In our local Sunday paper were three letters to the editor under the banner “Religious freedoms are being assaulted”. One letter claimed that the president and others were “attacking our constitutionally protected right of religious freedom.” The writer goes on to complain that “we have been told that religious organizations would be required to provide abortions, contraceptive and sterilization services.”
Another writer said that Obama “is disregarding the most basic tenet of the First Amendment – free exercise of religion.” Yet another writer screams “The Obama administration’s assault on the free exercise of religion…. is an abomination.” It is interesting that all the writers were men.
This is typical of many religious zealots. Take something that “appears” to go against something they cherish and they go off the deep end declaring that their religious freedoms are crumbling. First of all nothing has really changed. Similar mandates for contraceptives were already in place in 28 states and no one said anything. Then Obama actually gave them an out by declaring that religious employers wouldn’t have to pay additional premiums to cover contraception. What zealots, or at least the ones writing letters to editors, don’t realize is that 98% of catholic women already use contraceptives, going against Catholic dogma. And that’s the real complaint from the guys in funny hats. It’s about maintaining power and control where ever they can. They can’t admit that the majority of women (and many men) don’t pay attention to guys in funny hats.
I’m so sick of religious nuts screaming to high heaven that they are being assaulted by the government and others (like Atheists) while they enjoy such massive power in this country. You can see that in the current crop of GOP nutters proudly showcasing their religious credentials at every opportunity. Let someone try to run for office who proudly declares that they are an Atheist and see what happens. You’d do better off declaring that you are gay than saying you are an unbeliever.
As someone who went through 12 years of Catholic education, or beat down as I like to call it, I know how much power the Catholic church likes to wield. This whole issue from the beginning was not about health insurance providers or the government providing contraception to women. It was about power and how much the Catholic church could flex their muscle in the body politic. (See the blog entry by Adam Lee over at www.bigthink.com/ideas/42414.) All religion is about power, pure and simple. Think about it.
