Originally Posted by Jim in CT
Detbuch - good probing questions as usual...
"Would you as a Christian hospital have the right to say no to a gay person who was admitted with a life threatening injury which needed immediate attention?"
No, the Catholic hospital would not have that right, nor is any Catholic hospital threatening to withold care from anyone on any such basis. Catholics, as a group, do not want to eradicate homosexuals from the planet. Catholics care just as much about homosexuals as we care about anyone else, we (and I don't include 'me' in that 'we', as I am a Catholic who supports gay marriage) just don't want to call the union a marriage. That's not nearly the same thing as a Catholic doctor refusing to treat a gay patient. The Catholic catechism demands that we love homosexuals as much as we love ourselves.
Sorry, I was not specific enough when I asked about having a "right." I meant constitutional right, not church doctrine. I tried to make the scenario more difficult by tugging at personal sympathetic strings. I believe, constitutionally, any private hospital would have the right to say no to anyone they chose, and to do so for whatever reason they wished. Morality is a different question. I have enough faith in most people to do the "right thing" without government coercion to do its version of the right thing. I wanted to lead up to your understanding of upholding constitutional rights, whether to a T or with exceptions.
"I don't know the specifics of his particular brand of Christianity, but it doesn't seem to me that this is a question of practicing religion."
I don't know the specs either. But it's easy for me to see how a Christian might not want to accept this business, because you are in a sense, supporting that which your religion says is immoral. And according to Catholic cathechism, if you support that which is immorl, you are acting in a way which could result in excommunication from the Church.
OK. I can see a connection between your religion and selling a cake to gays. However, though far be it from me to tell Catholics what they should believe, if by support you mean something like selling to those whom your church believes are immoral, it might be difficult for many Catholics to run a business. I gotta believe for basic matters of economical survival that there would be lots of dispensations. That's one of the reasons I think the issue in the baker case is more a universal rather than a religious one.
To your question on medical care...Catholic doctors should be (and are) required to provide lifesaving care to those in need. However, my belief is that the state cannot force that same Catholic doctor to prescribe abortificant drugs to a pregnant woman, nor should the state be able to force a Catholic business owner to provide his employes with birth control if his religious beliefs lead him to conclude that is immoral.
I agree, but I believe your argument expands beyond Catholic or religious grounds. I don't think any business owner, Catholic or not, should be forced to provide abortifacients. That, again goes beyond merely religious grounds. And if it is restricted solely to religious grounds, then it can intrude on property rights in general.
"But we have gone very far down the road as a society whose government and its judicial system does exactly that (selectively applied the Bill Of Rights".
Yes, this particular president has a real habit of doing that. It's repugnant.
Correct, this was a perfect example of judicial activism, and I always hate that.
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