Yes

by Abena Nkromah

Created on: February 11, 2012   Last Updated: February 12, 2012

There are no lines waiting at the Vatican for the Pope to dispense birth control pills. However, there may surely be an employee or two waiting at St. Anonymous hospital for the same or other related services, and expecting these services to be at least partially covered by their health insurance!

This should never have been a political issue. Religiously affiliated employers are not a rarity. The only difference between St. John's Whatever and Corner Clinic is a name. Many of the employers or owners of Corner Clinic may be devout Catholic, Baptists or...Mormons, for all we know. The difference is that they know when they put on their EMPLOYER HAT, they may not and should not drop their respective spiritual and ethical beliefs BUT they have to comply with several important employer-related  responsibilities - that is, if they want to stay in business. Some of these responsibilities include an equitable, non-discriminatory workplace environment, free from varied forms of harassment, a safe, OSHA protected workplace, minimum wage, work week and overtime guidelines, taxes and, oh yes, COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH INSURANCE. Anyone believing that birth control and related health issues are not part of the 21st century female profile is still waiting for the French fleet to hit England!

This is not a political issue - this is an employer issue but the Church has made it political because, once again, they are attempting to assess their political strength in the coming elections and marshal their political forces for influence and power. They want to be aligned with the reigning Republicans and Conservatives in the House and, if there is power to be garnered in the ultra right wing movement, they want to be in on that front, as well. It's a good plan. It makes the Church the Joan of Arc for the right and the righteous. 

But to reiterate, this is actually not political, this is a purely employer related issue. If the Catholic Church is engaging in any type of business that is not totally and wholly supported by TITHES and OFFERINGS, then they are working in the public domain. If the Church is following the same employer guidelines as their pagan counterparts, they cannot arbitrarily choose which guidelines they will or will not follow. They cannot and should not be allowed to sift through insurance options and choose only those that fit their religious profile even though these options clearly under-serve a large proportion of their employees. Now, if the Church decides to employ only devout Catholics, then they would not have a problem at all - however, they may find themselves at the losing end of a discrimination lawsuit... and the Vatican's resources may be a little depleted due to other recent scandals.

And if the Church is allowed to choose what options their insurance covers, will they stop at birth control? What about addiction services, including nicotine? What about medical services to counteract sexual diseases - what about Aids? What about old fashioned, fire and brimstone STD's? Will they cover long-term medical care for the hapless female reduced to back-in-the-day back alley hanger abortions? And of course, the mental illnesses are all demon related so that's not even an insurance issue. So when you really think about it, most major illnesses come from sin - in some form or another. So why cover any of them - why not do away with health insurance altogether?

As always, Jesus said it best, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God, the things that are God's." Pretty simple. What the Church needs to be doing is providing all who come to them with the safety net that is Jesus Christ and sharing His love, forgiveness and joy. There is no sense in condemning the abortion when you could have been on hand to pray for the relationship or the circumstance. There's no sense in denying birth control after a woman has had 1 or 2 children and is struggling or, her teen daughter is already gone the wrong way and she desperately wants to keep her infant free for a few more years. The Church is always after the fact and it's always condemning. Let's go back to the old times and get your hands dirty in the real work of the ministry. Go into the highway and byways, knock on doors like the Jehovah Witnesses, who deserve a lot of respect, and talk to the young girls who are contemplating that big step with the guy who talks so sweet and looks so fine... It's too late when the horse is out of the barn.

The Catholic Church and their fat and greasy counterparts, need to look more to the work of God and less to the work of their own personal ministries. The Catholic Church is the old money religion and these "stars" of the gospel world are the new money religions, and none of them are giving to God what is God's but they sure know how to kick it to Caesar.

Learn more about this author, Abena Nkromah.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.