White House Misrepresents Its Own Contraceptive Mandate
  (February 3, 2012)
  (PDF)
  from http://www.archspm.org/_uls/resources/USCCB-Response-to-WH-Blog-on-HHS-Mandate-2012.pdf
• Archbishop Nienstedt's Letter Against Health Coverage Mandates
  (January 26, 2012)
  (PDF)
  from http://www.archspm.org/_uls/resources/Gen_Ltr_re_US_Dept_of_Health_decision____1-26-12.pdf
• Carta del Arzobispo Nienstedt contra los mandatos de la cobertura de salud
  (Spanish) (26 de enero de 2012)
  (PDF)
  from http://www.archspm.org/_uls/resources/Gen_Ltr_in_SPANISH_US_Dept_of_Health_decision__1-26-12.pdf
• "The HHS Mandate for
  Contraception/Sterilization Coverage: An Attack on Rights of Conscience
  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
  (January 20, 2012)
  (PDF)
  from http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/upload/preventiveqanda2012-2.pdf

Bishops: "TAKE ACTION"

• "Conscience Protection"
  (www.usccb.org/conscience)
  USCCB
  • Look for: "TAKE ACTION: Personalize your message to Congress now!!"
  • Check out
    • "Download the USCCB's HHS Mandate Bulletin Insert in English or en Español"
      (both in .pdf format)

Related posts:

• "Life, Death, the Establishment, and Some Guy in Minnesota"
  (March 2, 2012)
• "My Take on the News: 'Jesus-Eating Cult;' Godly Scientist; Insulting Our Intelligence"
  (March 2, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Insulting Our Intelligence
• "The Spirit of Resistance"
  (February 26, 2012)
• "HHS Mandate, Catholic Bishops, and Foster Auditorium"
  (February 12, 2012)
• "Fear of Right-Wing Extremism: Commie-Hunting in Reverse"
  (April 19, 2009)

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¹ Very briefly, the Catholic Church says:

• Health care is important
  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2288-2291
• Killing innocent people is wrong, even if the person is
  • Young
    (Catechism, 2270-2275)
  • Sick
    (Catechism, 2276-2279)

² About freedom:

" Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.

"As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach."
(Catechism, 1731-1732)

More: (Catechism, 1733-1738)