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| Bishop Daniel Jenky Peoria, IL. |
The Peoria, IL. Diocean Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, Bishop Daniel Jenky, took the time to rally the community at the annual Call to Catholic Men of Faith march last Saturday April 14th. It seems that Bishop Jenky has joined a host of other even more prominently known Catholic leaders, such as Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, in condemning the Obama administration over the issue of mandatory contraception coverage within the health care law.
It really is interesting because the administration courted Catholics in particular, prior to the election, even providing reassurance that it wouldn't infringe upon religious liberty and freedoms only to do a complete 180 on the issue currently.
Among other statements, he encouraged fellow Catholics by stating the following:
Towards governments:
"The Church will survive the entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence of our Illinois state government, and even the calculated disdain of the President of the United States, his appointed bureaucrats in HHS, and of the current majority of the federal Senate."Toward fellow Catholics who don't live out their Catholic faith:
"May God have mercy on the souls of those politicians who pretend to be Catholic in church, but in their public lives, rather like Judas Iscariot, betray Jesus Christ by how they vote and how they willingly cooperate with intrinsic evil."
In comparison and towards President Obama and his policies:
"In the late 19th century, Bismark waged his “Kultur Kamp,” a Culture War, against the Roman Catholic Church, closing down every Catholic school and hospital, convent and monastery in Imperial Germany."
"Clemenceau, nicknamed “the priest eater,” tried the same thing in France in the first decade of the 20th Century.
Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.
In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path....
...This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman Centers, all our public ministries -- only excepting our church buildings – could easily be shut down. Because no Catholic institution, under any circumstance, can ever cooperate with the instrinsic evil of killing innocent human life in the womb.
No Catholic ministry – and yes, Mr. President, for Catholics our schools and hospitals are ministries – can remain faithful to the Lordship of the Risen Christ and to his glorious Gospel of Life if they are forced to pay for abortions."Full speech is available at The Catholic Post.
Is This Over The Top?
Yes it is! President Obama outlined his intentions clearly when he was candidate Obama. This is what he said as early as 2006:
- ...and I think it's time that we join a serious debate about how to reconcile faith with our modern, pluralistic democracy."..."Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do. But in a pluralistic democracy, we have no choice. Politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of common aims based on a common reality." ~ Senator Barack Obama "A Call To Renewal" Washington, DC. 6/28/2006
Pluralism trumps issues of faith. Faith values are negotiable according to this President.
Anyone that has read this blog knows that I believe in discussing issues and holding our President accountable. I believe that this nation is certainly going through a moral crisis and a spiritual crisis as well. We all know our President's agenda is very liberal and is supported by modern emotional appeals to issues and subjective moral values. However, as evidenced, this President stated what he believed clearly while he was campaigning.
- "And within our vast democracy, this doubt should remind us even as we cling to our faith to persuade through reason, through an appeal, whenever we can, touniversal rather than parochial principles, and most of all through an abiding example of good works and charity and kindness and service that moves hearts and minds." ~ President Barack Obama 5/17/2009
Remember, at the same event, our fellow Catholic brethren were so enamored with him, that they didn't pay attention to what he said:
- "So let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions, let's reduce unintended pregnancies. (Applause.) Let's make adoption more available. (Applause.) Let's provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term. (Applause.) Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women." Those are things we can do. (Applause.)"
Why criticize President Obama for what he told you plainly that he believed?
I don't know what funk the Catholic church and the church in general was in 4 years ago, but I hope we're awake now...But let me warn of this:
When we compare President Obama and his policies, which have proliferated in America for years prior to his Presidency, to murders like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, I believe we have gone off the long end of a very short cliff. We have failed to view the reality of what we were facing almost 4 years ago and are facing now and are misdirected in blaming him for following a path he said he was going to follow. I reject the Glen Beck(ian) like cartoonish assertions and characterizations that a war is eminent in America under President Obama. Remember, what happened to Beck's TV program? He called names too:
"After Beck called President Barack Obama a racist, ColorofChange.org urged consumers to boycott Beck’s advertisers, ultimately resulting in more than 400 Fox advertisers saying they didn’t want their commercials on Beck’s show, according to Forbes. That cost Fox News owner News Corp. a cool $600,000 a week."
I've outlined this further in my article, "Hate That Only Loves Itself".
Waiting For Another Savior
One thing is for sure...ROMNEY can't fix a thing...I believe we will have more homeless people and more folk out of a job under a Romney Presidency than a little bit. He has promised nothing but cuts. I believe his words too! In addition remember that when Romney was Governor in the state of Massachusetts, they not only ratified state run healthcare (Romneycare) but they also were the FIRST state of the union to legalize gay marriage!!! He's done more for liberal America than Obama has been able to do even as President! So if that's your hope, we're further behind the 8 ball and more than likely in equally as deep trouble.
Catholics, Pentecostals, Methodists, Baptist etc, should have had a conscience 4 years ago and listened to candidate Obama outline his plan. We can't make a person do more than they intend and when political pressure is hot, as it is with any Presidency, it takes a person with serious convictions to not cower under the pressure.
All I can say is don't hate now. We've come too far and have to much to do. Jesus is coming whether President Obama is President or not. Will we be ready?
Blessed!
The Roman Catholic Church is not the only faith tradition entitled to freedom of religion in the United States. Freedom of religion in our constitution protects our faith traditions from government repression, but the constitution also protects each of us from the imposition of faith traditions not our own. The Roman Catholic Church, it would appear will only be satisfied when Roman Catholicism is the official state religion of the United States.
ReplyDeleteWithin the confines of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholics can do as they wish, but I expect all faith traditions, including Catholics, to refrain from imposing their doctrine on me through force of civil and criminal law. I expect Roman Catholics to turn the sexual abusers in their midst over to legal authorities rather than protecting them on the misguided and false claim that the Roman Catholic Church is not bound by civil or criminal laws.
For our country to survive, every faith organization must: "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's"
If the Roman Catholic Church (or any faith organization) cannot abide having their taxpayer-subsidized businesses such as hospitals and adoption agencies regulated by the government, there are plenty of opportunities for good works which can be financed solely through donations to the church coffers and not my tax dollars.
In my faith tradition, that about which Bishop Jenky and some in the Roman Catholic Church are so agitated is not an issue. However, I am agitated about the denial of an important healthcare tool to women - contraceptives - which have many important health benefits for women that have nothing to do with pregnancy prevention. I am agitated about the Roman Catholic Church teaming up with Mormons to deny LGBT Americans equal rights, respect, and dignity.
I am also agitated with President Obama for not bringing an end to the war in Afghanistan.
At this point in time, the fact that six Supreme Court Justices are Roman Catholic has been a non-issue, but it will become an issue if our Supreme Court starts making rulings based on religious doctrine instead of the U. S. Constitution.
Let's hope that if the Thomas More Society defense of Bishop Jenky against the recently filed IRS complaint makes it to the Supreme Court, that the justices will defy the Roman Catholic Church's threats of ex-communication and rule based on the U. S. Constitution, applicable law, and precedent.
In protest of Bishop Jenky's comparison of our president to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, the Roman Catholic Church's War on the separation of church and state, and the Roman Catholic Church's work to deny some persons equal rights and dignity, I created this parody website:
Bishop Daniel "Bear" Jenky
Tyler Bishop
Dallas, Texas
Tyler,
DeleteThanks for commenting, but there are a few things that simply are not the argument in this case. First, noone is arguing saying that women don't have a right to contraceptives...the argument is that taxpayers should not be paying for their right to do so in situations where there is no compelling medical reason to do so. That is more than reasonable and should be understood. It is the extremists that have tried to load the argument with unwarranted, emotional baggage making the claim that people want women hurt or to deny them rights. That's simply an appeal to emotion and one not based on fact.
Secondly LGBT Americans have all the rights, personal freedoms and liberties that every other American enjoys...why should they be treated preferentially because they have homosexual sex? What makes homosexual sex a right? There is no compelling reason for such and if you'd like to set forth one, I'd love to hear it. However, before you do, you should read some of the many posts I've done on the subject.
In agreement, I also protest the comparison with President Obama to Hitler, Stalin or any of the other political figures he named. My protest, however, is based on the fact that President Obama has always been pretty clear about what he believed in this regard. Either we don't believe what people say, or try to create something that isn't there. There were some promises made, but I for one take Obama at his word for what he means for himself.
Anyway, thanks for stopping.