By: chris gabrelcik

chris gabrelcik — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:07:51 +0000

Dear Editor,
I would like to address the letter written by Ed Taylor on 7/11. Mr. Taylor tries to make the point that the American Bishops do not have the right to challenge “Obamacare’s” mandate that every employer pay for artificial birth control. Ed based this on the fact they didn’t preach about it enough, and some of them were silent about the issue in the 60’s and 70’s. This is akin to claiming that the State Highway Patrol doesn’t have the right to give tickets because they let people go 70 mph in a 65 mph zone. They apparently don’t care if you speed and it’s now hypocritical to give a person a ticket for going 75 mph. The truth is the Catholic Church is a family. Priests and Bishops are not administrators trying to control people, they are parents protecting their children from evil. Another good example is, I set a bedtime for my children at 9:00 but I occasionally let them stay up to 11:00. But then the government steps in and says I am required by law to let them stay up until 11:00 every night. The government would be overstepping its bounds.
Mr. Taylor falsely states that the Church won’t have pay for artificial contraception. Obama changed the law to put the burden of payment on the insurance company instead of the employer but what about self insured dioceses? Their money comes directly from donations and will now be forced to pay for artificial contraception which goes directly against their beliefs. Whether you choose to believe the Catholic Church is right or wrong in their belief, it’s still wrong to force them to pay for something they believe is evil.
He then went on to assert the Catholic Church is a right wing organization trying to control people. Most people consider the Catholic Church a moderate or liberal organization. Their stance on capital punishment, social justice and like usually aligns with the left more than the right. The question is “Why is the Obama Administration forcing this down our throats?” They could easily allow a religious exemption but they won’t. The only logical explanation is that they want to break the Catholic Church. I have not heard of a single Christian or Jewish leader that supports this government infringement on religious rights. Leaders from all denominations have spoken out against the law because they understand that this is just the beginning of the government infringing on religious rights. If this gets by then every religious freedom will be fair game.
Every Christian denomination considered artificial contraception sinful at one time, but over time, they all eventually caved to their congregations. The Catholic Church has held fast to their values. Their beliefs haven’t changed in 2000 years, our ability to follow them has. It is our duty as citizens to protect all religious liberty, whether we believe it or not. If the government made a law forcing Jewish and Muslim people to buy pork every week I would be just as appalled. And believe it or not, with the commerce clause and the new Supreme Court ruling they could legally do that. They could always make the argument that they don’t have to eat the pork, only buy it, which is essentially what they told the Catholic Church.
I would urge everyone to do everything they can to stop this infringement on our rights before it is too late.

Comments on: July 11 Letters to the Editor

By: chris gabrelcik