02-06-2012, 07:21 PM
Grace62 wrote:
What Republicans are trying to frame as a battle over "religious liberty" is backfiring. Americans are smart enough to know what that means, and does not mean. It means have your church and do what you want, as a church. However, if you decide to go into business, let's say the health insurance business, then you will play by the same rules as all others.
American expect the government to uphold that. Catholic Americans included. GOP politicians think that Catholic Bishops can complain about the President and that will automatically translate into votes for them.
BIG miscalculation.
Lots of good points, but i'm not sure that the President didn't miscalculate in how he handled the birth control policy matter. He led the bishops down a primrose path, and in so doing delayed the big fight until later. And in the way it was handled politically, piled a perceived sense of betrayal on top of dislike for the policy itself. What is at stake here, for independent Catholics, is not just the health care issue - it's whether President Obama can be trusted when he's talking to church leaders.