Ok, Richie, on THAT, I can agree with you completely.

Being forced to do something because "it's the law" doesn't change your argument. And I wouldn't expect it to change the Catholic Church's argument. Honestly, nothing short of Vatican III would do that.

We *all* make those kinds of argument. There are things we pay for with our taxes that we don't like. The compromise is that we're having things paid for that we DO support that others might not.

If I left the impression that the Catholic Church should abandon their principle, I meant no such thing and I'm sorry if I got heated enough that I did so. My point was that they could be "in the right" for their conscience all they want - but in the arena of operating a public business (like a hospital) there are rules they have to follow whether they like them or not.

I may disagree with many of their principles, but the 1st Ammendment doesn't "say" they have those rights, it *reiterates* that they have them and they always did.

By the same token, there's a LOT of good done by the Church - and no, my hands didn't burst into flames when I wrote that. I like the fact that CatholicCharitiesUSA.Org highlights things like what they're doing in tornado response in the midwest. They *need* that kind of publicity to counter the idea that they're all pedophiles or conspirators (since that's most of what you'll hear on the news).

Yeah, I want the perps brought to justice. But I don't want the baby thrown out with the bath water.

Just because I left the heirarchy of the Catholic Church behind doesn't mean I left *everything* behind that I was taught.