Why the bishop is wrong
The Most Rev. Robert N. Lynch is my shepherd. But I am no sheep.
His Sunday letter to area Catholics became a bully's pulpit to inflame Catholics against President Barack Obama and health care reform. The princes of the church have chosen to wage this public crusade during a presidential election year.
As a Catholic, a father of three daughters, and a citizen who works on behalf of First Amendment values, I am offended and raise my voice in opposition.
The bishops' problem began in 1968 when Pope Paul VI (against the advice of a many theologians, especially in Europe and the United States) wrote his own letter to the faithful condemning the use of artificial means of birth control, even for married couples with many children.
The matter took me into the confessional some 30 years ago. A wise and compassionate priest asked me, "How many children do you and Karen have?" I answered three. "You've done enough," he said. "Don't give it another thought."
Most Catholics have ignored this ban on birth control over the last three decades, their consciences telling them that women need not confine their roles in life to the making of babies. They act on the simple belief that a condom can prevent the conception of a child who might otherwise be aborted, and that it can protect couples from the transmission of deadly disease.
I would be willing to bet the bishop (or Mitt Romney) $10,000 that most of the Catholic priests in this diocese, if they were able to speak freely, would express the opinion that taking the pill or using a condom is not an immoral act, and, in certain contexts is the right thing to do.
But now the church hierarchy has decided to use the full weight of its moral authority to lobby against that part of the president's health care reform that "would require some religious institutions to offer their employees contraceptive and family planning services as part of their health insurance."
Bishop Lynch argues, "A huge piece of the wall of separation between church and state has been breached and if allowed to stand, one has to wonder what the government might require next. Mandatory abortion coverage sometime in the future should not be discounted by anyone if we allow this regulatory implementation to go unchallenged.
Pinellas County And Health Insurance - News
By Roy Peter Clark, special to the Times His Sunday letter to area Catholics became a bully's pulpit to inflame Catholics against President Barack Obama and health care reform. The princes of the church have chosen to wage this public crusade during a
By MARK SCHANTZ | The People worried about paying for a lifesaving ambulance ride to a hospital in Pinellas County can join a membership plan that will help reduce the cost. The Sunstar Paramedics Firstcare membership plan limits
Moved to Pinellas County in 1979 and graduated from Seminole High School in 1982 … Decorated US Army veteran and Gulf War veteran … nominated for the Bronze Star during the first Gulf War … started with the city of Largo in 1989 as a police
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He volunteered countless hours at local charities, and not before long, established Pack-A-Sack 4 Kids, which provides approximately 500-600 children in Pasco, Pinellas and Manatee Counties with healthy and nutritious food each school year.
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