What the ever lovin …..

And they don’t have to pay taxes!?

is one of the most powerful and wealthy organizations on the planet.

It’s no coincidence that 6 out of 9 SCOTUS judges are Catholic.

And Gorsuch was raised Catholic (although he currently attends an Episcopal church).

That makes 7 out of 9.

People seldom bring this up because they don’t want to be seen in a light that casts them as being anti-religion, bigoted against Catholics, etc.

Plus, millions of Latinos are Catholic and that voting demographic is only going to get larger.

So, not surprising the CC is spending $ on this issue.

They’ve got the money to burn to get it done.

Morality is a legitimate concern of religion. The Church has been against abortion because it violates the “thou shall not kill commandment”. This has only become “politics” in our age.

But I do not believe they should be working to put their version of 'morality' into law for everyone. At one time Catholics forbid eating meat on Friday under pain of mortal sin. Should this have been made into a law?

There are many other religions that have their version of morality. Hindus believing in the holiness of cows come immediately to mind. Should we impose laws based on that morality. How about Mormons wearing sacred underwear?

Morality is a legitimate concern of religion. They should impose their morality on their adherents and not on their non-adherents through the state.

And no I am not arguing for murder. Only a small number see abortion before viability as murder, especially in the cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother. Right now on the front page here we have a story of a woman whose life was put in danger by a Wisconsin hospital who refused to do the right procedure after a miscarriage.

There will now be daily stories of women dying or being damaged for life because some religion seeks to impose their morality on those who are not their adherents.

I was raised Catholic. A lot of the schlock that they sold as their morality was bigotry disguised as morality.

And let me add that the Church is a huge business. Much of what I learned serving those masses and other activities is that one thing the Catholic Church was interested in was money. I see no reason why they can't be taxed like other businesses who work to enact laws in their favor.

Sorry if I seem harsh.

As Jesus said - "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's" Or as we might say - stay in your lane.

I too am a cradle Catholic, in my case from a family with along relationship with the Church. Like you I was an altar boy. After 80 years in the Church, I do not see the main concern of the Church as money. Yes, it takes money to run the Church.

The mortal sin for eating meat on Friday and Mormon underwear were good for a laugh. Yes, sadly many use the supposed unviability excuse to allow them to accept abortion. Many of these folks carry it on to near full term.

The abortion debate is back in the states. Arguably, it belonged there. I suspect we will see various difference among the states abortion laws, as their citizens see fit. Abortion will continue. People of conscience will continue to oppose it.

The United States is not free from religious influence. The Constitution prohibits establishment of a State religion and there is no CofUSA. The founders were informed by JudeoChristian ethics and morality. It shows in our laws.

imposing their beliefs on our body politic. Whether it be pluralistic gods, one god or no god. (actually no god is not a religion, but a belief on one issue.)

And that is wherein my problem lies. Religions are constantly trying to get their dogma made into laws that affect everyone. And for some reason people in the US seem to think that if something comes with a stamp of approval of a (in the US) Christian religion that makes it good.

My experience is that a lot of people have used religion to do a lot of bad things in this country.

So if Catholics don't want abortions, then they should not get abortions. But they should not be in a position to deny the 75% in the US that are non-Catholics abortions. And among that 75% is the Jewish population that is frequently lumped with Christians as one religion.

I doubt abortion rules will 'stay in the states.' Far right Christians are aiming for a national ban.

Like many things, people can believe in whatever hooey they want, just don't force down the throats of those of us who do share such beliefs. That is not bitterness, that is wanting to be left alone. But since Paul Weyrich saw the opportunity to exploit evangelicals we have had 40+ years of their trying to turn laws books into bibles.