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Written by Anonymous for RH Reality Check. This diary is cross-posted; commenters wishing to engage directly with the author should do so at the original post.
Reproductive health politics are controversial enough, but they are even more so for a family of practicing Catholics. My spouse begged me not to put my name on this, concerned about our son, who is scheduled to receive First Holy Communion in a few months. Certainly, neither of us want him to be hassled, or to have his standing jeopardized because of his parents’ dissent toward an increasingly politicized Church. So please excuse the anonymity of this editorial.
There is a really cool website called Bible Gateway that serves as a Google-style search engine for the Christian Bible. Any visitor can search for key words in 46 languages, and the English options includes 31 different versions representing a wide variety of religious traditions, from the 21st Century King James Version to Young’s Literal Translation. What kind of words can you look up? Anything, really. As a Catholic, my Bible Gateway is set to the New American Standard Bible, the same that is listed on the Vatican’s website. It’s interesting to note that, excluding articles, conjunctions, prepositions and other small words, the most common word in the Bible is Lord (6,726 times) and God is second (4,188 times). I have to admit that I was surprised that Jesus comes up only 990 times, but I am sure it’s a contextual thing.
The word love will get you 484 hits, and the results will direct you to excerpts from Genesis to Revelation. Some are passages you might expect to find, such as Jesus’ repeated instruction to “LOVE your neighbor as yourself” and there are some surprises, such as the rather chilling, “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who LOVES and practices lying.” (Revelations 22:15). Yikes!
The Bible also talks about the poor quite a bit (148 times). And blessed comes up 290 times. You can find both words together in four separate passages, in the Books of Ruth, Proverbs, Matthew, and Luke. Forgive comes up a lot, too, 114 times. And compassion is mentioned 105 times. If you are looking to draw connections to today’s political issues, you can find 231 mentions of war to inform foreign policy, the rich are mentioned 89 times (and not always in a flattering light, echoing the concerns of the Occupy Wall Street crowd), and environmentalists can find 52 references to gardens! Those embroiled in health care politics can find sick 61 times, often connected to Jesus’ ministry to the health of those in most need.
But you know what word you can’t find in the Bible? Contraception. There is no birth control either. Oh, there are plenty of mentions of birth (118 times), not to mention 15 begots. But there is definitely no contraception.
Nevertheless, reproductive health politics continue to be the centerpiece issue for the Catholic Church in America. And every four years, the Church trades in its megaphone for a set of Spinal Tap amplifiers cranked up to 11, just in time for the presidential election.The last two elections, U.S. bishops admonished Catholic Democratic contenders for their pro-choice positions, refusing Holy Communion to Joe Biden and John Kerry.
But interestingly, no bishop has expressed any public concerns about Holy Communion eligibility for thrice-married Republican candidate Newt Gingrich, nor for Rick Santorum, who has equated people of the same gender who love each other with people who have sex with animals. Santorum’s frequent baiting of Iran into a potential nuclear war is apparently Communion-eligible, too, despite Jesus’ every lesson on how to relate to one’s enemy.
The Catholic Church in America is tolerant of adulterers and warmongers, so long as they are Republican and anti-choice. And so when the issue of contraceptive coverage as part of the Health Care Reform Act came up last week, the Church definitely had something to say. To be fair, the Church has been consistently opposed to contraception for years, though there are notable exceptions. I remember having a conversation with a nun who was administering an HIV- prevention program at a Catholic hospital. Her program distributed condoms, and I asked her how that was possible. Her reply? “We distribute condoms to prevent HIV. If they happen to prevent anything else, that’s not my responsibility.”
Last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops vehemently objected to the provision that required American employers to cover contraceptive services as part of their health care plans. The “conscience exemption” for houses of worship that object to contraception was not enough for the bishops. They also wanted Catholic charities, hospitals, and universities, exempted, too. The White House listened and offered a compromise: these Catholic employers would not be required to pay for contraceptive coverage. Nor would they be required to provide contraceptive referrals for their employees. The costs and responsibilities of arranging contraceptives would fall exclusively on the insurers.
It was a reasonable accommodation, but it wasn’t enough for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. They responded to this olive branch by demanding exemptions for secular employers as well! I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, since my Church often demands that American law follow its teachings, even for non-Catholics. (By the way, olives are mentioned in the Bible 41 times.)
Knowing that a bishop’s letter about contraception was likely going to accompany mass today, my family and I decided to abstain. What would we do instead? Perhaps we could spend the day reading the Beatitudes, which illustrate and exemplify the core tenets of our faith, and celebrate the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, and the peacemakers. Or, we could reflect on lessons about morality from the Obama Administration’s determination to provide access to health care for everyone in need. Or, we could spend the rest of the day looking up biblical words relevant to those in need of health care coverage, such a needy (51 times), healed (69 times), and death (469 times).
Any of these options would provide lessons more valuable than the one being taught by a Catholic institution bent on winning the next election.
3 Comments
I gave up on religion fifty Lents or so ago and I’m not even a member of the Catholic Church.
Keep religion out of the government and definitely out of the bedroom.
An idle thought from a similar mind:
On this day of love and care isn’t it ironic that we give the sexual reproductive organs of plants to our lovers as a sign of our true love and devotion.
Of course, if the plants had won the intelligence contest, they would be giving each other on Valentine’s Day chocolate covered ovaries and testicles.
Ouch!
Otherwise Happy Valentine’s Day.
Nice post. I too, an a catholic, but recovering or secular. I stopped going to mass about 2 years ago. I got fed up with the sexist comments about women from the bishop here in Atlanta. I also was mortified at all of the child abuse, the massive coverup, the fleeing of bishops out of the USA from legal authorities and the abetting of all of this by the Pope.
I would like to know just where their conscience clause was during all of this mess. I know they have absolutely no conscience with regard to how they speak and treat women.
This history of the catholic church is dismal with regard to women; murder, rape, torture, theft by taking, imprisonment, banishment, etc. I would like to know why the church has never apoligized to women for any of this grossly bad behavior. I do not believe for one minute that Christ would think all of this contraception crap, this child abuse, etc is OK. It is a mistreatment of women and children.
As for President Obama and his policy on contraception coverage; well, I think he was generous with these religiously affiliated groups. Women deserve fair and equal treatment in the workplace with regard to benefits and choice for their own personal healthcare decisions. No one is asking the church to pay for anything, except with is due the employees. The church’s blatant discrimination against women and their healthcare needs is a sin and should not be dignified by any government.
The catholic church can do what it likes, but only with private money or they can self-insure. But when it comes to taxpayer money, which is secular, one has to follow the rules. When one competes in the marketplace, one follows the rules with regard to employee treatment. I sincerely hope the women in these affected instituition, be they employees or students or clients, take their business elsewhere.
Actually, on March 12, 2000, then Pope John Paul did make an apology to women. It was included within an apology that contained seven categories of wrong doing.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/12/sm.06.html
I can remember being absolutely stunned by this because there was not apparent gain from this action that I could see or uncover. My reaction then would be summed up today by “WTF ??” that is used so often on the interwebs.
I am no fan of the Catholic church, having left decades ago, once I hit my personal “age of reasoning”. Why Pope John Paul was moved to make such an unprecedented apology for the actions of the church, that covered 2000 years of egregious wrong doing, is anyone’s guess. Despite this apology little has changed. The church remains as bigoted and misogynistic as ever. Its money and influence has no place in our political dialogue. If you don’t pay taxes you should have no lobby, nor any voice in decision making with regard to public policy, is my personal stance. And given its history of protecting pedophiles how can any position it takes be seen as valid?