Friday, March 29, AD 2024 10:40am

Crying “foul” after “aiding and abetting”…

It would be mildly amusing is wasn’t so sad to read emails and brochures produced by well-intentioned but hyper-reactive Catholic organizations calling for petition drives to demand that President Obama revoke some of the regulations associated with his “healthcare reforms.”

With Notre Dame University having honored President Obama in 2009, he subsequently turned on his heels by allowing his Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Kathleen Sebelius, to roll out new regulations flagrantly violating not only his word but also Church teaching.

These new regulations include:

  • requiring women’s health plans to cover sterilization and contraception, including  “abortifacients”;
  • mandating many Catholic organizations—including schools and colleges/universities, hopsitals, and Catholic charities—to violate their Catholic identity by providing health benefits that violate Church teaching; and,
  • compelling the insurance plans offered by Catholic organizations to offer free birth control and sterilization to college girls.

No doubt, these regulations are something the Church should protest.

Yet, all of this is amusing in that the majority of U.S. Catholics not only supported the President’s election but Catholic politicians also played crucial roles in crafting the healthcare “reform” bill and, now, designing the regulations.

Where was the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Health Association, the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, and Catholic Charities USA in 2008 and 2009 prophetically warning of the potential ill-effects of Obamacare?

For the most part, they were “working with the Administration,” believing the promises being made by their President, Catholic politicians, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  But, the truth is that they were “true believers,” savoring the limelight and empty promises made by Democrat politicians—whose Party’s platform explicitly promotes anti-life policies.

Now that the “hopium” has worn off with the reality of the new HHS regulations, it’s almost laughable that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is launching a nationwide campaign at parishes this weekend.  About the new regulations, the bulletin insert states: “This poses an unprecedented threat to individual and institutional religious freedom.”

Well, duh!  Isn’t that just great…after the fact?  Where was the leadership…before the fact?

Dancing with wolves, these U.S. Catholics weren’t just snookered.  They’ve also been taught a lesson…one they should have known all along.  Putting partisan politics ahead of Church teaching, the “hand which was to feed them” has “slammed the door in their faces.”

So, now they cry foul and organize protests?  It’s almost laughable if it wasn’t so sad.

How can these true believers possibly believe their protests are going to effective now that they’ve thrown the weight of their support behind the conditions which allowed the horse to be let out of the barn in the first place?

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RR
RR
Wednesday, September 14, AD 2011 12:12pm

“Where was the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops… in 2008 and 2009 prophetically warning of the potential ill-effects of Obamacare?”

On the forefront.

cthemfly25
cthemfly25
Wednesday, September 14, AD 2011 2:40pm

The domestic policy group of the USCCB, which acts as the theological branch of the DNC, and CHA were actively involved in the effort to make Obamacare law. There was a purposeful dissonance found between authentic Church teaching and the harmful and arguably deceptive information being propagated by the USCCB and CHA at the time. I do not believe things have changed as just a couple of months ago I received an email from Virginia Catholic Charities to tell Congress to save entitlement programs during the House budget debate. I did not receive a reply back to my query about the source and purpose of the VCC budget alert email. The VCC and the USCCB were emailing similar alerts during the ‘health care debate’.
See http://www.catholicmediacoalition.org/USCCB_health.htm

RR
RR
Wednesday, September 14, AD 2011 4:40pm

When you google for the USCCB’s messages on health care reform, you find lots of articles stating that the USCCB is opposed and one link to “Catholic Media Coalition” stating that the USCCB was in favor. I personally got regularly emails from the USCCB urging me to contact my representatives to oppose the bill. I remember Don posting here on this blog a quote from Bart Stupak before he flipped that he remains opposed to the bill because he listens to the USCCB.

John H
John H
Thursday, September 15, AD 2011 9:44am

Both through the USCCB and my archdiocese (San Francisco) I was inundated with e-mail messages asking me first to support pro-life amendments to the Obama health care plan, then after that fell through asking me to voice opposition to the plan.

So I’m not sure where this criticism you have is coming from. I heard more from the USCCB and other church leaders on the health care than I have heard from them on any other topic, which I took as a sign that the council was changing course to be more vocal on these issues.

trackback
Sunday, September 18, AD 2011 12:03am

[…] University of Notre Shame: Crying “Foul” after “Aiding & Abetting” – Paul Zummo, TAC […]

Alissa
Monday, September 19, AD 2011 2:43pm

What is “almost laughable” but really “too sad” is that those who share the same beliefs would WASTE their time writing critical articles of organizations and people who DO make efforts to change laws, whether pre- or post- facto, rather than using that same energy in the pursuit of those goals which they are busy criticizing over.
A house divided cannot stand.
If you have the time to ridicule your bishop or any bishops, perhaps you should consider aiding and assisting in the cause of NCHLA or any other organization who is lobbying for conscience protection and religious liberty.
The USCCB was on the forefront warning against healthcare, and Cardinal DiNardo, chair of the Pro-Life Committee, has many stellar letters written to congress concerning these important issues.
Pointing fingers only gets you so far.

Richard
Richard
Monday, September 19, AD 2011 6:31pm

In my observations of actions by the USCCB in the past few years, I frequently have found political naivete inhibiting the force of the message. Often it seems that the USCCB focuses on a very specific, narrow issue, while remaining silent on issues connected in the political agenda of those proponents of the policies the USCCB is opposing. It is important to recognize that politicians will spin any support of one isolated issue into apparent wedespread support of others. We need to look to the entire agenda in play, lest there be the “camel’s nose under the tent” problem that comes from the narrowness of the USCCB view, statement, or position.

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