What’s really at stake in the contraception debate.
Posted By Russ Emerson on March 6, 2012 at 1:24 pm
I mentioned this on Twitter a few days ago, but it bears repeating.
The contraception debate is not now and has never been about birth control qua birth control. It is about control, pure and simple.
Specifically, it’s about government control over permitted beliefs and practices of religious groups, and control over the conscience of the individual.
A commenter over at Legal Insurrection pretty well summed up the matter:
In any left revolution, be it progressive, bolshevik, socialist, fascist, maoist, or bolivaran, it is necessary to knock down organized religion. The Catholic Church competes for the hearts and minds of people and does so effectively, as do the evangelical Protestant churches, etc. Further, the Church is organized and so can put out a message of opposition.
So at some point the revolution has to take the Church on, or lose. Socialists today understand the power the Church had in Poland in the 1970s, in Nicaragua and El Salvador in the 1980s, and in Venezuela today. The current revolution will not make the mistake of allowing the Church to survive long-term.
Go read the whole thing. It’s a rather precise summary of what is at stake, and why.
And that is why the Mexican Constitution gelds all churches. Read Article 130 and you will understand why you *never* hear a minister criticize Mexico. Only native born citizens can be ministers, and the State controls how many churches there are.
The next clause wields the knife: “Ministers of denominations may never, in a public or private meeting constituting an assembly, or in acts of worship or religious propaganda, criticize the fundamental laws of the country or the authorities of the Government, specifically or generally. They shall not have an active or passive vote nor the right to form associations for religious purposes.”
The last clause in Article 130 is the topper “Trials for violation of the above provisions shall never be heard before a jury.”