A “pill” too hard to swallow

According to a recent article written by Jessica Yellin and Brianna Keilar, both Correspondents for CNN, the White House is trying to adjust the health care policy to appease the Catholic Church and perhaps get the vote of some Catholics. The article claims that this adjustment is due to “an avalanche of criticism.” Apparently, the White House will try to implement the same policy that is currently used in Hawaii for religion institutions, in which women that work for Catholic charities, hospitals and the church can acquire coverage directly from the insurance company at the same price their employers would pay. I do not think it’s fair that women working for Catholic enterprises and who may or may not profess that religion have to be excluded from that benefit, unless the Catholic Church increase their salary to the same amount they would have to pay out-of-pocket to acquire it. However, this modification suggested by the White House is not being accepted by the Catholic Bishops, according to the article the leaders of the Catholic Church will only accept a total reversal on the policy – which means totally removing the contraceptive clause from the health care policy. Who on earth do the Catholic Church thinks they are?

I am so tired of having any religious institution – who pay no taxes, who at no time accept government interference in ANY of their day-to-day business (as it should be), who have no government regulations set in place, to think that the government has no business in their religious matters but that they, the religious institutions of any denomination, have any right whatsoever in changing governmental policies because it does not agrees with their views! The religious groups are overstepping their boundaries interfering with politics – both at a local and national level – forcing their views onto everyone else as if the separation of church and state didn’t exist or if it does, it simply does not apply to them. While the leaders of any religious corporation (that’s what they are) enjoy a life of luxury, no taxes paid, no need to report any of their actions to the government because if the government decided to interfere in any of their business they will cry religious prosecution, they seem to think they have "divine" power and can stick their noses where it does not belong.

Of course, as expected, we have the Speaker of the House, Mr. "Cry me a River" Boehner, accusing this administration of ‘attacking religion freedom." How is that so? How it's making contraceptives accessible, not forcing any woman to take them, an attack on religion freedom? Why is not an attack to the State what religion institutions are doing? Why does this "attack" can only be applied on one direction? I am not surprised either at the holier than God comments coming from all the Republican candidates which are all up in arms about the intrusion of government in religion… Mitt Romney, as usual, is already counting his chickens before they hatch and has added another thing he would do on his first day as President, reversing this clause. Sorry Romney, but you will not be the 45^th President of the United States.

Mr. President, keep the policy as it is! Do not allow religion to change the policies that will affect thousands of women, even millions if the Catholic Church gets its way. It is time for a real separation of church and state, it is time for any religious institution to pay their fair share of taxes – no more getting rich by preaching, no more favoritism. According to their own beliefs, money is sinful… so lets help them release some of that sin, and pay taxes after all, they can’t seem to separate religion and politics so, if they want to be involved in politics they should contribute to the country, financially, as everyone else does!

The Religious Right

Let me begin by saying that I grew up Catholic. Ever since I was a little girl, I was an avid reader, I would read anything that was intellectually nourishing and in particular I loved philosophy. Many things happened in my life by the time I turned 11 that made me reject Catholicism and almost all form of organized religion, to the astonishment of my family, whom to this day are deeply concerned that I will burn in hell for all eternity.

For the last 10 years or so, I’ve been appalled at the extremist religious people that you read about in the news. Religious people that is willing to kill and “burn in hell for all eternity” in order to prevent another person from killing an unborn child. I wonder many times, if “murdering” a fetus is so bad… Why is it that for them murdering a family man or woman, who has a spouse, children, who is a doctor and a useful member of society isn’t just as bad? Oh yes, in their minds, they’re doing God’s work!  

The religious right wants the rest of America to practice their religion, to worship their God and pray to Jesus. They want to make it mandatory for public schools to pray, of course, their prayers God forbid if the school decides to consent to prayers and allows for a prayer from other religions to be taught and prayed a different one each day so kids can learn from others, then we will be stepping over our boundaries and their religious views deserve respect! 

The religious right of this country and those that proudly represent the Bible belt are extremists. They are the most hateful group of people that you can find in this great country; they are the ones that keep the breaks in any scientific advances, social advances, technological advances and even moral advances. Always shielding themselves by claiming that it’s God’s will, as if they have a direct line to that God! 

They hate anything, everything and any one that do not profess the same views as them, all of America have to accept everything they do, in return, they will not allow you the same respect. I am not talking about Christians, don’t get me wrong, I am just referring to the extreme religious right. Those that believe that evolution isn’t real, many of whom have claimed that the prehistoric bones of dinosaurs from million of years ago are fake and refuse for evolution to be taught in school. I am talking about those that still to this day, block scientific advances such as stem cell research because it uses discarded fetuses in their experiments… they prefer for those fetuses to be thrown away, making their ‘death’ a complete waste – they seem to forget that the soul, what is supposed to be precious, is no longer in those fetuses; they’re just a carcass who no one wants or is going to give them ‘proper burial’ such is their selfishness and irrationality! 

Then, the subject has to be mentioned about the sanctity of marriage. While more and more religious right leaders are being caught practicing extramarital affairs, and not always with the opposite sex, they are relentless in their fight against same sex marriages, even when these marriages are not to be ‘blessed’ by a church but strictly through a civil ceremony. It is as if they don’t want others to experience any type of happiness since their own lives are so full of misery. They use every trick to block any advances in society to finally accept and institute throughout this land gay marriage. So far, they’ve succeeded. 

Race is another issue. While the ‘righteous right’ claim to be followers of Jesus, they have learned to tolerate other races, but only superficially and it doesn’t take much for them to show the ugly face of racism. We all saw it when Obama was elected. Up to a point, it’s understandable. It wasn’t long ago when the Ku Klux Klan terrorized the non-white South, cowardly hiding under sheets bearing crosses near their heart. The KKK was so “Christian” that they murdered hundreds if not thousands of people – mostly blacks. So when Obama was elected, it was really no surprise to see the religious right go into the streets carrying signs depicting the President of the United States of America as a witch doctor, a monkey or the Joker from Batman. I must admit, the signs showing Obama resembling Hitler, it was a bit confusing, I never knew if they were praising him or bashing him after all most Neo-nazis belong to the KKK. 

Now this same religious right is once more confabulating against Obama. They represent a serious threat to Democracy and most of all a huge threat to Liberals and Progressives. They will not back up Obama, that is well known and Mitt Romney for sure is not getting their endorsement, after all, he is a Mormon. They have offered their support to one of the most retrograde candidates running in this election, Ron Paul. Ron Paul is against everything a true Democracy stands for. Help is only for those who can afford it, so is education, health care, love and everything else. It’s no wonder why the religious right is endorsing him they’re a perfect match! 

Today more than ever, it's imperative that we show support for our president.  We must show up in masses to help him win, without a doubt, a second term.  The religious right will take this country back to the days were racism was acceptable, where there was 'second class' citizens, where the right to pursue happiness was only for those lucky enough to be wealthy.  In today's economy, with Corporations being considered 'persons' it is easy to see who will have the exclusive right to that happiness, the sad thing is, the religious right is not a corporation and they're so stupid they don't know it!