Religion-- Like Spraying Perfume On A Casket

Powerful video... and it's been watched by over 18 million people on YouTube.

Religion puts you in bondage
While Jesus sets you free
Religion makes you blind
Jesus makes you see

I spoke to a candidate for Congress the other day, a devout Catholic with a devout Catholic wife. They go to church every Sunday and they're active in the charitable works of their church. They're pillars of the community and the parish-- and friends with the bishop. They forbade their sons from becoming alter boys or ever being alone in a room with a priest.

The American unrepentant Catholic bishops took some time out from molesting children to rail against the Obama administration on behalf of their allies in the Republican Party. But a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute shows that, as usual, the bishops are out of sync with most Catholics. A majority, 58%, "support including birth control in health care plans and back the decision by the Obama administration that requires most employers to include such coverage."

Their views are in contrast to leaders in the Catholic Church, who are vigorously opposing a rule by the U.S. government that says most employers must include contraception coverage in their health care plans.

Despite the opposition of Catholic leaders, Catholics are actually more likely than non-Catholics to support including contraception in health plans, according to survey results by the Public Religion Research Institute.

About 58% of American Catholics "believe that employers should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception," the survey showed. That was higher than the percentage of white mainline Protestants (50%) and white evangelicals (38%) who believe that. The Catholic Church officially forbids contraception use, but 98% of Catholic women who have been sexually active have used birth control. The survey comes as Catholic bishops and their supporters are protesting a decision last month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The decision clarified a rule that came about after the passage of a health care bill in 2010 that calls for universal health coverage. Part of that includes contraception for women.

The Jan. 20 decision allows an exemption for religious groups such as churches. So a Catholic parish, for example, does not have to provide contraception in its health care plans. But the decision also says that religiously-affiliated institutions that serve people outside its religious groups-- such as a Catholic hospital that treats patients of different backgrounds-- are not exempt and must include contraception in its health plans for employees. The decision would affect metro Detroit institutions like St. John Providence Health System, which currently does not provide contraception coverage for its employees.

Tuesday Blue America welcomed our newest candidate, Cecil Bothwell into the fold. We didn't talk about Cecil's religious views but they fit in pretty well with the founding fathers-- and, perhaps, with the videos on this page. Sarah Jaffe at Religion Dispatches poked around how Cecil's reputation for atheism has impacted his career as a community organizer and public official. Cecil, she reminds us, "actually prefers the term 'non-theist' to 'atheist'.”

“I know that some atheists feel that stance ducks the issue and that we should force the issue,” he says, “But my ethical/spiritual beliefs ought not to be of any import in holding public office. I’m not in any way running as an ‘atheist.’”

But that hasn’t stopped efforts by others to use his beliefs to gain political points. During his Asheville City Council campaign in 2009, two direct mailings were sent around warning voters of his non-belief, and after his election opponents tried to prevent him from being sworn in. The US Constitution, of course, forbids religious tests for office; so the former green builder, journalist, and author (of a political biography of preacher Billy Graham) was able to take his seat.  


...GetEQUAL NC’s [Angel] Chandler who, like Bothwell, is a volunteer escort at a local family planning clinic that provides abortion services, says “[Bothwell] will likely be attacked at every angle due to his position on LGBT rights, women’s reproductive rights, ending the drug war, and due to his religion or lack thereof.” She continues, “What I hope folks see is Cecil’s commitment to giving people power in their own lives to make their own decisions rather than empowering the government to tell us what we can and cannot do, who we can and cannot have a committed relationship with.”  

Bothwell thinks that his message will resonate with rural voters. “So-called conservatism includes a large number of populist and libertarian voters whose real interests are much more closely aligned with progressive politics than with corporatist politics in either major party,” he notes, pointing out that despite being a non-theist, he is an active member of the local Unitarian Universalist church, a member of its Social Justice Council, and the founder of a jail ministry.

Here's another video I thought you might like, the infamous "Tea Party Jesus" clip. Before you watch it-- or after you watch it-- please consider making a contribution-- in a grassroots campaign like his even $5 and $10 contributions make all the difference-- to Cecil's campaign... here at our Blue America ActBlue page.