Blind shepherds

Notice how the Catholic bishops are now complaining about the consequences of a policy that they themselves lobbied for. What does it say about spiritual leaders who are that nearsighted?

Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 5:24 PM

 

I will discuss the outrageous assault on religious liberty launched by the president on every Catholic institution in the country with both men, and I will also be asking my callers why Mitt Romney's statement on "the very poor" --a contrived controversy-- got so much more attention than the very real outrage that is President Obama's demand that every Catholic institution shut down or buckle under to the pro-choice absolutists in charge of his policy in this area.  For background on the Obama demand, see Los Angeles Archbishop Gomez's First Things article or Phoenix Bishop Olmsted's letter on the subject or Philadelphia Archbishop Chaput's comments on the new regulations.

 

The Santorum transcript:

 

HH: Now I want to talk to you about two substantive issues, Senator Santorum. The first are these new regulations from the Obama administration. I read the letter from Archbishop Olmstead of Phoenix on the air. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles has written a new article in First Things. It’s shocking, actually, what’s going on. Should this be a centerpiece of whoever the nominee’s campaign is?

 

RS: I talked about it in every speech I’ve given today. And here’s what I said, though, Hugh. I said that I took issue with the Catholic Bishops Conference, because Hugh, you may remember, they embraced Obamacare.

 

HH: Yes.

 

RS: They embraced it and said…here’s what I said to them. Be careful when you have government saying that they can give you rights, that you have a right to health care, and government’s going to give you something, because once you are now dependant on government, they, not only can they take that right away, they can tell you how to exercise that right, and you can either like it or not. And that’s the problem. That’s what the Catholic Bishops Conference didn’t get, that there’s no free lunch here, folks. If you’re going to give people secular power, then they’re going to use it in a secular fashion. And that’s why, you know, I hate to say it, but you know, you had it coming. And it’s time to wake up and realize that government isn’t the answer to the social ills. It’s people of faith, and it’s families, and it’s communities, and it’s charities that need to do this as it has in America so successfully for so long.

http://www.hughhewitt.com/blog/g/f8dc6adb-3471-4882-a15d-fb371ff1f50a