Note, for example, a recent ad put together by foes of Catholicism. The ad, which appeared in the New York Times, was placed by an organization called Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF). The rhetoric in the ad smacks of those infamous dissenting “Catholics” who never met a Church teaching they liked and have hung around inside the Church to allegedly make her more tolerant. Tolerant of what? Sin, of course.
In the ad, the atheists extended an invitation to “liberal” and “nominal” Catholics to leave the Church. Amen, go already!
It is these people who SHOULD leave the Church, leave us alone, and take a flying leap. After all, being Catholic is a badge of honor, not an insult. Those who are nominally Catholic are guilty of a vile misrepresentation of themselves and the Church. Those of us who understand that each of us is marred by sin pray for those who express disdain for the Church. But the actions of such people are the equivalent of spitting in Christ’s face. Such behavior is tragic, abominable, and wrong.
Get out and don’t let the door hit you on your way out. Embrace the atheists who have run this scurrilous ad and toss your rocks from outside the Church.
Why are my cupcakes frosted over this ad? How dare I invite folks to leave the Church when the numbers are down anyway?
Glad you asked! Somebody has got to do something to clean house, sweep the riff raff out, and get back to the business of loving our Catholic faith. I have heard all I want to hear about how the bishops hate women and don’t want them to have their birth control. The bishops cannot change Catholic teaching and the bishops do not hate women. Through the sacrament of holy orders all ordained priests and bishops are called by God himself to uphold the sacred teachings of the Catholic Church. If you don’t like it that way, leave!
Get a grip, ladies and gentlemen. The Catholic Church has teachings, and one of the most inspired and profound is that within the context of marriage a husband and a wife unite with God in the blessing of procreating a child. Matrimony is a sacrament; children are not curses and pregnancy is not a disease. Having Christ at the center of a marriage is glorious, and that is what the Church teaches.
The latest struggle, though, is not about contraception, nor is it about women’s rights, men’s rights, or anybody’s personal rights. The left would like everyone to believe it is, but that is far from the truth of the matter.
The current struggle against Obama is about the freedom of the Church to create policies in her healthcare institutions that are consonant with her teaching. It’s just that simple. Nobody, including Barack Obama, Kathleen Sebelius, or supporters of the Freedom from Religion Foundation or the New York Times has the right to oppress Catholic healthcare principles and policies—not even in the name of women’s rights.
After all, women have the right to say no thanks to men. Women have the right to be abstinent. Women have the right to purchase their own recreational drugs (birth control). Women, men, governments, and newspapers do not have the right to strong-arm the Catholic Church through acts of intimidation or scurrilous deception.
According to John Leo of the Manhattan Institute, when speaking of the New York Times’ decision to run the ad in question, “The Times exercised poor judgment in running the ad.” People who make statements like that really are not familiar with the long-standing hate campaign that the Times has had against the Catholic Church. But that’s the business of the New York Times.
The business of Catholics across this land who love the Church and her teachings is to stand up and be counted. No thanks, Obama! No thanks, FFRF!
We love our Church, we want the bad guys to leave, and we want you all to know that we would rather die than succumb to anybody’s bullying tactics.
Viva Cristo Rey!