One thing we as Catholics can be proud of is that many of the leading people fighting against the Birth Control mandate have also spoke out against infringing religious freedom. That is the Bishops, the Becket Society ( which is not Catholic) , Robert George, and many others.
One of those people is Prof Rob Vischer. See Anti-Sharia Law 2.0
In the social media there has been a disturbing uptick of progressive that call the Bishop's concerns Sharia law. Its basically a code word used sadly by many on the right to infringe on Muslim Religion freedom.
I have watched too see if if any Liberal respected pundits would start using it. Today we see from Matt Yglesias :
Newfound GOP enthusiasm for religious exemptions from generally applicable laws seems dangerously close to sharia.
Now looking at this quote he is sort of pointing out to the GOP hey Glad you like religious Freedom Now!! I suppose .
Progressive first need to be careful here. I have seen the peanut gallery of liberal on social media throw out "Sharia Law" as a cheap political point.
More importantlyin Ylesias tweet there is an opportunity for Progressives to look in the mirror here.
As Pro Visher noted in the above line
If we keep insisting that Sharia is the enemy of our legal system, Christians are treading on very thin ice. Americans are free to enter into contracts that reflect their own commitments to a host of causes, whether it's PETA, or the PTA, or NARAL. Religious believers should not be precluded from doing the same. I hope Catholics continue to speak out against clearly unjust laws like Oklahoma's, as well as the more subtle but wholly unnecessary versions cropping up around the country. Even if these versions don't actually change the way courts operate, their passage still sends a very troubling message to our Muslim friends and neighbors
Amen to that. I am assaulted each day by Liberals that have a STRONG DISLIKE toward the Church and her teachings. In fact some seem to see the mandate as a way of limiting Catholic influence. How is this different from what some on the right are doing as to Muslims?
Well I can't see much of a difference. I warn progressives tread carefully here. More important to progressives that view themselves champions of Muslim tolerance they should start wondering what precedent would be set by this Birth Control Mandate for the future.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Progressives Calling Bishops Views on Birth Control Sharia Law ?
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You can practice your religion as long as it does not cross certain lines, violating the law is one of them. Freedom of religion is not absolute, let's take a look at a 'boundary' example, something so obvious that nobody would disagree. What if your religion required death for a trivial offense like using gods name in vain? Obviously we would not allow someone's to be murdered even if it was an established part of one's religion. The moment religion starts to infringe on the rights of society at large by effectively rendering useless the laws meant to protect society then religion has gone too far. Availability of contraception is exactly such a case. Additionally, this is merely an interpretation of the bible by a bunch of fallible men, the most humane teaching of the church would be that Catholics MUST use contraception unless they intent to have a child. That would eliminate a lot of poverty and suffering in the world.
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