Over the past several years we have seen churches throwing themselves more into the political landscape. Today we see it even more:
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that she didn’t consult with the Catholic bishops on the latest version of the contraceptive coverage rule.
At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Obama administration’s budget request, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) pressed Sebelius on which constituencies the administration consulted before announcing its changes to the contraception rule.
“I did not speak with the Catholic bishops,” Sebelius told Hatch. “I know that the president has spoken to the bishops on several occasions, yes.”
The church views the separation clause as one way; the state can’t tell the church what to do, but the church can tell the state what to do. This is not how our founding fathers envisioned it and is a very real danger to our democracy. Actually, if you think about it, it’s bringing us closer to the same type of tyranny that the pilgrims fled England from all those centuries ago.
So I say it’s time to remove that whole clause and make the church play by the same rules as everyone else. They have already pushed the envelope for too long and it’s time for a change.