Healing the sick... if They feel we are deserving

In watching the Healthcare reform debate over the past few months and recently reading the New York Times (NYT) article, Rep. Kennedy and Bishop in Bitter Rift on Abortion, I once again feel repulsed by the religious fervor in our country.

As reported by the NYT, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy is absolutely correct when he states ‘“in an interview with Cybercast News Service on Oct. 21, that he.… could not understand how the Catholic Church could be against the biggest social justice issue of our time.”’ Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, speaking on behalf of the U.S. Catholic Bishops and the Vatican, took great offense to Mr. Kennedy’s statement and began a manhunt on his reputation as a good Catholic, even going so far as to threaten him, with what sounds like, excommunication – stating that Mr. Kennedy is '“false advertising”' and because of his support of this legislation '“...shouldn’t receive holy communion”'. Tobin further stated on a Providence radio station that '“If you freely choose to be a Catholic, it means you believe certain things, you do certain things", and “If you cannot do all that in [good] conscience, then you should perhaps feel free to go somewhere else.”' This all stems from the sneaky exclusionary language placed on abortion within the new healthcare legislation bill by the conservative-right just hours before voting on the measure in the House of Representatives.

I can’t say that I disagree with the Bishop’s statement that the Church upholds certain beliefs and its members are expected to abide by them – one of them for Catholics is being against abortion. However, this really isn’t the issue at hand, the issue is providing affordable, accessible healthcare for all citizens of the United States – YES, at a minimum, the same procedural care people get from insurance carriers today, but improved to include every citizen, without exclusions for pre-existing conditions (or abortions)! And it was down right criminal of the U.S. Catholics Bishops and its other religious extremist cronies to weasel in on legislation and demand its paid Representatives amended language to the bill so that abortions are excluded to its future users, or told vote “no” on its election. Once again, the Religious Right is trying to control the legislative branch, and through this action, it’s telling the American people and government, not just its followers, that they can’t have a procedure that is medically and federally approved. May I suggest, Your Most Extremist Reverend, that you are free to go elsewhere if you don’t like the basic tenant of separation of Church and State.

According to the U.S. Catholic Bishops, being a good Catholic constitutes, possibly denying healthcare to a nation of people in need, arm-twisting and paying-off congressmen, manipulating parishioners from a pulpit, and of course, slandering those who go against you. Why is it that the believers are always more virtuous than those who guide them?

Representative Kennedy, thank you for standing up for the people that you represent, and, if indeed your religious beliefs are different from those of the majority of your constituents for whom you speak, then you have been even stronger in your convections as a public representative and in the betterment of healthcare in this nation. You have wisely separated Catholic tenants from public policy, and it’s unfortunate that your church can’t understand its place in the world or the duty you have promised to uphold.

Lest we be brainwashed to forget that policy is created by Congress, not the churches, stand up and support congressmen like Representative Kennedy.