Catholics, Conscience and Health Insurance

This blogger recently posted on the controversial decision by the Obama administration to require all employers to pay for health insurance that covers birth control.

Since this blogger clearly understands the Catholic Church's teaching on the matter (I was a devoted Catholic much of my life), this blogger is not surprised about the Church's viscerally negative response.

This post looks at the issue in terms of the historical background of how the Catholic Church has formulated this dogma and a way the Church may wriggle out of the dilemma it has created.  This blogger find the following statement at the end of the post significant:
---truth emerges over time; that not everything is understood fully all at once; that light is given only as we are ready to see. This happened with usury, with slavery, with the rights of women. The human race continues to learn; so should the church. It is not infallible.
Hello, does anyone else see what is going on here?  The Catholic Church has pinned itself in a corner through dogmatically declaring itself infallible on matters of faith and morals.  Reason voids the results of this bogus declaration and the Catholic Church has a problem. 

Now, is there any other way the Catholic Church may save face and still comply with anti-discrimination laws?  How about allowing the Catholic Church to give up ownership of health care facilities and any other enterprise that serves the general public? *Then, let them have a Conscientious Objection exemption for employees of the Church proper. Do I see this happening? Not really. But, it is one way of handling it.

This is no different than what was going on prior to the 1960's ---- individuals and organizations not renting to or serving racial minorities, gays, etc.  If you run a public service or sell public products, you must comply with non-discrimination laws.  If you wish to discriminate based on a religious dogma, then divest from the public service and/or product provision.  This Blogger thought the Catholic Church would learn from its experiences as an adoption agency.  Several communities and Catholic adoption agencies severed ties over adoptions by gay couples.

To summarize, the Catholic Church, and all other religions, need to accept reality, the US Constitution and the laws of the USA.  Does this blogger think it will happen?  Not readily, but proclaiming the truth is what this blog is about.

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* This is actually within the law presently, but the Catholic Church wants the exemption to include its social service employees.

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