Open Letter to 'Liberal' and 'Nominal' Catholics: It's Your Moment Of Truth

[cleanhippie]

The Freedom From Religion Foundation placed an open letter via a full-page ad in today’s New York Times (page 10, front section) urging liberal and nominal Roman Catholics to “quit” their church over its war against contraception.

http://ffrf.org/news/releases/nyt-ad/

[ForgoTheConsequence]

1. You don't have to quit religion though.

The Episcopal Church is ready to welcome you. Find an Anglo-Catholic parish and you wont even miss a beat liturgy wise.

[cleanhippie]

13. No, you don't have to, but a strong argument can be made why you should.

But hey, whatever floats your boat, just as long as it doesn't sink mine.

[HappyMe]

2. Nope.

Sorry, not becoming an atheist. And even if I wanted to, I'm not paying money to do so.

[cleanhippie]

3. If anyone had suggested you become an atheist, you would have a point.

Knock that strawman down yourself.

And apparently, the actual point flew right over your head.

[LanternWaste]

4. It does get a bit vexing when we have so many different agendas suggesting how we should live our fa

It does get a bit vexing when we have so many different agendas suggesting how we should live our faiths. There's a wee bit of irony in it too-- those very same agendas suggesting we do this or that then act offended when someone of faith suggest that they do this or that.

[jeff47]

12. If your faith dictates you get to choose how I live my life

Then the Catholic Church is serving you well.

If your faith dictates only how you live your life, then the Catholic Church is not serving you well. Why continue to support that institution if you don't think they should control my life?

[LanternWaste]

18. I see little control-- I do however see interest groups lobbying

I see little control-- I do however see interest groups lobbying-- something that is indeed not limited to churches, but to political parties, economies, many philosophies, market interests, etc.

Additionally, I yet still see other interest groups lobbying both me and my faith to serve their agendas-- as churches are so often morally indicted for. Six of one, half a dozen of the other...

And why I may or may not continue to support a church is pretty much between me and my church. I'm often told that when I discuss that particular outside of the church, I'm "forcing my religion down people's throats..."

[jeff47]

20. Then you aren't looking.

I can't get a vasectomy because of the Church. They bought the local hospitals. If I want one, I've got to drive quite a ways to get to a hospital that isn't owned by Catholics.

Why is it OK for the church to decide what medical procedures atheists can get?

And why I may or may not continue to support a church is pretty much between me and my church. I'm often told that when I discuss that particular outside of the church, I'm "forcing my religion down people's throats..."

You aren't. You're paying other people to do so.

[progressoid]

5. Paying money to do so?

I don't pay any money to anyone to not believe.

[eShirl]

7. It is possible to leave the Catholic Church without becoming an athiest.

Only you can decide what's best for you, of course.

[kag]

6. As a recovering Catholic, I approve.

I left the church many years ago. It is difficult to describe the freedom I felt after doing so. No more going to confession because I missed mass one Sunday. No more guilt for...well, everything. No more reciting words that I'd known by heart since I was old enough to speak, but never even thought much about, much less believed.

Still, it was a big step, and undertaken only after about a year of contemplation.

My brother and his wife left the church a few years after I did, during the whole "priests-being-shuffled-from-parish-to-parish-to-hide-the-fact-that-they're-sexual-predators" scandal. My brother told me that they talked about it and decided they could no longer donate their hard-earned cash to such a system, so they stopped going.

Oddly, I still consider myself sort of Christian-like. I don't go to church anywhere, but I like to think that the true teachings of Jesus were actually good rules to live by (at least some of them). So were many of the teachings of Mohammed and Moses, and many other "prophets".

[Mumble]

8. Act like an adult and lead the life you choose

Those religious leaders simply want your money and control over your life. YOU are the best qualified to make your own decisions. Dumb to follow a stranger who doesn't know you or the circumstances in your life.

[Arugula Latte]

9. Meanwhile, great news from Britain. Here's hoping we follow suit:

Britain won't be Christian nation by 2030:

http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5896555

[WilliamPitt]

10. Catholic Bishops To Congress: Don’t Cut Aid To Poor Or Put Defense Behind A Firewall

Catholic Bishops To Congress: Don’t Cut Aid To Poor Or Put Defense Behind A Firewall
ThinkProgress

At a time when conservatives are positioning themselves as defenders of the Catholic Church on religious liberties and contraception, they seem to be far off from the Church’s teachings on other public policy issues.

While many conservatives belittle and mock anyone who takes assistance from the government, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to lawmakers this week urging them not to cut funding for social safety net programs that help the poor, many of which have been targeted by Republican lawmakers in their quest to implement austerity to reduce the budget deficit.

“We fear the pressure to cut vital programs that protect the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable will increase,” wrote Bishops Stephen Blaire and Richard Pates, the Chairmen of the Committee on Domestic Justice and the Committee on International Justice, respectively.

Specifically, they singled out spending on health care, Pell Grants, affordable housing — which they called “essential for human dignity” — and food stamps. Just today, Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) panel on government oversight held a hearing on food stamp fraud that critics saw as pretense to gin up sentiment in favor of making cuts to the program. And as many lawmakers are trying to undo the defense cuts contained in the “sequestration” triggered by last summer’s debt ceiling deal, the bishops suggested that defense should not be spared while social programs get cut.

The rest: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/09/441106/catholic-bishops-letter-poor/

[jeff47]

11. Birth control is a social safety net program.

There's an awful lot of social safety net programs they not only support cutting, but demand be cut.

This letter seems like a desperate attempt to start saving face after the birth control stupidity blew up on them.

[cleanhippie]

14. Bingo!

I think you've got it.

[WilliamPitt]

16. The Church has been involved in important social justice work

for generations.

This isn't just a Band-Aid.

[cleanhippie]

17. It has also been involved in hiding child-rapists and promoting misogyny.

Undoing any good it does with the poor and oppressed.

[jeff47]

21. The band-aid aspect is the timing.

It's not clear at all why they'd send this letter now if not to try and get positive coverage after the birth control fiasco.

Congress isn't voting on a budget. There are no major "cut social services" bills being debated at the moment. It's long after the "debt deal" was negotiated.

[bart95]

15. Ag secretary Earl Butz said it best 'He no playa the game, he no maka the rules' nt

[benld74]

19. ALL they need do is TAKE THE POLITICS outta the CHURCH. P-E-R-I-O-D!

[mmonk]

22. I've chosen a different path.

I quit going to Church during the 2004 presidential race. I was supporting John Kerry whom the bishops wanted to withhold communion from. At the same time, a magazine from the Knights of Columbus I recieve (Columbia) had exerpts from "The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life" by Romesh Ponnuru.

What I decided to do instead was join in volunteering at Catholic Parish Outreach serving the poor. I decided to do something for those in need. I chose to do something positive for others and matter that way if my life is going to matter at all.