The extremist Catholic bishops make the mistake of believing their own propaganda about the Catholic tradition of so-called "natural law" moral theory. Their propaganda refers to their moral theory as the "natural law." Next, the extremist Catholic bishops believe their propaganda -- they believe that the Catholic tradition of moral theory really truly is THE natural law. Get it?
Through fallible human reason, aided presumably by the grace of God, the Roman Catholic Church is the custodian of the natural law regarding sexual morality such as the morality that forbids artificial contraception and legalized abortion in the first trimester. And the extremist Catholic bishops will be happy to explain their church's teachings regarding these matters to anybody who is willing to listen to them. And because the extremist Catholic bishops are motivated by religious zealotry, they are prepared to die as martyrs, as witnesses to their religious faith in their church's teachings regarding artificial contraception and legalized abortion in the first trimester.
So the culture war with the extremist Catholic bishops in the United States will probably not come to an end soon. Because they are motivate by their religious zealotry, their opponents and critics will have to muster their own courage to stand against the extremist Catholic bishops.
Secretary Clinton has in effect issued a ringing call to arms for people of good will to fight the good fight against extremists such as the Catholic bishops. Fighting the good fight against religious extremists such as the Catholic bishops will be denounced by their collaborators as an alleged war on religion. But it is not a war of religion as such. Instead, fighting the good fight against religious extremists is a war against male patriarchy and male dominance as advanced by certain religious traditions of thought. When religions have purged themselves of the cultural baggage of male patriarchy and male dominance from the past, those religions will probably emerge in a more purified form of religion for the future.
In any event, in light of the recent provocations by the extremist Catholic bishops, it looks like the extremists will work against the re-election of President Obama in 2012 and for the election of the Republican presidential candidate, whoever that turns out to be. It remains to be seen if Secretary Clinton's call for people to stand up to the extremists in the United States will lead to President Obama's re-election, or not.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
