WISCONSIN
Channel 3000
By Bill Wineke
Special to Channel 3000
The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops seem to be going all out in their effort to force President Obama to jettison birth control coverage as part of national health care reform.
They’re now calling for national demonstrations in a “Fortnight for Freedom” initiative in late June and promise a campaign of civil disobedience if employers aren’t free to deny birth contraceptive coverage as part of health care coverage.
They equated their potential plight to the murders of John the Baptist by King Herod and Sir Thomas More by King Henry VIII.
John the Baptist?
Really?
Do these guys really expect us to take them seriously? And is this really the most important issue facing the Catholic Church in America?
Personally, I think they are lying. I realize that’s kind of an arrogant thing to say about the men who lead the nation’s largest religious body, but then, these are arrogant men. …
My own guess – and I obviously have nothing more than a guess to go on – is that the bishops have seen their reputations as moral leaders so tarnished by the ongoing sexual abuse scandal – we now have one bishop under indictment – and by the continued falling away of the Catholic population – if fallen-away Catholics were their own denomination, they’d be the second-largest denomination in the country – that they are seeking some way to regain influence.
By any serious criteria, the nation’s bishops have been truly bad at their jobs. They have covered up crimes and have squandered the offerings of the faithful.
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