tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160415.post6803248818985774856..comments2024-03-15T08:55:29.800-04:00Comments on The Musical Priest: Missing the Point?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01087811856300842855noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160415.post-5553487796678189512012-02-18T12:48:38.000-05:002012-02-18T12:48:38.000-05:00I think you're right to a certain extent, that...I think you're right to a certain extent, that the issue is: does the government have the right to dictate any aspect of how a religion institution acts at all? However, examples that have been cited where religious institutions/persons follow (or have been, by rule of law, "dictated" to follow) government mandate are health care coverage for employees from Christian Scientist institutions, Jehovah's Witnesses paying tax that benefits the military (and requiring to serve when there's a draft), and Mormons not being able to engage in polygamy. Also, I believe Catholic hospitals receive government funding - by your argument, since the institution is taking money from a certain "culture", does it mean that it is agreeing to work within that (secular) culture? Is there really no point when a secular law/"right" can impinge upon a religious institution/person, despite the social contract that exists by the religious institution/person being part of that society?<br /><br />Not that there are easy answers to these, because there are arguments that can paint either extreme situation. So, that people are framing this about the particular instant of contraception itself, rather than the broader notion of religious freedom, I think is understandable and necessary - is contraception a means to a "right" for women, and can this right be achieved without it? The conversation about the limits of government/religious freedom also needs to be there, but the conversation about the particular case is not unimportant.Alexisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160415.post-66198112362270797632012-02-14T05:57:35.971-05:002012-02-14T05:57:35.971-05:00Hi Charlie,
I think a few things have to be kept ...Hi Charlie,<br /><br />I think a few things have to be kept in mind. The Church, like any other corporation in the United States, has a stake in the country and its policies. Corporations and lobbies, as we know only too well, lobby to get their point or to advance their agenda. If the role of government is to secure and foster the Common Good for its citizens, I think it only responsible of any institution to weigh in and contribute to what it sees as constitutive of that good. <br /><br />The issue is not of reproductive rights. As I said, I really do believe that it is this is governmental interference with an institution and its self-understanding. I should hope that were this another situation, say where the government told Catholic hospitals that it could no longer give treatment to illegal immigrants, that the bishops would react in a similar way. The religious call to treat the "widow, orphan, and alien" would be core to the identity of the institution and a part of what it means to be a Catholic hospital, whether the government wished for it to act in such a way or not.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01087811856300842855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160415.post-47155625593607381762012-02-13T22:05:08.699-05:002012-02-13T22:05:08.699-05:00How do you feel about fair trade, unions, minimum ...How do you feel about fair trade, unions, minimum wage, and the like Ryan?<br /><br />The problem as I see it is that the Catholic Church wants to have influence on decisions the government makes, but as soon as the government starts to influence how it, as a private organization, treats its employees, it gets all in a tizzy.<br /><br />The church would fight to not allow fair and equal treatment of gay couples by the federal government, but as soon as the federal government tells it that it must treat women's reproductive rights a certain way, it gets all upset.<br /><br />I'm asking for consistency in how the church deals with political, social problems. If it wants to influence the gov't, it should expect reverse influence. If it wishes to be left alone, it should leave the gov't alone.Charliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17112218951851440404noreply@blogger.com