Catholics Protest Contraception Mandate. Implications for Polygamy?

Family Photo

Dear J,

A question for Etch-a-Sketch...

"Since federal government pressure forced the Mormon Church to change its doctrinal position on polygamy, do you think similar pressure obliging Catholic employers to pay contraceptive coverage (without changing Church doctrine) is of the same order of magnitude?"

Follow-up question: "In your opinion, did it prove to be a "good thing" that the federal government forced The Church of Latter Day Saints to change its doctrine?"

Consider:

"The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", is a statement which officially disavowed the continuing practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Issued by church president Wilford Woodruff in September 1890, the Manifesto was a response to mounting anti-polygamy pressure from the United States Congress, which by 1890 had disincorporated the church, escheated its assets to the U.S. federal government, and imprisoned many prominent polygamist Mormons." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1890_Manifesto

***

Personally, I am more sympathetic to polygamy than I am to Catholic employers being allowed to delete standard contraceptive coverage from employee insurance policies.

Lest we forget... Abraham, David, Jacob and Solomon had multiple wives. 

It is clear that only a few minor Jewish sects had outlawed polygamy by the time of Christ, and that even after Christ some Christians persevered in polygamy. "In the 16th century, there was a Christian re-examination of plural marriages. The founder of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther wrote: "I confess that I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict the Scripture. If a man wishes to marry more than one wife he should be asked whether he is satisfied in his conscience that he may do so in accordance with the word of God. In such a case the civil authority has nothing to do in the matter."^[31] The theologian Philipp Melanchthon likewise counseled that Henry VIII need not risk schism by dissolving his union with the established churches to grant himself divorces in order to replace his barren wives, but could instead look to polygamy as a suitable alternative. Anabaptist leader Bernhard Rothmann initially opposed the idea of plural marriage. However, he later wrote a theological defense of plural marriage, and took 9 wives himself, saying "God has restored the true practice of holy matrimony amongst us." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy_in_Christianity (Monogamous marriage was not sacramentalized until the second millennium A.D.)

I propose the following "compromise" solution.

Mormons will be given the option to restore polygamy... and Catholic employers can withhold contraception (even from the 98% of Catholics who use it).

Check out this grievance by a Catholic mother from Pittsburg - http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-would-jesus-do-not-stuff-like-this.html

Chesterton defined religion as "putting first things first."

Abortion, contraception and homosexuality -- three topics Jesus never mentioned -- have no place among "first things."

It is time for the Catholic Church to "get religion."

Pax on both houses

Alan


PS  Polygamy can be a useful way to provide for widows and orphans.

Catholic organizations across the country file suit against contraception mandate

Published May 21, 2012

FoxNews.com

• 
  Oct. 31, 2011: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is seen in the Oval Office at the White House. (AP)

Catholic archdioceses and institutions filed suit in federal district courts across the country Monday against the so-called contraception mandate, in one of the biggest coordinated legal challenges to the rule to date. 

Claiming their "fundamental rights hang in the balance," a total of 43 plaintiffs filed a dozen separate lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the requirement. Among the organizations were the University of Notre Dame and the Archdiocese of New York. 

The groups are objecting to the requirement from the federal health care overhaul that employers provide access to contraceptive care. The Obama administration several months back softened its position on the mandate, but some religious organizations complained the administration did not go far enough to ensure the rule would not compel them to violate their religious beliefs. 

A statement from the University of Notre Dame said the requirement would still call on religious-affiliated groups to "facilitate" coverage "for services that violate the teachings of the Catholic Church." 

"The federal mandate requires Notre Dame and similar religious organizations to provide in their insurance plans abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization procedures, which are contrary to Catholic teaching. It also authorizes the government to determine which organizations are sufficiently 'religious' to warrant an exemption from the requirement," the statement said. 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/21/catholic-organizations-across-country-file-suit-against-contraception-mandate/#ixzz1vWPht3ye