If one were to listen to the likes of Sean Hannity, and other pundits, one would expect to see a photo on the evening news of Barak Houssein Obama, standing on the prow of a boat, angrily driving a gleaming harpoon into into the eye of a religious whale, à la Captain Ahab. Maybe that religious whale could be Newt Gengrich. I don't know. But whatever the image conjured, listening to the rhetoric, it was hard not to grab my bible and my gun, and seek out the nearest anti-government militia.
What Hannity et al were sensationalizing, and referring to as "Obama's latest assault on religion," was the Department of Health and Human services requiring most insurance plans to cover contraception. What they typically fail to mention, is that churches and places of worship are exempt. So don't worry Catholics; Obama isn't going to kick down the doors of your local cathedral, and force you by chest-bomb-and-turban-point to give any people you may employ, insurance provided spermacides or cervical sponges. You can continue on with your archaic notion that every sex act should result in a pregnancy.
What the religious right wants, in addition to church exemption (which singularly is totally their prerogative) is employer exemption. In other words, if I am a Catholic employer (or any other religion) and I think providing contraception (which, surprise, surprise, isn't exclusively used for preventing pregnancy, but also myriad other health uses) is wrong, I can dictate, on some level, my employees' access to such. This is no different than, say, a Jehovah's witness refusing to provide employees with an insurance plan that could cover a blood transfusion. Or an orthodox Jew refusing to use an insurance provider that will cover medical emergencies on Saturdays.
It just seems to me, that as an employer, you shouldn't get to force your moral values upon your employees. If you hate contraception—more power (and babies) to you. But why does this have to be considered an assault on religion? Why is EVERYTHING with the religious right an assault on SOMETHING? Gay marriage is an assault on marriage. This is an assault on Religion. Planned Parenthood is an assault on every baby who wanted to live, ever. The Obama presidency is an assault on the constitution. I just fail to see how giving someone the right to choose, is anti-religion.
Yes, people can still choose contraception without it being covered by insurance. But that is assuming they can afford it. I get the fact that, on some level, by you providing the insurance, you are sort of partially paying for it. But, simply by virtue of paying taxes, we pay for a lot of things we don't agree with. And you are also, by providing a paycheck, probably funding lots of things your employees do, with which you don't agree.
Providing insurance is part of a payment package. What the employee decides to do with that payment, should be up to the employee. Just like a paycheck.
Man, I didn't even get to Richard Santorum, stewardship, and the global warming hoax.
7 comments:
Dude, I couldn't agree more. Now that Prop 8 has been overturned my facebook and personal life is being "assaulted" by everyone and their opinions on the matter. I want to move to Canada where people don't argue about all this stuff because they are too worried about staying warm. Well, that and Sasquatch.
This is an old post, I know, so forgive me lamely commenting on it.
But even if it's old, I can't let your ignorance and bigotry go uncommented on.
You do realize that the Catholic Church has no problem with the Pill being used to actually treat an illness? When it's taken as medication, and not as a lifestyle enhancer?
As opposed to taking it so that your body will stop functioning normally? (You do realize that's how the Pill works as a contraceptive... it fucks with a woman's hormones so that she doesn't ovulate like a normal, healthy body does).
You do realize that fertility is not a disease, right? Are you aware of what the purpose of medication is? That taking the Pill is not like taking vitamins?
Did you know that Catholics are required to plan their families responsibly? It's actually officially a sin to have too many babies. I'm not kidding.
Do you know where babies come from? Okay, they don't come from the stork. They come from when a man places his penis inside a woman's vagina. And yup, every time you have sex it could result in a pregnancy. That's human biology, not theology. I'm really sad our public schools don't teach the difference anymore. More bio facts to blow your mind: Humans evolved the capacity for sexual pleasure to encourage mating and reproduction.
I guess you could say this is evolution "forcing its moral values" upon you.
Did you know that the Pill does not offer 100% effective contraception? Hey I bet you didn't know that Target sells the Pill for nine fucking dollars for a monthly supply. That's without insurance. Do you think that a woman who can't get her shit together to afford $9 a month for contraceptives will be able to afford an abortion if she gets pregnant? Oh, I guess you probably think I should pay for that, too.
You do realize that you can choose your employer based on how attractive the benefits package is? That's how I pick who I work for. Because their total compensation package works for me. If an employer doesn't offer the right package for me and my family... I CHOOSE ANOTHER FUCKING EMPLOYER. Are others just too ignorant to realize they should be doing this? Or too uneducated to know how?
Maybe people who can't come up with 30 cents a day to have safer sex should save up and buy a vibrator. Or switch to oral or anal or mutual masturbation. Maybe that would be SLIGHTLY more fair than forcing others to pay for their lifestyle (not healthcare, LIFESTYLE) choices.
sorry for the rant. I just get tired of hypocritical, prejudiced shit like this post. "Oh here come the Catholics popping out all their babies! Get your rosaries off my ovaries! By the way, after you put down that rosary, I DEMAND that you pay for my bf's spermicide and/or for my child to be ripped from my uterus. It's for my healthcare. LOL." Stereotype less and learn a little more.
Google "take charge of your fertility" or visit a local women's center to learn about some of the different ways you can plan your family just as effectively without requiring your significant other to ingest a Class 1 carcinogen on a daily basis (that's what the WHO categorizes the Pill as).
Please please PLEASE educate yourself about sexual orientation. You should not be teaching children if you sincerely believe that if a man doesn't have sex, it will "turn him" into a child rapist. Or "turn him" gay.
Fact: most child abusers are married men in a publicly heterosexual relationship. Experts have said again and again that there is zero evidence that celibacy has anything to do with sexual orientation of any type. Sexual drives are something you are BORN WITH, it's not behavioral or environmental.
People are allowed to have bigoted thoughts, it's a free country but... please don't spread ignorance to others. Open your mind and be willing to grow beyond your prejudice.
You did a pretty good job inferring a whole lot from something I didn't say at all. And then you ignored the majority of what I said.
Obviously, celibacy doesn't "turn" someone into a rapist, or "turn" someone gay. And I'm super aware that most child abusers aren't homosexual. I never said any such thing. But you can't say that celibacy has nothing to do with the systematic abuse that occurs in the church. It's an unbelievably unhealthy practice, and at the very least probably attracts people into those positions who are more likely to commit those crimes, rather than turning them into people who commit them.
As for my spreading if ignorance, and bigotry...I guess I disagree that my thoughts are bigotry. I take no issue with the Catholic church (or any other church, for that matter) dictating to ITS members what they should, nor shouldn't do (regardless of how unhealthy or wrong I think that thing might be.) But it is when religion steps in and imbues public policy with religious interest that I take issue.
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree. I realize that my original post was probably somewhat condescending. But the level of condescension and mockery in your remarks is quite impressive. If you want someone to "open [his/her] mind and be willing to grow beyond [his/her] prejudice" you have a terrible way of going about fostering that growth, or drawing someone into a reasonable debate.
Good work.
Also- quit talking like the pill is the only form of contraception. You're being a turd.
sorry for being nasty. I just get easily frustrated and it was that time of the month... no excuses though.
The reason I focused on the Pill, was because that's the form of contraception that some women think others should be forced to pay for. For some reason no one ever demands that I pay for other people's condoms.
I think because it's prescribed by a doctor, people don't make the connection that this is not health care and fertility is not a disease.
There's no evidence that CELIBACY is unhealthy - sexual repression is unhealthy according to Sigmund Freud, but Freud's hypotheses on this and other subjects are no longer fully accepted by modern psychoanalysts. Celibacy is a common theme in many religious and cultural contexts (ancient Rome, modern Catholicism, Gandhi was a huge proponent etc). Today's experts believe that the key goal is successfully integrating your sexuality into your personality. There are many non-celibates who suffer from a poorly integrated sexuality. And there are many celibates who have healthy psychosexual profiles.
There's an article you can find on Google somewhere called "Why the Dalai Lama doesn't date" it's a good one.
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