I don’t have a moral duty to not pay for my insurance coverage. I’ve always had these benefits included in my benefits package and I have no duty to drop my insurance. The Bishops are not calling people to drop their insurance.
For church employees it might come to this point. I don’t think the church is going to comply with this directive by HHS. I think they’re probably going drop the insurance coverage on church employees and pay the fine to the government instead. That’s how it’s sounding right now, at least, as long as nothing changes before August 1st of this year. (I think that’s the date.)
Well, if the mandate does stick, and no one is sure it will, then Catholic employers will have just as much “remote cooperation” as employees who already have that coverage. There’s a difference between volunteering to offer the coverage, and being forced to by a mandate. The culpability is on the shoulders of those who made the mandate, not the employers. I certainly don’t feel any culpability with it being in my package. I simply don’t use those benefits.
Wow you have an interesting perspective. Do you really think this is only about you and your particular insurance policy? I don’t know if you simply do not want to address the real issue or just have a very introspective approach to all things in life.
So places like hospitals are not going to be covering their employees with healthcare?
I posted a link addressing this point of view. And Catholic theologians disagree.
Perhaps, yes. And Catholic social service agencies and diocesan and parish employees, also.
Rence, are you basically saying Catholic employees like yourself who are already covered now with these benefits don’t have a choice of what is in their benefit pkgs? So it would be no different for Catholic employers as it is for Catholic employees now?
That’s what the Health and Human Services department of the Federal Government is trying to do, yes.
No, generally people don’t have a choice in exactly what coverage they will get. Sometimes they can choose a lesser costly one, or can choose between an HMO and a PPO, etc. But ABCs were always covered in all of my packages wherever I worked, as well as for all of my fellow employees, wherever I worked, even at a Catholic hospital. So, if Catholic employers are mandated to cover ABCs I don’t see how it’s different. We pay taxes on things that are not compatible with our faith, and that’s very remote cooperation, and we are not encouraged to not pay taxes. So again, I don’t see how this would be any different. It’s different when you volunteer than when it’s mandated.
Why parish employees if the parish hires mostly Catholics and can get an exemption?
I think that will be response if this is not reversed. Obama is a political animal and he will weigh the potential consequences of backing down vis a vis sticking to his story. In the long run I think there will be a REAL religious exemption or Congress will enact legislation to force his hand. Would he veto the bill? I doubt it. I think this like the Keystone Pipeline and other decisions made by Obama are designed so he can look like the champion of his base (abortionists, environmentalists and socialists) but those mean old guys in Congress or the mean old courts won’t let him “force his issues” as he said on Mat Lauer.
Rence, we’re not talking about your insurance coverage where you work. We’re talking about the coverage that the Catholic Church provides for its employees.
Because sometimes they serve populations that aren’t Catholic. And not all Catholic school teachers are Catholic. All Catholic school students aren’t Catholic either. I used to work in a Catholic school and I know this first hand.
They must employ ONLY Catholics and SERVE only Catholics to get the exemption. Jesus and his Disciples would not qualify for this exemption!
I don’t see parishes not qualifying for the exemption. They usually only hire Catholics and they serve specifically Catholics, unlike hospitals and schools that really serve all.
I am speaking in general. Most people don’t have a choice as to their benefits package aside from choosing between two or three of different cost, maybe between a PPO, HMO and POS. And Matt was asking about Catholic employees in general.
That’s not uniformly true. We hire musicians on occasion that aren’t Catholic. And if they were to play for non-Catholics, even non-Catholics sitting in Mass or at a retreat, they could be in trouble if the government wanted to be nasty, and they’re being nasty.
