Why Accommodate the Bishops’ Peculiar Morality?
by David Atkins
Just a reminder:
Although Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York has been leading the national fight against requiring Roman Catholic hospitals, universities and charities to cover birth control in their health insurance plans for employees and students, some Catholic institutions in his own diocese and others throughout New York State have for 10 years been complying with state law mandating precisely that coverage.
The state began requiring contraception coverage in 2002, and Catholic institutions, after losing a court battle over the issue, have followed the law. Historically Catholic institutions like Fordham University, which is run by a lay board of trustees in the tradition of the Jesuit religious order, provide contraception coverage for employees and students.
Religious institutions already comply with state laws requiring contraception. Why should the fed be any less demanding?
It’s hard to understand why the Administration is giving the Bishops even the slightest attention or accommodation on this. The majority of Catholics themselves don’t agree with the Bishops on contraception: they’re out there alone. The laity doesn’t agree with the “leadership.”
Why should the Administration give more leeway to the Bishops for their “conscience” than it does to say, Code Pink for theirs? It’s safe to say that Code Pink actually speaks for the real views of more Americans on warmaking than the Bishops do on contraception. Would the Administration make similar concessions to a conference of Imams?
And given the Catholic Church’s peculiar history of ignoring and hiding certain types of scandals, it’s hard to see why the Administration should play ball with the Bishops’ peculiar version of “morality.”
Ignore them, and make them follow the laws the rest of us do. My minority views on capital punishment and military spending are not respected in the tax code. There’s no reason to give the Bishops any more credence.
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