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Archbishop: Obama Needs To Stop 'Intruding Into Internal Life Of Church'
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Bubba_Switzler
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The Catholic bishops remain deeply critical of HHS’s contraceptive-coverage mandate, even with the new accommodations for religiously affiliated employers. This unrelenting opposition is puzzling to many, including many Catholics who opposed the original policy. After all, wasn’t the initial outcry fueled primarily by the overly narrow exemption for religious organizations? And doesn’t the new proposal address that concern? Maybe the skeptics were right that the moral outrage was simply a veneer for political opportunism.
But maybe not. Maybe puzzlement at the bishops’ recalcitrance reflects not the insincerity of their motives, but popular misunderstanding of their concerns. Their worry was never primarily about religious organizations, but about the protection of individual consciences against the coercive power of the state.
But why are conscience rights so important? And why should they outweigh the interests in public health (for those who consider contraception and abortion to be health care) and women’s equality that free access to contraceptive services purportedly forwards?
nationalreview.com/corner/291550/freedom-conscience-or-free-contraceptives-melissa-moschellaConscience rights go to the core of what is to be a human person: the capacity to act based not only on desires or instincts, but on judgments about what is good and bad, right and wrong — and the moral responsibility that is inseparable from that capacity. To force a person to act contrary to conscience is to force him to violate his moral integrity. It is an assault on the person at his core, much worse than any merely physical harm.
I sure hope she’s right. But while this makes sense to me, I can’t remember ever hearing this from any Catholic teaching in school or Church. I can’t imagine how you would square it with much of what the USCCB has advocated from public policy previously.
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_Abyssinia
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Clergy Declare State of Emergency for Churches Over Obama Demands
**Ave Maria University launches lawsuit against HHS mandate with The Beckfet Fund **
becketfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Ave-Maria-v-Sebelius-vFINAL-2-20-12.pdf
President of Ave Maria University explains motivation for filing against HHS mandate:
youtube.com/watch?v=ADW-rELIUOM
**Bush admin’s Jim Towy is filing lawsuit against HHS mandate with The Becket Fund **
Government Must Protect, Not Trample, Religious Liberties
lifenews.com/2012/02/21/government-must-protect-not-trample-religious-liberties/
christiannewswire.com/index.php?module=releases&task=view&releaseID=18999The National Clergy Council, representing church leaders of Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, and Protestant church traditions, has declared a State of Emergency for the Churches in response to the order by President Barack Obama for religious organizations to compromise their religious and moral beliefs by complying with a mandate to provide employees with certain forms of insurance coverage.
**Ave Maria University launches lawsuit against HHS mandate with The Beckfet Fund **
becketfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Ave-Maria-v-Sebelius-vFINAL-2-20-12.pdf
President of Ave Maria University explains motivation for filing against HHS mandate:
youtube.com/watch?v=ADW-rELIUOM
**Bush admin’s Jim Towy is filing lawsuit against HHS mandate with The Becket Fund **
Government Must Protect, Not Trample, Religious Liberties
lifenews.com/2012/02/21/government-must-protect-not-trample-religious-liberties/
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_Abyssinia
Guest
Rasmussen’s reminder: Majority still favors ObamaCare repeal
hotair.com/archives/2012/02/21/rasmussens-reminder-majority-still-favors-obamacare-repeal/
Perhaps Rasmussen’s latest poll on ObamaCare will serve as a reminder to the Republican presidential hopefuls that this will be a very productive line of attack in the general election. Given that the HHS mandate springs directly from ObamaCare, it also serves as a guideline on how to handle that issue as well:
Despite the controversy over the Obama administration’s requirement that Catholic institutions provide free contraceptive coverage for employees, voters’ opinions on the health care law behind that requirement remain steady. Just over half of voters still want the law repealed.Code:The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters shows 53% at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law, while 38% oppose repeal. These figures include 41% who Strongly Favor repeal and 28% who are Strongly Opposed.. Even before its passage by Congress in March 2010, most voters opposed the health care law, and they’ve continued to do so in regular tracking since then. Support for repeal has ranged from a low of 47% to a high of 62%. Opposition to repeal has ranged from 32% to 44%.Code:These findings are little changed from [two weeks ago](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/february_2012/54_favor_repeal_of_health_care_law_43_say_it_will_be_bad_for_u_s)
The support for a repeal is pretty broadly based. Men favor it by a wide margin (62/34, strong positions 51/28), while women are more split on both the overall figure (46/42) and in strength of commitment (33/29 in strong positions). Every age demo has a plurality or majority in favor of repeal except thirtysomethings, where repeal only gets a 41/52 rating. Repeal wins in every income demo, too, even among those earning under $20K, 47/42. Independents support repeal by about the same percentage as the overall population of likely voters (52/38).
The religious demos are also strongly in favor of repeal, none more so than evangelicals (75/18), where almost two-thirds (64%) strongly support repeal. Protestants and Catholics have nearly the same results at 53/41 and 55/35 respectively, with Protestants slightly more strongly supportive of repeal, 43% to 40%. The numbers are split among those who rarely or occasionally attend religious service, but for those going at least once a week or more, more than two-thirds support repeal.
If Republicans — including Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum — can emphasize the issue of the HHS mandate as a predictable exercise of dictatorial power from the ObamaCare bill and pull attention away from the specifics of the mandate, they can both broaden the outrage over the mandate and leverage the political opposition to ObamaCare. They will have to be more skilled in making that argument, as the debate over the mandate has not impacted these results in the last two weeks, as Rasmussen notes. The first Republican to force the media to address the issue of unbridled power over the private sector and the impact that has on personal choices and issues of religious conscience could capture some lightning in a bottle.
hotair.com/archives/2012/02/21/rasmussens-reminder-majority-still-favors-obamacare-repeal/
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TheRealJuliane
Guest
It takes a huge bureaucracy to control our lives from cradle to grave, obviously. I mean, those of us who even make it to the cradle.Turner Lays Out the Case Against Obamacare
http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/obamacare-chart.jpg
blog.heritage.org/2012/02/20/turner-lays-out-the-case-against-obamacare/
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_Abyssinia
Guest
Poll: Americans Oppose Obama Birth Control Coverage Mandate
Planned Parenthood Will Get Richer Thanks to Obamacare
lifenews.com/2012/02/21/planned-parenthood-will-get-richer-thanks-to-obamacare/
** Priest Gives Obama’s Mandate “The Finger (?)” **
youtube.com/watch?v=7vIBN7OCRWw
Stalking the mythical ‘Catholic vote,’ yet again
getreligion.org/2012/02/stalking-the-mythical-catholic-vote-yet-again/
lifenews.com/2012/02/22/poll-americans-oppose-obama-birth-control-coverage-mandate/A new national poll Rasmussen Reports conducted finds Americans oppose the Obama administration mandate requiring religious employers to pay for coverage for birth control (which also includes drugs that may cause early abortions).
Planned Parenthood Will Get Richer Thanks to Obamacare
lifenews.com/2012/02/21/planned-parenthood-will-get-richer-thanks-to-obamacare/
** Priest Gives Obama’s Mandate “The Finger (?)” **
youtube.com/watch?v=7vIBN7OCRWw
Stalking the mythical ‘Catholic vote,’ yet again
getreligion.org/2012/02/stalking-the-mythical-catholic-vote-yet-again/
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_Abyssinia
Guest
70,000 Americans Tell Obama to Overturn the HHS Mandate
I guess Obama admin has realized this is not going away…
The White House has indicated Obama administration officials will meet with religious employers over the controversial mandate that requires them to pay for birth control and drugs that may cause abortions for their employees. Meanwhile, 70,000 Americans have signaled they want the mandate revered.
As The Hill reports:
A White House official said the administration will begin meeting “in the coming days” with religious organizations and insurers to try to hammer out policies “that respect religious liberty and ensure access to preventive services for women enrolled in self-insured group health plans sponsored by religious organizations.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius also emphasized last week that the administration is looking for a solution that will not require religious institutions to pay for contraception.
The White House gave itself a year to figure out how to deal with self-insured plans, meaning it won’t have to wade into the issue before the presidential election.
Jane Bedford, chancellor of the Washington Archdiocese told The Hill that Catholics and other religious employers are adamant that the mandate be dropped.
“This is really unprecedented, to have the government mandate something that would force us to violate our religious beliefs or else suffer a penalty,” Bedford said. “As long as that language stands, this mandate infringes on our religious liberty.”
Jay Sekulow, of the ACLJ, a pro-life legal firm, agrees.
“There are now reports that Obama Administration officials will begin meeting “in the coming days” with religious organizations and insurers to try to hammer out policies “that respect religious liberty,’” he said. “There’s a simple way to do that, if the Obama Administration is serious. As we have said from the very start, eliminate the mandate and all language that requires people of faith to violate their deeply help religious beliefs.”
“The opposition isn’t going away. The public outcry isn’t going to stop. Mr. President and Secretary Sebelius, are you listening?”
Sekulow said opposition to the mandate and compromise put in place by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) continues to grow as pressure continues to be applied to HHS Secretary Sebelius.
“We have sent a detailed legal analysis to Secretary Sebelius on behalf of nearly 70,000 Americans - urging the Secretary to reverse the troubling regulations put in place – measures that violate religious liberty and the conscience rights of millions of Americans,” he said. “We’ve been reporting in detail on the problems with the HHS regulations. The mandate requires religious institutions, such as religious schools and hospitals, to include abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception in their insurance policies for employees. A so-called “accommodation” was then issued after a tremendous public outcry occurred opposing the mandate.”
lifenews.com/2012/02/22/70000-americans-tell-obama-to-overturn-the-hhs-mandate/“The fact is that these regulations are not about health care. They represent a dangerous power play by the federal government. It’s the ultimate in government intrusion, representing a significant threat to religious organizations,” he said. “Our legal analysis is clear: this is not only bad policy, it is unconstitutional as well.”
I guess Obama admin has realized this is not going away…
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_Abyssinia
Guest
**Cardinal Dolan Backs Respect for Rights of Conscience Act: Contact Your Legislator Now **
Read more: ncregister.com/daily-news/cardinal-dolan-backs-respect-for-rights-of-conscience-act-contact-your-legi#ixzz1n9GWsF8G
Morning Bell: Religious Liberty Under Attack
blog.heritage.org/2012/02/22/morning-bell-religious-liberty-under-attack/
Time: Catholic Bishops Should Go to Jail If They Want to Protest Obamacare Mandates
Read more: newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2012/02/22/time-catholic-bishops-should-go-jail-if-they-want-protest-obamacare-mand#ixzz1n9IGwO5c
EWTN CEO and Register Publisher Writes Op-Ed on ‘Unconstitutional’ HHS Mandate
Read more: ncregister.com/daily-news/ewtn-ceo-and-register-publisher-writes-op-ed-on-unconstitutional-hhs-mandat/
Thank you President Obama for making Catholics more Catholic…
catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=26987
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND “RELIGIOUS LIBERTY”
catholicleague.org/religious-liberty-and-%E2%80%9Creligious-liberty%E2%80%9D/
Student Group at The Catholic University of America Opposes HHS Mandate
christiannewswire.com/index.php?module=releases&task=view&releaseID=19017
** Rep. Pelosi: Catholic Church ‘Has Not Enforced’ Contraception Ban **
cnsnews.com/news/article/rep-pelosi-catholic-church-has-not-enforced-contraception-ban
Read more: ncregister.com/daily-news/cardinal-dolan-backs-respect-for-rights-of-conscience-act-contact-your-legi#ixzz1n9GWsF8G
Morning Bell: Religious Liberty Under Attack
blog.heritage.org/2012/02/22/morning-bell-religious-liberty-under-attack/
Time: Catholic Bishops Should Go to Jail If They Want to Protest Obamacare Mandates
Read more: newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2012/02/22/time-catholic-bishops-should-go-jail-if-they-want-protest-obamacare-mand#ixzz1n9IGwO5c
EWTN CEO and Register Publisher Writes Op-Ed on ‘Unconstitutional’ HHS Mandate
Read more: ncregister.com/daily-news/ewtn-ceo-and-register-publisher-writes-op-ed-on-unconstitutional-hhs-mandat/
Thank you President Obama for making Catholics more Catholic…
catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=26987
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND “RELIGIOUS LIBERTY”
catholicleague.org/religious-liberty-and-%E2%80%9Creligious-liberty%E2%80%9D/
Student Group at The Catholic University of America Opposes HHS Mandate
christiannewswire.com/index.php?module=releases&task=view&releaseID=19017
** Rep. Pelosi: Catholic Church ‘Has Not Enforced’ Contraception Ban **
cnsnews.com/news/article/rep-pelosi-catholic-church-has-not-enforced-contraception-ban
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Bubba_Switzler
Guest
I am so looking forward to seeing HHS police frog-marching clergy into jail cells like common criminals.Time: Catholic Bishops Should Go to Jail If They Want to Protest Obamacare Mandates
“How do you plead, your excellency?”
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Bubba_Switzler
Guest
Everyone should be reading/viewing everything that Abyssinia posts here but I just wanted to give a shoutout to this one in particular: it is awesome!Priest Gives Obama’s Mandate “The Finger (?)”
USCCB should make this guy a spokesman.
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jwinch2
Guest
https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/i...HKIfe1MYKfD8FGCGNLNZEPaVn2TvOMJmXox5RK_Y7vyEAEveryone should be reading/viewing everything that Abyssinia posts here but I just wanted to give a shoutout to this one in particular: it is awesome!
USCCB should make this guy a spokesman.
Brilliant!
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LisaA
Guest
BHAHAHA leave it to Pelosi to suggest priests should be checking parishioners’ medicine cabinets for ABC! She is such an embarrassment.**Cardinal Dolan Backs Respect for Rights of Conscience Act: Contact Your Legislator Now **
Read more: ncregister.com/daily-news/cardinal-dolan-backs-respect-for-rights-of-conscience-act-contact-your-legi#ixzz1n9GWsF8G
Morning Bell: Religious Liberty Under Attack
blog.heritage.org/2012/02/22/morning-bell-religious-liberty-under-attack/
Time: Catholic Bishops Should Go to Jail If They Want to Protest Obamacare Mandates
Read more: newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2012/02/22/time-catholic-bishops-should-go-jail-if-they-want-protest-obamacare-mand#ixzz1n9IGwO5c
EWTN CEO and Register Publisher Writes Op-Ed on ‘Unconstitutional’ HHS Mandate
Read more: ncregister.com/daily-news/ewtn-ceo-and-register-publisher-writes-op-ed-on-unconstitutional-hhs-mandat/
Thank you President Obama for making Catholics more Catholic…
catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=26987
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND “RELIGIOUS LIBERTY”
catholicleague.org/religious-liberty-and-%E2%80%9Creligious-liberty%E2%80%9D/
Student Group at The Catholic University of America Opposes HHS Mandate
christiannewswire.com/index.php?module=releases&task=view&releaseID=19017
** Rep. Pelosi: Catholic Church ‘Has Not Enforced’ Contraception Ban **
cnsnews.com/news/article/rep-pelosi-catholic-church-has-not-enforced-contraception-ban
BTW my Senator, a Dem of course, spouted off about a small loud group preventing women from getting healthcare! I was so furious I sat down and wrote…WROTE not an email…a two page letter 'splaining to poor old Jeffy that he simply didn’t have a grasp of the real issue. Sent copies to the other Senator, a couple of talk show hosts and our Archbishop. Wonder if I will hear back?
Lisa
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Incomplete
Guest
I hope you do. Keep us posted.BHAHAHA leave it to Pelosi to suggest priests should be checking parishioners’ medicine cabinets for ABC! She is such an embarrassment.
BTW my Senator, a Dem of course, spouted off about a small loud group preventing women from getting healthcare! I was so furious I sat down and wrote…WROTE not an email…a two page letter 'splaining to poor old Jeffy that he simply didn’t have a grasp of the real issue. Sent copies to the other Senator, a couple of talk show hosts and our Archbishop. Wonder if I will hear back?
Lisa
The thing is, every time they quote that 99% or 98% figure, whether or not you agree with it, it is proof that access is NOT a problem.
To say we want the Federal government to enforce…I can’t believe she can write that and think it sounds at all intelligent. Same for the rest of her article.
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Wiljo2050
Guest
This common sense church going ,civic minded,for marriage,think contraceptives is responsible behavior,for minimizing Air ,water pollution,World peace,racial harmony,harmony between christians,muslims,and nations.Education is strength! THIS catholic democrat is willing to compromise with out yeilding principal,but chooses to do so because thats what democracy is!Living together despite differences!Democrats are hoping this will go away… that is not going to happen. There will be no compromise, no accommodation, religious liberty for all! Until Democrats get that - this issue will not go away.
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Bubba_Switzler
Guest
A Catholic who thinks that minimizing human life is a responsible choice?This common sense church going ,civic minded,for marriage,think contraceptives is responsible behavior,for minimizing Air ,water pollution,World peace,racial harmony,harmony between christians,muslims,and nations.Education is strength! THIS catholic democrat is willing to compromise with out yeilding principal,but chooses to do so because thats what democracy is!Living together despite differences!
Thats an interesting education you have there.
Living together despite differences is seldom aided by democracy which tends to trample upon those without sufficient political clout.
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Wiljo2050
Guest
Pelosi aside,most catholic members like my self agree with holding sex before marriage on principal.they also know the realities.That is why most of us think contraceptives are important!They prevent most of the time unwanted pregnacies,teenage pregnacies,abortions.Fornication is not Gods will.recreational sex is not gods will so why would the pregnacy be gods will,when it could be prevented by contraception?contraceptives help from spreading deadly diseases.The Argument it promotes sexual behavoir is week because look what happened to unfortunate people who didnt use contraceptives?You can call me evil! I dont care because I have been called everything under the sun,But I go to church to thank Jesus for my blessings,forgive me my sins,and ask him to help me forgive others!God bless you all!I hope you do. Keep us posted.
The thing is, every time they quote that 99% or 98% figure, whether or not you agree with it, it is proof that access is NOT a problem.
To say we want the Federal government to enforce…I can’t believe she can write that and think it sounds at all intelligent. Same for the rest of her article.
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Incomplete
Guest
Having sex before marriage had increased multi-fold since I was a kid, which was when “the pill” was introduced. When I was a kid, it was still considered not a good thing to do. Within a very, very short time it turned into not being able to date without tons of pressure to go on the pill so we could have sex, and being told not to expect to get married if I wouldn’t have sex first.Pelosi aside,most catholic members like my self agree with holding sex before marriage on principal.they also know the realities.That is why most of us think contraceptives are important!They prevent most of the time unwanted pregnacies,teenage pregnacies,abortions.Fornication is not Gods will.recreational sex is not gods will so why would the pregnacy be gods will,when it could be prevented by contraception?contraceptives help from spreading deadly diseases.The Argument it promotes sexual behavoir is week because look what happened to unfortunate people who didnt use contraceptives?You can call me evil! I dont care because I have been called everything under the sun,But I go to church to thank Jesus for my blessings,forgive me my sins,and ask him to help me forgive others!God bless you all!
Before the pill, the reality was that some were still having sex before marriage, but not nearly, nearly so many as are today. Now a girl is expected to lose her virginity well before leaving high school. It didn’t used to be that way.
Tell me, what does happen to those unfortunate people who don’t use contraceptives? Believe it or not, there are still some kids who aren’t using and are not having sex. There are those who are not using it in their marriage and are welcoming babies, or using NFP to space the babies. “Unfortunate people who didn’t use contraceptives”…what is so unfortunate about them? You say look what happened…what happened? Some had kids, some didn’t. As far as I know, nothing else happened. One of the problems with the contraceptive mentality is that now having kids is considered a misfortune.
As far as abortion, 50% of abortions are from people using contraception. You are much more likely to feel your baby is unwelcome if you are using contraceptives and get pregnant.
But beyond all of that, the real issue on this thread is not the morality of contraceptives. You can start another thread for that. The real issue is that the Church teaches it is a grave evil, and, until Obamacare, the First amendment protected our right to not offer it. Now the Obama administration is trying to force Catholic institutions to provide insurance that covers it “free” to employees.
Contraception is easily available, and cheaper than cable and iPhones. If people still want to have it covered in insurance, they can work somewhere other than the Church. That is the issue here. You mention contraception that helps sexually active people to not get diseases; that would be condoms. You can buy them in a package of 1000 for $100. That’s a dime apiece. If you can’t afford that, don’t have sex, even if you have no moral qualms against it. You can’t afford to get pregnant.
If I thought there was nothing wrong with abortion or birth control, this mandate would still scare me. If our right to practice our religion can be so quickly lost, any right can fall that quickly.
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_Abyssinia
Guest
Democrats are trying to turn the issue from what it is - a religious liberty issue - to a women’s rights issue. This is not about access to contraception, this is about mandating employers who are morally opposed to contraception, sterilization and abotificants to pay for it. This is a violation for the first amendment and the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was signed by Bill Clinton!BHAHAHA leave it to Pelosi to suggest priests should be checking parishioners’ medicine cabinets for ABC! She is such an embarrassment.
BTW my Senator, a Dem of course, spouted off about a small loud group preventing women from getting healthcare! I was so furious I sat down and wrote…WROTE not an email…a two page letter 'splaining to poor old Jeffy that he simply didn’t have a grasp of the real issue. Sent copies to the other Senator, a couple of talk show hosts and our Archbishop. Wonder if I will hear back?
Lisa
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Tigg
Guest
This particular article is too good to go without comment…Thank you President Obama for making Catholics more Catholic…
catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=26987
The most vocal defender of the Church’s teaching on sexuality, particularly contraception, was John Paul II. Two decades before he became Holy Father he wrote Love and Responsibility, a brilliant philosophical defense of the Church’s condemnation of contraception. Among other propositions, he defended the obvious truth that when one is choosing a sexual partner, one is essentially choosing a future parent of one’s children. That, clearly, is a phenomenally affirmative action: “I choose you to be the father/mother of my children.” That means that the partners are choosing each other not just for some momentary sexual pleasure but for a lifetime committed union with each other. (How many women whose contraception has failed, have had to live with the painful reality that the man they had sex with is now the father of their child and now, whether they want it to be true or not, they have a lifetime relationship with him – rarely that of marriage.)
The marriage bed is the Altar of Sacrifice, not for mere pleasure, (although pleasure is the motivator and consequence) but of total self-giving love.Twenty years later, in his work known as the Theology of the Body, John Paul II provided a scriptural defense of the Church’s condemnation of contraception. There he explained how the human body by its very make up shows that we are meant to be in union with another; how we are to make a complete gifts of ourselves to others, and how new life is designed to issue from that loving, self-giving union. Withholding one’s fertility from an act of marital intercourse is to withhold precisely from that act what makes it most affirming and bonding.
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Tigg
Guest
You think contraceptives are responsible behavior to the detriment of your Catholic faith and in opposition to the most basic of Church moral teaching which states we may not prevent or contradict God’s design as Creator.This common sense church going ,civic minded,for marriage,think contraceptives is responsible behavior,for minimizing Air ,water pollution,World peace,racial harmony,harmony between christians,muslims,and nations.Education is strength! THIS catholic democrat is willing to compromise with out yeilding principal,but chooses to do so because thats what democracy is!Living together despite differences!
And I guess to you living together despite our differences means that this Catholic must be complicit in providing for abortions by being forced to pay for them, despite the fact that it violates the most sacred part of my belief and the very thought of it makes me sick!
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