Once again, Mr. Parker stays true to form and reverts to insults (“Cardinal Hoffman”?), exaggeration (stoking “fagots”???), and sheer avoidance to make — or not make — his points.
He dismisses contextual analysis as meaningless. Hmmm. Strange for such a smart man so well-schooled in the art of nuance and rhetoric. I happen to think it’s rather important to properly provide context for quotes and to arrive at a true understanding of the meaning.
But I’ll grant him his basic point, which was that Jesus said we should take care of the poor. This is a point which I did not deny and indeed, re-affirmed, but Mr. Parker seems intent on glossing over the rather important issue of HOW we take care of the poor.
Jesus advocated, and Jewish custom dictated, we give directly to the poor. That’s really all the biblical mandate we have, at least as regards the role of government in helping the poor.
But funnily enough, Mr. Parker is in broad agreement with the Catholic bishops, who were also supportive of Obamacare and I’m sure were motivated to do so by the same Christian principles as cited by Mr. Parker.
But here’s the problem and the crux of the issue. By supporting Obamacare the bishops made a deal with the devil, so to speak, and empowered the federal government not just to provide COVERAGE (which is different from “care”), but also to dictate the nature of the coverage.
To wit, the government is requiring all insurers to provide free contraception, except for those institutions explicitly engaged in religious worship.
This means Catholic schools, universities, hospitals, soup kitchens, etc., are now forced to provide a service which directly and seriously contradicts Catholic moral theology. (Please, spare me the fig leaf the Obama administration tried to cover this travesty with.)
The result: many Catholic charitable institutions may be forced to close their doors. The irony is rich.
The Catholic Church, and other churches, have for decades stepped into the gap to provide medical care and social services to the poor, filling the gap between private and public institutions. Now they are being forced out of that role by the very government whom they looked to as an ally in taking care of the poor.
THIS is why it is unwise, even dangerous, to put all of our medical eggs in the federal basket. As others have mentioned, doing so might in fact reduce medical care of the poor and will, for sure, force Catholic and other institutions into making a choice between honoring their core values and going out of business, or caving to government fiat and compromising their mission.
This is more than a “bump on the road.” It is a grave violation of the very eternal principles so touted by Mr. Parker and so essential to the essence and mission of our nation.
Trey Hoffman
Peachtree City, Ga.
