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Read other letters about this article
Marcotte made a very offensive comment to Catholics, there is just no getting around that. Really offensive. Her arguments are so theologically incorrect that it made me want to laugh. As a Catholic who just sat though one of those classes, I can tell you there are much better, theologically sound reasons for arguing against the Church’s stand on birth control than the trash Marcotte wrote. When I first heard about this whole commotion, I thought Donahue was in the wrong (he usually is, and please do not assume he speaks for all devout Catholics) – until I read her post. She has the right to say whatever she wants to say, but Marcotte’s whole post was vitriolic and made Marcotte seem as though her problem was with the Church and not their stance on birth control, just like the selections from the letters posted in response to Marcotte’s article today:
From my standpoint, if the Catholic Church is going to take up an anti-science and anti-truth position, then the only pro-science, pro-truth position is going to be interpreted as anti-Catholic.
The Church is free to do what it wants. As far as anti-science, Catholics are pretty far advanced – we believe in evolution and science. But this position on birth control is nuanced, and not for the reasons you might suspect. Still, the Church is free to believe what it wants to believe and preach, and it has zero to do with you. The Church has a coherent line of thinking – they are truly pro-life – opposing the death penalty as well as abortion. They also opposed the War in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and have fought for social justice. Catholic Charities feeds a whole lot of people each day in cities across the country. And as I mentioned above, I just attended one of these classes a few months ago. There was nothing unscientific in the materials handed out, nothing untrue. Theologically unsound? Yes. But not anti-science. And, my mother took the same course back when it was the rhythm method, and while she never used the info for birth control, she did use it to identify changes in her body and cycle at various points in her life and was glad she had the knowledge.
If you're willing to stop offending us by trying to control our bodies, denying teenagers access to correct information about birth control, deeming birth control beyond the pale, denying women leadership roles, and playing the ridiculous role of persecuted victim that you have been milking for thousands of years (yes, you're victims because the rest of us don't particularly want to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays")...then maybe we can talk about ceasing to offend you by mentioning birth control and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the same sentence.
In this situation, the information was passed out at a meeting for pre-marital couples. No one was trying to control your body, denying teenagers anything, or talking about Christmas. The Church is free to have whoever it wants in a leadership role, and you have nothing to say about it, because you aren’t in that Church. There are plenty of female Catholics who would not accept a female priest. These were people attending a meeting they wanted to attend about their Church. Why do you care so much?
