Thursday, May 31, 2012

"But Everyone's Doing It!" and Other Lies About Why the HHS Mandate is Okay


Ever since the lawsuits against the HHS Mandate were filed last week the issue of religious liberty has reemerged in the forefront of my thoughts and this morning I'd like to address another angle that's often used by the media and opponents of religious freedom everywhere when attempting to force practicing Catholics to embrace and personally subsidize behavior they know to be evil.  It goes something like this:

"But everybody's doing it.  Even Catholics.  In fact, 98% of Catholic couples use contraception.  This is just a bunch of old men trying to force their own beliefs on everyone else."  

With this argument it can be hard to know where to begin, because there's so much wrong with it.  Let's start with oft quoted statistic of 98%.  Even the Washington Post felt the need to point out that the data was skewed.  I've already written about the dishonesty in these statistics but thought it was worth bringing up again.

Honestly, I personally, wouldn't have been surprised if a pollster went out and asked 1000 women on the street and got the 98% statistic, because people who identify as Catholic have very different views of what that means.

I have friends who identify as Catholic who haven't been to Mass in years and who disagree with pretty much everything that the Church says.  I've known people who seem to look at the label as "Catholic" as a sort of add on to an ethnic label, while the actual religion has no bearing on their lives.  There are Catholics who pick out the teachings that make them feel warm and fuzzy and ignore the rest.  Some of these Catholics attend Mass and some don't.  There are Catholics who say: "The Church was established by Christ and guided by Christ.  He promised that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against his Bride and honestly, I believe him.  I submit to the teachings of the Church, and I'm going to do my best to live them."  And there are a whole lot of people somewhere in the middle.

So I wouldn't have been shocked if the 98% statistic had been right.  Thankfully, it's not.  It's highly skewed (what else could we expect from Planned Parenthoods happy little polling organization!).

But even if it wasn't, does the government have the right to force a small group to violate their religious principles to pay for the recreational sex lives of the general population?  Can the government force us to violate our consciences using the logic that:  "Everyone else is doing it!"

The simple answer is no.  That was a key ingredient that went into the mix during the formation of our great nation.  Religious liberty was to be protected.  And while these days some people seem to think that means freedom from religion, it is actually freedom of religion.  Yes, the Constitution states that the state can't establish a religion.  But it also guarantees the free exercise of religion.  And a big part of the free exercise of my religion is not paying for babies to be killed (and that includes being prevented from implanting after a new life has been formed).

See, the fact that we all sin, doesn't make sin suddenly acceptable.  That's basically what you're saying when you use the "but everyone's doing it" argument.  Does saying:  "Well everyone sins, so it's okay for the government to mandate that we do something objectively evil!" make sense to you?  

The thing is, a lot of people, from the media to various self proclaimed dissenting Catholics, would like the Church to be a democracy.  They'd like us to be able to vote for what we think is right or wrong this week and be led my the court of popular opinion.

I'm a bit baffled by this, since it's pretty simple to exit the Church and find another church where you could vote on right or wrong and do whatever it is you want... but for some reason these particular Catholics would like to take the ship down with them.  I guess it's probably a nudge from the one who's been trying to take the Church down since it's foundation with Peter.

This response extends to the argument that says that "Catholic institutions aren't following Church teaching perfectly so it's okay for the government to force them to do other things that they find morally abhorrent."

After all, we complain about Catholic In Name Only (CINO) institutions all the time.  They're already not following Church teaching, right?  So how's this any different.

Repeat after me:  The government isn't to prohibit the free exercise of our religion.  It's the law of the land.  Even if we reveal our imperfect humanity with our mistakes and extremely poor choices, we're still allowed to strive for perfect unity with Christ.  The government can't take that from us.  

Besides, there are plenty of Catholic institutions with plenty of Christ loving Catholics who are doing their best to align their lives with Church teachings.  It's easy to focus on the bad, and the embarrassing Catholic College mistakes.  I've certainly done it... a lot.  And as a result I'd like to point out (although I think it's beside the point) that there are plenty of Catholic institutions that are seriously striving to do the right thing.  Off the top of my head:  Ave Maria University...  Franciscan Steubenville University... Christendom University... Saint Thomas (in Southern California.. and the one in New Hampshire... and the one in Houston!).  EWTN...  The list goes on and on.  I'm sure many of you could add to it.

But honestly, the fact that there's "CINOs" out there that fall short, doesn't mean we should codify those short comings into an illegal law.  And it doesn't justify the fact that the media has completely ignored the existence of people and institutions that do follow Church teachings to the best of their ability.

So please, don't swallow the lies the media is peddling about the Church, Catholics or Catholic institutions, hook, line and sinker.  Pray.  Trust that the Bride of Christ will overcome this assault, just as she's withstood the others.  And speak out about the evils of contraception as it continues to damage our culture.

11 comments:

  1. But isn't it telling that so many "Catholics" have opted out of Church teachings? Many cannot accept the Church law on contraception.

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  2. Another blogger and I did a link up a few months ago when this was a big topic (still is...but you know how that goes).

    I think the 98% number is ridiculous. But then, with the poor catechesis of the 70's through early 90's, there are plenty of us out there who HAVE in the past used contraception.

    Rebecca's and my post was an attempt to shed light on the fact that many of us Catholics were not well-catechized and learned a lot about Church teaching and ourselves through the process later in life. Anyway...as with everything, there's at least a trace of truth in the biggest exaggeration.

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  3. The Catholic University of America is another college doing its best to live out the Catholic faith. For some reason it *never* makes it on to these lists, so I thought I'd throw it out there. :P

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  4. Pathway-

    I'd say it's telling about poor catechesis and about a culture that promotes self gratification as a necessity.

    And I absolutely don't think that Catholics "can't" accept this teaching. There are people out there that chose not to.

    I remember finding out about this teaching after I was confirmed. I cried for ten minutes. Than I put on my big girl pants and realized that some teachings were hard, but that didn't make them any less true and that if I were accepting the authority of the Catholic Church, as I'd claimed to, I was accepting her authority on everything.

    We can always choose not to sin.

    Many have not or will not accept the Church's teachings. That doesn't mean that they can't.

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  5. Pathway,

    It actually doesn't matter how many people decide not to accept the Church's teaching. Truth isn't determined by how many people believe it. If the sky is blue but 99% of the population believes it's green, that doesn't suddenly make the sky green.

    If a Catholic can't accept the Church's teaching on contraception, then they're not really Catholic. Simple as that.

    God bless.

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  6. I love what the CCL statement on their May/June Foundations magazine said. So 99.99999 people have lied at some point in their lives, does that mean we should stop teaching the 9th commandment? Of course not!

    Pathway,

    Some teachings are hard to swallow and most people don't like things that are hard. Jesus didn't say it was easy. There are at least two times that came to mind almost immediately that shows that Church Teachings are hard to swallow. 1. "You will eat my flesh and drink my blood." To Jews this was out right blasphemy. They are not even supposed to eat anything that had to do with blood because it would make them unclean. What a dramatic statement for Christ to make. Even in his time people were leaving his "Church" and it hadn't even really been established yet. 2. "Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat." Does that mean that we should all take the easy way out? Sure if we all want to go to hell. Personally I'll try to follow the Churches teachings. I don't want to make every effort to go straight to hell. I'd even be willing to do some time in purgatory if the end result means I get even the slightest chance to go to heaven.

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  7. I love what the CCL statement on their May/June Foundations magazine said. So 99.99999 people have lied at some point in their lives, does that mean we should stop teaching the 9th commandment? Of course not!

    Pathway,

    Some teachings are hard to swallow and most people don't like things that are hard. Jesus didn't say it was easy. There are at least two times that came to mind almost immediately that shows that Church Teachings are hard to swallow. 1. "You will eat my flesh and drink my blood." To Jews this was out right blasphemy. They are not even supposed to eat anything that had to do with blood because it would make them unclean. What a dramatic statement for Christ to make. Even in his time people were leaving his "Church" and it hadn't even really been established yet. 2. "Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat." Does that mean that we should all take the easy way out? Sure if we all want to go to hell. Personally I'll try to follow the Churches teachings. I don't want to make every effort to go straight to hell. I'd even be willing to do some time in purgatory if the end result means I get even the slightest chance to go to heaven.

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  8. Relative to the survey referenced itself, I've read that the question stated is asking if you EVER have practiced contraception. Considering all the possible definitions of contraception, I'm surprised the honest number is not 100%, of everyone. And that question is one totally different from one which would ask if you know or accept the Church's teaching on contraception. Those answering positively to those questions is much much higher (but not covered in the press)

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  9. John 6:
    "60Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” ...

    66As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. 67Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

    Peter doesn't say, "Oh, actually, Jesus, they're wrong. Your sayings are easy!" He doesn't say he understands. He believes that Jesus's words are the words of eternal life, and that they are to be followed no matter how hard they are to accept or carry out. Being a good Catholic *is* hard. It's very hard.

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  10. Humanae Vitae Mandate versus HHS Mandate. Which is worse? The HHS mandate which transgressed on religious liberty rights, or the mass Catholic transgression of the Humanae Vitae Mandate? The U.S. bishops became very publicly agitated about the transgression of rights of the HHS Mandate, but for 40 years have been extremely silent about the mass transgression of the Humanae Vitae Mandate by the Catholic people in their flock. It probably is an exaggeration to say that 98% of sexually active Catholic adults violate the Humanae Vitae Mandate. But I think we all know that a majority of sexually active Catholic adults violate the Humanae Vitae Mandate, and have been doing so for 40 years. Most of the sexually active adults receiving communion each Sunday are violating the Humanae Vitae Mandate on a regular basis. We all know this, if we know any Catholics at all. Since the office of the bishop is mainly to promote the holiness and salvation of its flock, and since the office of the bishop is not to be freedom fight for political rights, something seems very wrong in what is going on. Yes, the Obama Administration has bad motives and bad intentions in promoting the HHS Mandate. But the bishops don't seem innocent either. They've been poor shepherds on this matter for 40 years. Lest you think it is improper to say that, read the Old Testament, and see the prophets there being instructed by God to condemn the bad shepherds of the People of Israel. Our first priority is or should be our personal salvation holiness, not the wickedness of outsiders. Jesus did not commission his apostles to go out and be freedom fights for political rights. Self-criticism and correction of oneself and one's own group is usually a higher priority than criticism and attempts to reform outsiders. The Catholic Church is not a political organization! It is not a political pressure group! It is debased and wrong to view it like that, or to use it like that!

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  11. This post has sat unchallenged for too long …

    The HHS mandate objection is about stated rights in a legal matter, and like all legal matters it can be resolved in the courts (as is being done) or through citizen actions to change the law/legal document, as the Church is attempting to encourage --- if necessary.

    The Humanae Vitae encyclical does not “transgress Catholics”. That implies Catholics have a right to do anything they wish, and/or that the majority of Catholics can change Church teachings. Neither of those is true. Catholics, and all humans, are free to do as they ought, as defined by God. Humanae Vitae has plenty of citations to justify that it explains the will of God in these matters.

    Do different as you wish, as with any Church teaching, but then explain your actions to Him.

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