Growing up in the Catholic faith I started parochial school in the first grade and continued through high school. Every Sunday my father, my siblings and I went to Mass but my mother never came. She stayed at home and cooked big Italian midday meals that we enjoyed after church. The only time I remember my mother attending Catholic services was for family events - weddings, funerals, baptisms and confirmations. As a young adult I finally questioned her about her refusal to join us and she told me about the event that turned her away from her faith.
My parents were working class folks and managed to support their four young children with two full time factory jobs. We lived simply, had the essentials but nothing extra. My mother was a church going woman until one day at confession her priest asked if she was using birth control. When she answered yes he told her she was a sinner in the eyes of God. That was it for her.
This all came back to me last week when the topic of birth control and the Catholic church made front page news. President Obama is requiring health insurance companies to cover birth control as a free mandatory preventative benefit. The Catholic bishops were up in arms because women working in Catholic hospitals and universities will be provided this coverage. The Catholic hierarchy demands that members of the church who do not want to be pregnant suppress normal sexual behavior (at the same time for years turning a blind eye to the unsuppressed behavior of their own priests who have caused unforgivable harm).
The early church had reason to encourage members to go forth and multiply. There weren't so many of us then and we didn't live that long. Now with the world population reaching 7 billion we have very different issues to address.
The Republican candidates are jumping on this and creating another political distraction. The same people who are adamantly opposed to abortion won't allow women to control their reproductive options.
I am in awe.
My parents were working class folks and managed to support their four young children with two full time factory jobs. We lived simply, had the essentials but nothing extra. My mother was a church going woman until one day at confession her priest asked if she was using birth control. When she answered yes he told her she was a sinner in the eyes of God. That was it for her.
This all came back to me last week when the topic of birth control and the Catholic church made front page news. President Obama is requiring health insurance companies to cover birth control as a free mandatory preventative benefit. The Catholic bishops were up in arms because women working in Catholic hospitals and universities will be provided this coverage. The Catholic hierarchy demands that members of the church who do not want to be pregnant suppress normal sexual behavior (at the same time for years turning a blind eye to the unsuppressed behavior of their own priests who have caused unforgivable harm).
The early church had reason to encourage members to go forth and multiply. There weren't so many of us then and we didn't live that long. Now with the world population reaching 7 billion we have very different issues to address.
The Republican candidates are jumping on this and creating another political distraction. The same people who are adamantly opposed to abortion won't allow women to control their reproductive options.
I am in awe.
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