To the Catholic Conference: Pay Up Or Shut Up

Ever get the impression the Catholic Church has never gotten over Martin Luther getting away with telling it to fuck off and die? For 1,000 years it tortures and burns to death anybody who so much as looks at it cross-eyed, then along comes this little shit with the 95 different ways of saying "you can't tell us what to do anymore, nyah, nyah, nyah."

It still thinks the last five centuries of renaissance and rejection are just a momentary setback, and it can intimidate its way back into world domination. Thus its ludicrously self-destructive interference in politics last week.

The inclusion of a restrictive abortion clause in the House health care bill, and the Catholic Church's involvement in its passage, has legislators and others debating the extent to which religious organizations can appropriately delve into politics.

Anti-abortion rights lawmakers successfully added an amendment from Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) into the health care bill Saturday that would restrict some health insurance plans from offering coverage for abortion. The amendment came up for a vote after Democrats faced pressure from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the official leadership body for the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wrote an op-ed in Politico on Monday saying the IRS should pay closer attention to the Conference's involvement in efforts to influence legislation, given its tax-exempt status.

"The role the bishops played in the pushing the Stupak amendment, which unfairly restricts access for low-income women to insurance coverage for abortions, was more than mere advocacy," Woolsey wrote. "They seemed to dictate the finer points of the amendment, and managed to bully members of Congress to vote for added restrictions on a perfectly legal surgical procedure."

According to the IRS, nonprofit organizations like the USCCB are prohibited from attempting to "influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities" and from all campaign activities.

Give me a moment ... I just need to revel in the fantasy of the Vatican forced to disgorge billions, possibly trillions of dollars in back taxes, penalties and interest for the past, oh, 218 years ... Won't happen, of course, but just imagine ... OK, that's enough.

The point is that the godbots are seriously over-reaching, and in the process revealing their utter disregard for the precepts of the very religion they use to justify their criminal behavior. Steve Benen explains:

I've always found the Book of Matthew rather beautiful: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me...."

It goes on to say, "Unless you live in a city where gays can get married, in which case, to hell with it."

OK, it doesn't really say that last part, but the D.C. Archdiocese may be confused on the point.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians.

"If the city requires this, we can't do it," Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said Wednesday. "The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem."

Keep in mind, Catholic Charities receives quite a bit of taxpayer money to do social service work -- contracts that existed long before Bush's "faith-based" initiative. The archdiocese is now saying it would abandon its charitable contracts with the city if local officials legalize same-sex marriage.

Or as my friend Rob Boston put it, "Let me get this straight: The church is saying, 'Unless you bow to our demands, we'll stop taking your money'?"

Catholic Charities seems to want tax funds with no strings attached. The Post reported that from 2006 through 2008, Catholic Charities received about $8.2 million in city contracts to provide various services. The city is now asking them to abide by some reasonable anti-discrimination laws, laws that in my view they should have been following all along.

David Catania, a member of the D.C. who has pushed the same-sex marriage law, got it exactly right when he said, "If they find living under our laws so oppressive that they can no longer take city resources, the city will have to find an alternative partner to step in to fill the shoes."

For the record, there are other charities in D.C. that contract with the city on social services. The archdiocese is the only one threatening to stop working with local officials over the marriage equality issue.

But there's more! Controlling women's bodies and denying social services to the needy is only the beginning. Next is forcing people to endure slow, painful, tortuous deaths against their will.

Here's Susie Madrak at Crooks and Liars:

I got this via email yesterday, and gee, I hope the media covers this one. Because there are all kinds of implications: Does the Catholic Church get to decide that, government health insurance will pay for the indefinite maintenance of someone in a persistent vegetative state because they've suddenly decided to up the ante?

And do Catholic hospital officials intend to override advance directives or medical powers of attorney? Remember, many people live in a community that has only a Catholic hospital. (While my father was dying from excruciatingly painful pancreatic cancer, he was denied a morphine drip by his Catholic pro-life doctor. The Saint said it might make dad might die a few hours sooner than he was "supposed" to, so this is more than a theoretical issue to me.)

I'd just like to remind everyone that the Catholic Church continues to make disapproving noises about unjust war and the death penalty, but I never see any public denouncements of the politicians who support them them. Instead, they throw their weight behind issues like this.

What would Jesus do? I'm guessing not this.

The full body of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will take into account the most recent Catholic teaching on care for the chronically ill and dying when they vote on a proposed revision of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services at their November 16-19 general assembly in Baltimore. The proposed revision states more definitively the moral obligation to provide medically assisted nutrition and hydration to patients in a "persistent vegetative state."

[...] "It would be useful to update the Ethical and Religious Directives by inclusion of references to these authoritative documents as well as byincorporation of some of their language and distinctions," said Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine. "It is particularly appropriate to do so since the recent clarifications by the Holy See have rendered untenable certain positions that have been defended by some Catholic ethicists."

The current Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services says, "There should be a presumption in favor of providing nutrition and hydration to all patients, including patients who require medically assisted nutrition and hydration, as long as this is of sufficient benefit to outweigh the burdens involved to the patient."

Along with other changes, the proposed revision says, "As a general rule, there is an obligation to provide patients with food and water, including medically assisted nutrition and hydration for those who cannot take food orally. This obligation extends to patients in chronic conditions (e.g., the 'persistent vegetative state') who can reasonably be expected to live indefinitely if given such care."

To be adopted, the proposed revision must be approved by a majority of bishops present and voting at the November meeting.

Catholic hospitals, by the way, rake in millions in taxpayer dollars through tax exemption, government contracts, and Medicare/Medicaid payments.