The Current Republican Leadership, the Catholic Church, Religious Conservatives and the Perils of Self-Refuting Logic

In the United States a political party does not become the majority party in this country by becoming ideologically pure. They become the majority by becoming larger, inclusive, and superior to their political opponents not only in size, but should also be anchored in and unafraid of intellectual and discursive dialogue, devoid of reactionary emotionalism. Then and only then, can conservatism present and extend to the electorate our concepts in such a way that we will be accepted by the majority of our fellow citizens. However, history has proven that when the principles of a political ideology becomes so rigid, so inflexible, that the principles that are expounded result in self-refuting logic, it is inevitable that particular political ideology will fail!

What now passes for what I call the “modern conservative” movement has now reached this stage, and unless there is a radical course correction that presents the ideals of the conservative movement, in a coherent, rational truth-seeking outcome, is it possible we will wander into the political desert and damned to live in obscurity for forty years?

Example # 1 of Self-Refuting Logic by the Modern Conservative Movement

It has become the continuous, unrelenting pseudo-maxim presented by modern conservatives, that the doctrine of “separation of church and state” is a manufactured and unholy construct created by “liberal activist judges” of the United States Supreme Court, and simply does not exist!

If indeed this is true, then the extension of this premise and logic, leads me to ask the following question: How come evangelicals, fundamentalists, and Catholics aren’t dancing in the streets? Why is there not a mass dropping to the knees and giving thanks to their Creator for a righteous victory over their enemies, the evil secularists of this country? They finally got what they asked for! The Church and the Government is no longer separated. The Catholic Church is now firmly integrated and locked in battle with the Federal Government, resulting in a national conflict, in complete opposition to the anticipated clash our Founding Fathers tried to avoid! Halleluiah, Brothers and Sisters we prevailed! Apparently, they have forgotten, that when the gods wish to punish you, they answer your prayers.

Surely, the guardians of these respective faiths, along with their hard working and sincere minions, could not be so naïve as to firmly believe that once they intentionally leapt into bed with the federal government and gladly took millions, if not billions, (yes, I am talking about billions given to the Catholic Church) of federal taxpayer monies, that in exchange for the taxpayers benevolence, there would not be terms and conditions imposed on them by the federal government. Really? Seriously? It has been my experience and observation that all organized religions are more concerned about what is in the collection plates, rather than in the collection of souls.

However, I must inquire: Why do I believe that if these same rules and regulations concerning access to birth control and other forms of contraceptives would instead be imposed on the Church of Scientology, the Westboro Baptist Church, on the Islamic faith, the Jehovah Witnesses, the Christian Identity movement, or the First Apostolic Church in the Name of Jesus-Snake Handlers, this would have never made the national news, either by the Mainstream Media (MSM) or the Fox News Network. The sounds of crickets would destroy the auditory nerve. Hypocrisy and bigotry comes in all forms, but religious bigotry and hypocrisy is the most vile and poisonous.

Legally, it is called the Affordable Care Act; others prefer to call it Obama Care. I care not to lower myself by engaging in sophistic semantics, a discipline I learned while being educated by Jesuit Priests! While I am hoping that President Barack Obama will be replaced in the next election (and at this point after looking at the field of Republican Presidential Candidates, coupled with a complete lack of leadership from the Nevada Republican Party, resulting in the national embarrassment known as the Nevada Republican caucuses this dream remains ephemeral and debatable).

Obama’s original position was that decision to require most employers (including the Catholic Church) to cover birth control and insurers to offer it at no cost, created this controversy But the central mandate, that most employers have to cover preventative care for women, has been law for over a decade. This point has been completely lost in the current controversy, and running true to form, Republican Presidential Candidates and social conservatives, in their typical knee-jerk reaction they are akin to, and smothered in paranoia, now claim that the government has over-reached its authority. The Conference of Bishops reaction (a male hierarchy) immediately tried to frame this issue with inflammatory rhetoric which was characterized by the typical cries of victimization and hysteria. This self-pity only further diminishes the seriousness with which U.S. Catholics take the hierarchy. The sad truth is, if the numbers of Catholics leaving the church are any indication, most Catholics in the United States probably see the hierarchy more as victimizers than victimized.

In December 2000, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that companies that provided prescription drugs to their employees but didn't provide birth control were in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prevents discrimination on the basis of sex. That opinion, which the George W. Bush administration did nothing to alter or withdraw when it took office, is still in effect today, and because it relies on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, it applies to all employers with 15 or more employees. Employers that don't offer prescription coverage or don't offer insurance at all are exempt, because they treat men and women equally, but under the EEOC's interpretation of the law,( and as a classical conservative, I completely agree with) you can't offer other preventative care coverage without offering birth control coverage also. Indeed, under the Title VII principles some insurance plans in the private sector covered Viagra immediately, but were still declining to cover prescription for contraceptives! Not even religious employers were exempt from the impact of the EEOC decision. Although Title VII allows religious institutions to discriminate on religious grounds, it does not allow them to discriminate on the basis of sex. WTF! Viagra for men, and not contraception for women, after men finished their seven seconds of contribution to the continuation of the human race and women have to carry the child! I know that there are lots of lies spread throughout the Silver State, but even this one is a little to tall for Nevada.

Example #2 of Self-Refuting Logic by the Modern Conservative Movement

“I don’t want my taxpayer money to be used to support any organization that supports any type of birth control or any organization or person that performs abortion, because the unborn have rights”.

I respect my fellow conservative’s opinion on this matter! I would also expect them to respect mine! If we both believe that life is precious and paramount in our society, then you will allow me to believe this: I don’t want my taxpayer money to support any religious organization or persons who manufacture develop, or put into operational use, Predator Drones that will kill innocent children and pregnant women in Afghanistan, because they too have rights. Or, do you limit your self-refuting logic and idiocy to the confines of this country and this country only. I fail to see the difference, in complete contradiction to what you believe are sacred words: “Do onto others as you would have them do onto you”. Or, “Love thy fellow man”. Or, do you rely on these words when it is only convenient to do so? Why do you believe your argument is justified and valid, and then discredit my argument based on your own argument, or don’t you understand the concept of self-refuting logic. I am just asking!

Example # 3 of Self-Refuting Logic by the Catholic Church and Their Supporters-The “Conscience” Defense

Where was the “conscience” of the Catholic Church and the defense of the Church by lay Catholics, when the Catholic hierarchy aided and abetted, intentionally and knowingly, protected and concealed priests who savagely sodomized young boys. It must be nice to hide behind the simplistic proverb: “Hate the sin but love the sinner”. Of course, this gave no solace, or spiritual nurturing, to the victimized children, did it? This one was too easy!

There is no War on Religion and no War on Religious Liberty in the United States.

Warning the following contains explicit language and recollections of what a War on Religion and Religious Liberty is in Reality.

The majority of the American people who practice a religion, have never seen an absolute war on religion or religious liberty! Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O Reilly, Bill Manders, Rusty Humphries, or any other person who promulgates this false religious meme can talk a good game, but not from experience.

A war on religion and religious liberty is when, priests, missionaries, monks, nuns, seminary students and their parents have endured the following atrocities, that as a young man, that I, and my fellow Vietnam Veterans witnessed allegedly in defense of Americans religious liberty.

1. Five Roman Catholic priests, castrated, their penises severed, and then stuffed into their mouths, rectally impaled on a stake, while still alive, and placed in a public square for all to see, in a successful attempt to terrorize a small township in Vietnam.

2. A thirteen year old Vietnamese girl, a Novice entering into a convent, is stripped, tied spread eagle, and raped continuously in front of her parents, and when we found her she was spilt from her vagina to her sternum.

3. A Buddhist Monk chained to a tree, his legs hacked off at the thigh, and then cradled in his arms, he was still alive when we found him, and through my interpreter begged us to kill him.

4. An old man brutally beaten, and only when he denied his Creator did the beating stop. The beating stopped because they beheaded him.

5. A ten year old boy doused with gasoline and then set on fire.

You have a long way to go before you can convince me, that here in the United States there is a war on religious freedom, or religious liberty. You simply don’t have the credentials!

I remember periods when the leaders of the GOP and religious leaders like Pat Robertson became unhinged, but I’ve never before seen such extreme lunacy infect every aspect of the Republican Party or its radical religious members. Once considered “the party of ideas,” current GOP positions based on the Radical Religious doctrines now read like a list of what not to do or on a list of who to hate if you want a sound economy, equal opportunity, and believe in equal treatment for men and women, and for all races and creeds.

Even though many of my fellow conservatives and Republicans are more reasonable, and can think for themselves, there are those within our ranks who self-identify as Republicans and religious conservatives who hold increasingly extremist and often reactionary views on everything from immigration, science, national and world politics, and united in their promotion and advocacy of a “constitutional theocracy” with a mixture of conspiracy theorists who believe that Obama is not a U.S. citizen, or that 9/11 was the work of George Bush and Dick Cheney (do you hear me calling Ron Paulites and Sharron Angleophiles) or would you like me to exercise my “second amendment remedies against you?

The fact is that classic conservatism and modern conservatism are increasingly at odds. The word “conservative” is now lazily used to describe almost anything that is extreme right-leaning; historically, however, liberalism and conservatism were two sides of the same coin: each promoted a view of limited but effective government that relied on well-functioning markets to determine societal outcomes.

But that was a time when conservatives and Republicans were respected, even by their enemies!