Dear Editor:
In the March 8 Chronicle there was a letter by Christine Lotti, “The Catholic view,” finding fault with an earlier letter by David Fogel (“Church, state, sex,” March 1). In it she objects to his statements that the Catholic Church’s dogma is inflexible and denies that contraception could prevent abortions. She also feels that both points are irrelevant and hackneyed.
First off, when “in God’s name” did the Church ever stop being dogmatic? The Catholic Church is and always has been inflexible in its dogma, seen as hackneyed because the Church has made it hackneyed by forever reminding all of its inflexibility. As for contraceptives lessening abortions; of course they do, by lessening the need to abort for any reason unwanted births.
However, Ms. Lotti is right that “the Obama administration, which has done so much good for so many, must now stand up for freedom of religion and issue an across-the board exemption for the Catholic Church. The president has done exactly that by eliminating any requirement for religious institutions to provide health services contrary to their beliefs. As Mr. Fogel stated, “No Catholic Church, school, hospital or diocese will be affected in any way. The government will not impose its will on such institutions.”
It is important that the government not impose its will on religious institutions — and it is equally important for religious institutions not to impose their beliefs on secular institutions ... so they’ll all live happily ever after.
Welcome to the discussion.
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