Urgent Appeal

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! It is a dangerous servant and a terrible master.”

-George Washington

When doing Gun’s Quotes, I observe some basic rules. I try to use a certain amount of wit. (This happens to be the most difficult rule.) I try to not press my political or religious views while still upholding what is good and just. I try to balance melodrama with even-keeled prose. Some quotes are celebratory; some are dreadful. Some are serious; some funny. In all things, I try to keep things tempered so as to not lose any of you because you get sick and tired of the same thing over and over again. After all, life is a bunch of different experiences and never an extreme of any one thing.

Today I am violating my rules. Today, I appeal for your help, knowing that the viewpoints I present are controversial and that your feelings may very well not parallel my own. My conscience compels me to appeal anyway.

For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has claimed that contraception is sin. The reasoning behind this stance is built upon a foundation of hundreds of philosophers, physicians, religious and intellectual leaders who have formed the church’s stance those centuries ago and continue to evolve them today. It is unfortunate that I lack the time and space to present to you the arguments that the church holds with this settled matter, but even if I did, the church’s reasoning is irrelevant for the topic at hand.

Kathleen Sebelius, the director of Health and Human Services under the auspices of the Obama Administration, announced that the mandatory coverage for health insurance that employers must provide to their employees must also cover contraceptives and the so-called “morning after” pill under the new “Obamacare” law. This coverage is to be provided to employees at no cost to the employee. Therefore, all organizations, public or private, are now mandated to purchase health insurance which covers contraception and emergency contraception for their employees. Abortion-inducing drugs are also covered, meaning a live fetus can be rejected by intake of a drug covered by the healthcare law.

As a major employer of teachers, physicians, social workers, pastors, administrators and dozens of other categories, the Catholic Church is now forced under this law to provide to its employees this mandatory coverage which flies in the face of the church’s long-held and deeply-rooted belief.

I need not cite the Bill of Rights, which you all know by heart and can logically deduce from your own sound reasoning, that the government cannot force Catholics, or any other religious institution for that matter, to provide any services that go against its beliefs. It’s basic to all of us.

Yet, here we are. Instead of observing the basic tenants of the document which gives it any authority whatsoever, the Federal Government has flagrantly violated the Bill of Rights that this country has held dear since its founding over 200 years ago.

It is with certainty that I cannot sway your opinions regarding whether or not contraception is moral. I will not attempt to do so. I appeal to you, however, to consider the attack the Obama administration has effectively launched against Catholics by audaciously mandating that the church violate its conscience or face penalties in less than one year.

Indeed, I plead with you – regardless of your faith, religion, creed, political views or opinions – to recognize this violation and to join me in appealing to our Senators, Representatives and Administration to reverse this illegal course of action.

Please visit www.house.gov, www.senate.gov, and www.whitehouse.gov and tell your government to stop this abomination against religious liberty in the USA NOW.

Thank you.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!