As "This Week in God" settles in on Saturday mornings, the God Machine has plenty to offer again this week.
First up is a story about how the culture war is beginning to shape the Roman Catholic Church's charitable support in ways the social-service community never expected (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).
The Catholic Campaign, which doles out $8 million annually to about 250 groups nationwide, has been under increasing pressure from conservative Catholic groups to ensure that it is not unwittingly aiding organizations that run afoul of church positions on issues like birth control and marriage. While the amount lost is often relatively small, it can account for a significant chunk of a group's budget. And it is not happening in a vacuum, coming at a time when other nonprofit organizations, like Planned Parenthood, also find themselves under fire from social conservatives trying to choke off their financing.
Since 2010, nine groups from across the country have lost financing from the campaign because of conflicts with Catholic principles, according to [Ralph McCloud, director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, an arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops devoted to ending poverty.]
This is no small shift. The New York Times noted a small nonprofit organization in rural southwestern Colorado called Companeros, for example, which received money from the church "to help poor Hispanic immigrants with basic needs including access to health care and guidance on local laws."
Companeros, however, found itself cut off from aid this year -- it had partnered with a local coalition that had joined forces with an LGBT-rights group, which The Catholic Campaign said was unacceptable. The church wanted to help poor Hispanic immigrants, but not if it meant aiding a group that also supported a gay advocacy coalition. The same thing happened to a group that helps the homeless in Maine, among others.
What does alleviating poverty have to do with LGBT rights? Not much, but The Catholic Campaign now appears eager to create funding litmus tests: adopt the church's line on other culture-war issues, even if a non-profit group's work has nothing to do with those culture-war issues, or lose funding.
As McCloud put it, "We can't in any way have groups who are collaborating with other groups whose main focus is objectionable or contrary to Catholic teachings."
Also from the God Machine this week, likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Monday delivered these remarks in Wisconsin, in which the former governor, while condemning President Obama, complained, "[T]here is a desire to establish a religion in America called secularism."
Two days later, President Obama spoke at length about his faith at an Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House, and this morning, used his weekly address to argue, "Christ's triumph over death holds special meaning for Christians. But all of us, no matter how or whether we believe, can identify with elements of His story. The triumph of hope over despair. Of faith over doubt. The notion that there is something out there that is bigger than ourselves. These beliefs help unite Americans of all faiths and backgrounds. They shape our values and guide our work. They put our lives in perspective."
Obama didn't sound eager to establish secularism as America's religion.
Leave a Comment:
I must have missed that week in Sunday School where Jesus asked about people's sexual orientation before giving them the bread and fishes thing.
At the very time in history where many in the world are afraid because of the economy, the church is not offering comfort for the 'prodigal sons and daughters' Rather they are offering more pain and severity. I would think 15,000,000 children already starving to death each year for lack of or lack of permission for birth control would be enough death for anyone. If you can not see where your congregations have gone, follow the newly chastised out the door. You looked the other way while your flock used birth control, now the accepted norm changes again on a whim by a bunch of old men who have never raised a child of their own.
Did I miss something? Are women going to be forced to use contraception against their will, against their religion? I just don't remember seeing anything like that in Obamacare. I thought we, the public, were being protected against not being able to have a choice about our personal health care needs.
You haven't missed anything. I'd say that instead you've nailed the central weakness in the claim that the contraception mandate is a violation of religious liberty: that no one is being coerced into doing anything that violates their conscience.
The RC Church as an institution is not in favor of contraception. It teaches that it should not be used. The contraception mandate is only that health insurance plans cover contraception, ensuring that women have access to whatever type of contraception they need to use, should they wish to use any at all. The mandate does not stop clergy from railing against the alleged evils of contraception. They still have that option.
So, what Catholic clergy are really claiming is that their right to preach against contraception is infringed upon if women have unrestricted access to contraception, and that the RC Church's rights as an institution depend upon limiting the rights of women as individuals. That is a thoroughly asinine conception of how rights work (pardon my Klatchian).
Johnloricon
Obama wants secularism as our religion.
Actually John secularism isn’t a religion. Secularism is a state of government that racognizes no religion so that it may and does dedefend them all.
Saddam Hussein was a butcher who murdered several hundred thousand of his own countrymen. Nobody knows for sure. That's why we went to war.
Except for the fact we did not go to war for your fictional reason. If that was so than we would be at war in Syria today. It’s just such twisting of history that messes up reality.
Wars: we go to wars when we have treaties with countries to uphold, DUH. Then there’s wars because we are attacked. Is it possible you John are just too young to know anything beyond the last four years. I’ll remind you of Pearl Harbor??
Obama spearheaded the effort to borrow from the Chinese
It also seems you do not know we have been 'borrowing' money from China and Japan for decades.
It just goes on and on:
We went to war with Germany 3 days after we declared war on Japan. Get it, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Japan was an ally of Germany, Roosevelt had been trying to go to war with Germany for some time, WE the people of USA would not let him, until of course we were attacked.
And as a reminder of just how noble we always act:
When Congress was asked to take 20,000 Jewish children into our country for their survival, we answered no, seemed our policy wouldn't allow children to be separated from their parents. Not positive but I think we were the only country to deny this humanitarian request.
Obama said what he should say, and as much as he should say and no more, as the political leader of a diverse people. Enough said.
As for the Catholic Church and the bishops and the membership: any progressive Catholics who have kept pretending that they can modify the Church by "burrowing from within" need to find another outlet for their checkbooks.
yes...I went to a funeral the other day at the Catholic Church where I used to belong and the priest went out of his way to talk to me. He asked why I left and I told him. I can no longer belong to a denomination that doesn't teach Jesus' word but dictates THEIR word. He totally got it and said that was indeed a problem from the Bishops on up.
I remember the sisters at my parochial school tell me I should not be friends with Protestants because they did not believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church. So much for Christianity. I use the same test for religion as I do for raw meat - if it smells bad, it probably is.
Great discussion. See you in the morning.
So, now the Catholic Church is/will withhold money from organization A because org. A is friends with and helps org. B that is friends with and helps org. C, right? Even though this means some poor Catholics will go hungry or lack other help just because they are getting food from org. A, right? Is this Christian? To be punished because a friend of a friend of a friend does something the money people don't like is un-American and un-Christian.
What is next? Delve into your Facebook page to find out that your son has a friend, who has a sister, who has a son, who has a friend that is gay. So now, unless you denounce and disown your son the money men in the Catholic Church will cut you off from the Church's charity. If they will do this to organizations why wouldn't they do it to individuals.?
Even more reason for Americans to not rely on churches to take care of the poor. We need to keep our secular safety net.
The TV-Movie Star Religious fanatics are what ruined the little bit of God that we had in our government. Everything was fine no big, deal until these greasy palmed slime balls started ranting and raving about things and preaching to all of us whether we wanted them to or not. Meanwhile they're having pure gold faucets installed in every 6 or 7 bathrooms of their many homes. This is not prosperity this is greed. They have twisted the whole meaning behind the Bible to bring attention to themselves and make money off of our elderly in this country. They worship in a den of robbers. Spirituality is a very private and personal journey that needs no introduction. Especially by the likes of these holy rollers. Stop using Americans for your personal gain. Romneys' statements are a whole contradiction to his religion. He says that we want to take God out of our Country. Quite the contrary we want to keep God safe in our hearts away from the money grubbing GOP and their determination in this manner to use God for their personal gain. Romney beleives in several Gods and he believes that he will someday become a God. So I don't know why he's even talking about religion. Let's keep God safe and take him out of our Government.
This issue of the Mormon religion does disturb me for some basic reasons. The first is where a man was allowed to have more than one wife. Which straight out removes any rights, choices and freedoms that a woman may have all under the disguise that a man knows better. That idea of all men knowing better than women can too easily be disproved and shown to be false just by seeing these ideas of extremes that some men have in mind. The other issue is how the Mormon religion has encouraged racism. Also, to allow such a narrow minded men’s view only is nothing but destructive and will immensely put people into despair. These views are extreme and do not reasonably solve any problems that exist. Which even though they say they have changed to not do this anymore is not true. Since there is still people who bare these thoughts and ideas that people of different colored skin should remain separate. For myself, I know too well this to be true that there is too many with these ridiculous ideas and nonsense that keep people in plight due to racism beyond just the Mormon religion. It is far more better that people realize that we are really all the same and come together to put forward good and better ideas to solve our problems by all the people.
For the Catholic Church to be claiming to want to end poverty, they sure are doing things to increase poverty. The removal of women’s rights, choices and freedoms where a woman would not even be able to manage her own life let a lone her family. And the removal of contributions to organizations, because these organizations seek and realize how really we are all the same people. This narrow minded men’s only view cannot stand, since they cannot even truly understand the plight or despair of people and how to adequately implement good and better solutions that truly do help people.
NY Times revelation of deep & personal friendship ties between Mitt Romney & Benjamin Netanyahu should be a warning sign for Americans.
This could pose a serious threat to our national & geo-political interests. Voters be wary.
The Mormon multi-wife plan was to semi-legitimize making as many little Mormons as quickly as possible. The Catholic church had centuries of baby making and continue to deny birth control as a new little Catholic, assembly line. It benefits only their church, not the individual, nor the world. They do not care about color, only if the sperm will add to membership.
Well, back in the day when the LDS church defended polygamy, one of their lines of defense was that polygamous families produced more children. (Because what we really need in this word are more-intense breeders.) This defense focused on the men, as if only men count, although it is true that men with plural wives had more offspring than men with only one wife. However, back in the 1950s Stanley S. Ivins studied the matter from the proper angle, that of the women, and found that plural wives on average had fewer children than single wives. And that is a far more significant thing. LDS church leaders advocated polygamy partly on the basis of more rapidly expanding the population of Utah, but actually inhibited population growth slightly instead.
(Stanley S. Ivins, "Notes on Mormon Polygamy," originally published in Western Humanities Review, Summer 1956; and more recently in The New Mormon History, 1992, edited by D. Michael Quinn.)
Why is gawd always a "him"? Doesn't this gender identity seem the least bit suspicious? He, him, his seams rather "human" in origin, doesn't it?
You know, like my spelling!
I like to imagine the look on the faces of the patriarchs of misogyny when they find that God is a woman. Will they say 'forgive me little missy, I misspoke'?
NO, no, no, God is married to Mother Nature or You're right God may be married to Father Nature. One day we'll find out. Believe me they have the perfect marriage . Now, that I think about it, they could both be male or female. Black or white,hispanic or otherwise We don't know so, we better be prepared and learn to love everybody.
Just saw this and had to share. It is soooo funny, especially near the end:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BagYRDEFvy0&feature=player_embedded
The Catholic Church should learn from the populous issues that the republicans are facing because of radical conservative views being shoved on people's faces. Clearly not a mainstream view and seeing how Catholics make such a great portion of those mainstream citizens... it is just not something you want to fiddle with.
My, my, my. I was just watching a tape of today's "Meet the Press" with David Gregory. The topic was "The Role of Religion in the American Political Landscape."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46987564#46987564
I quote Bishop Wm. Lori, Archbishop Designate of Baltimore answering a question about insurance funding contracteption: " What we've seen, the Bishops of the Untied States have seen, is an erosion of religious liberty".
Then it gets worse: " First of all, we have the government imposing its definition on what religion and religious organizations are to be and it is an inward looking definition. If you are only serving your own, hiring your own, inculcating your own doctrine, then you're exempt. The minute you serve the common good, which is what all our organizations do, then you're not exempt. Then you're subject to having to provide funds and/or facilitate services which are contrary to the church teaching."
And it goes downhill from there. When a BISHOP of the Catholic Church can get on television and LIE with impunity, there really is no hope for that church's hierarchy!!! I wonder, do ANY of them remember the Ninth Commandment???
Raul Laborador, Congressman from Idaho, also told a whopper (there was no contraception issue until George Stephanopoulis brought it up) but he's a Republican so it's OK.
Everyone knows "religious liberty" means liberty to push your religion on others.
I am a senior trying to figure out why, when I read about Senator Grassly's (sp) comment calling our President (not Mr.) stupid I tried to comment on the comment page. All had beed stopped. Please check out and let me know as I think Republicans are evil.
PRAY TELL... Where Does It Say, A Person or Organization Can NOT Decide What Person or Organization to DONATE Money To.??
Where Does It Say, NO Qualifications May Be Attached.??
Not Being a Catholic, or Member of Any Political Party, I Find It Idiotic for "Left' & "Right" to Stick Their Noses Into Business of Others to Justify Their Politics....
Ed Fazio
Well there's the fact that the Catholic Church gets funding from the US Governemnt - some say up to 67% of what the Catholic "charities" spend comes from the Federal Government. I can't verify that because the Catholic Church has always been very close-mouthed about their finances.
Then there is the fact that many of us give money to charities to help EVERYONE - and then after we've given the money, we find out how they are not really using the money for the purposes we thought.
So YEA!!! It is our business!!!
What funding does the Catholic church get from the government, except tax exempt status? I would like to know, because if they do then they should not have unfettered descretion in how the funds are distributed. Problem is, I beleive that to be a false statement, but I am willing to listen.
Would you believe Wikipedia?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Charities
"About $2 billion of its budget now comes from the Faith-Based Initiatives Office of the federal government."
Would you believe the Catholic Church itself??
http://www.networklobby.org/news-media/federal-funding-catholic-organizations
"One area of disagreement concerns the continuing level of government funding for vital Catholic programs. The truth of the matter is that the Obama administration has actually increased funding for Catholic nonprofit organizations and programs. In fact, more than $1.5 billion went to Catholic organizations over the past two years."
Has this department been investigated lately? Maybe we've stumbled on the core of the problem.
So now, not only would Reagan not be able to rise in the current GOP, conservative Catholics would not be willing to fund a small non-profit run by Jesus these days -- after all, he helped all kinds of people that they would not touch, literally. I certainly hope their actions are widely publicized so people might think twice about whether they want to tithe to such an uncharitable Catholic church.
After a little research, I believe 'oncearepublican' is wrong, the separation of church and state would not allow the government to give financial funding of tax dollars to any religious organization. Please keep to the facts when arguing your position. So we are back to, why should anyone else other than the organization decide what charity they will support. I am assuming most of the people complaining are not catholics, so leave them alone and worry about your own faith or ack thereof.
Religious organizations -churches- are tax-exempt. That's different from getting federal funding. When it comes to hospitals and schools, it changes. They do get federal funding. Bottom line is this - if you apply for and take federal funding, you should expect to be subject to federal laws. The administration's ruling on contraception wasn't about the Catholic church's position on birth control; it was about the rights of those employed by hospitals and schools that are run by Catholic organizations. I grew up Catholic, so I know more about that faith than any other faith. I'd say if the Catholic church doesn't want to follow federal law, stop taking federal money and then they can provide or decline whatever coverage they choose for their employees.
.
Esquire - I always try to make sure my facts are correct before I post. I'm sorry this is such a shock to you!!!!
Rachel- as always- hit the nail on the head. That said, there's also another side to the backlash: There are a *lot* of progressive-minded Catholics that are not at all pleased by the behaviors of the ultra-conservative Catholics and their power moves towards aligning Catholicism with Republican ultra-fanatic craziness.
For example, here in Massachusetts, and Rachel probably heard of this one, the Worcester bishop recently pressured a local college (Anna Maria College) to dis-invite Victoria Kennedy from speaking at their graduation because her views were too "liberal". The bishop categorically ignores all the societal good Ms. Kennedy has made, with much of that good accomplished under the Catholic banner. He refuses to discuss the matter with her. He even refuses to talk to her priest!
Is this the action of a "good shepherd"? Hardly. Well, Bishop, when the time comes this year to raise money for what used to be called the "Bishops Fund" and is now called "Partners in Charity", and I get that phone call asking for $$$, guess what? I'm going to state that I don't wish to donate to a bishop that doesn't like "liberals". I'll donate that money to some other, worthy charity, instead.
It goes both ways, Bishop. Let's see what happens when the donations dry up due to your intolerance.
This may be why there is a push for less government and giving the power to each individual state. Now each individual state is abusing their power and practicing fascism. They want to privatize schools so that they may teach their brand of religion and censorhip to our children. We shouldn't push religion on our children. Our children should grow up and decide for themselves their own path of spirituality. If the states have control over a populus we're screwed.
Shumuwada
See my post on 23.1 if you ever need to document your statement in 47.1. Add to that Gov. Robert McDonnell's Thesis - The Republican Party's Vision For The Family
I would of course have taken 5 paragraphs of oh so politically correct prose to say what you did in your above 5 sentences. You don't need my validation but I recognize that you have the spiritual gift of a discerning heart and the ability to cut right through all of the BS.
I also remember what ramen noodles taste like - used to flavor them with Kroger Cost Cutter peanut butter.
Adam_Selene