Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Hey, Your Liberal is Showing

I try not to write on this space when I'm angry.  When revamping my online life a few years ago, that was one of my explicit rules: no blogging in the midst of anger.  I haven't been perfect, but I've been trying very hard to follow that rule.

But, I'm angry and there is no denying it.  I'm angry about the SCOTUS decision.  I'm so angry about Hobby Lobby that I spent most of my day yesterday upset about it, constantly worrying about the "free" world I've brought two daughters into, stressing about the man I hope my son becomes, angry with the blind support, and angry that as a Liberal Christian-- I don't have many who share my stance.

Seeing all this hate on the Internet towards Christians, who are shoving their "religion" down the throats of our countries women.  Seeing the generalized statements that Christians hate women.  And, on the other side of it, having to acknowledge that the waves of support I did see for the SCOTUS decision came from the Conservative Christians that I know.

So, here I am, again, not sure what to do or what to say.

You guys, there are Feminist Christians.  NOT ALL CHRISTIANS are who you think they are.  But, I'm beginning to see that most of us that are Liberal Christians are scared, so scared to acknowledge our Liberal stance because, both sides will find ways to break down your arguments.  But, you know what?  I don't care anymore.  My liberal is showing and I am not tucking it in.

Are you my friend and also an uber-conservative Christian who is happy about the SCOTUS decision?  Great.  We don't see eye to eye on this but I'm pretty sure we are still friends.  I mean, I know I'm still your friend, can you still be mine?

Are you a non-believer who thinks all the terrible things in this country are the fault of the Christians?  Well, shit.  I'm pretty embarrassed for my fellow Christians, that we've lead you to feel this way.  We also don't see eye to eye, but I'm pretty sure we are also still friends.  And, hopefully through our friendship, you'll see that not all Christians fit into a little box.

So, now that we've gotten that out of the way- I'm going to talk about the absurdity of this decision and the implications it has for women in our progressive society.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, The Affordable Care Act (more commonly known in a condescending tone as Obamacare) mandated that 20 forms of birth control be included in employee medical coverage. (I am going to forgo discussing the absurdity that is tying ones medical coverage to their employer.)  Now, Hobby Lobby doesn't really have any issue with all 20 forms of birth control, what they have a problem with is women controlling their bodies 4 forms that they believe are abortion-aids.  (Key words there: they believe.)  These for forms consists of IUD's (intro-uterine devices) and Plan B, more commonly known as the morning after pill.

Now, if I have done my research correctly, Hobby Lobby will still be extending coverage to the 16 forms of birth control they deem acceptable: birth control pills.  If anyone has any research to the contrary, let me know.

Anyway, I digress.  So, what is Hobby Lobby's issue with these other forms of Birth Control?  They keep eggs from implanting into the lining of a woman's uterus and so this to them equals an abortion.  Now, I am no medical expert, but I do know that 70% of fertilized eggs do not implant into the uterine wall anyway.  IUD's are a form of birth control that keeps a woman's uterine wall thin so that it isn't vialble to carry a pregnancy.  The Morning After Pill brings on a woman's period before anything has been implanted into the uterus, so that she is not able to get pregnant.  If a woman is already pregnant (aka implantation has already occurred) the morning after pill will not work.  I'd like to point out a keyword here: WOMAN.

A woman should have the choice to use whichever form of birth control she deems appropriate for her body.  The woman may have this womb, but God entrusted that womb to her.  What she decides to do with her womb, is between her and God.  God gave this WOMAN the choice to care for HER BODY in the way SHE DEEMS appropriate.

This is not a victory against the Obama Administration.  This is not a victory for Religious Freedom.

This is an attack on women.  

And the Pandora's Box that will be opened thanks to this incredibly dangerous ruling will have severe implications for us all.

Women, don't you see?  Don't you care?

I just, I'm so angry.

And you should be too.

5 comments:

  1. I just started crying. I know women who would have died without having an abortion. I know women who have tried every form of birth control and only ones against their beliefs work with their bodies. I know women who cannot afford to adopt a fish, much less bring a child into this world, who want nothing more than to be a responsible adult. Worst of all? I know women who have been raped and had no choice but to take the Plan B pill so that they wouldn't have to go through the heart breaking trauma of deciding to keep their rapist's child or not. It is not fair on us or the unborn children who will be brought into this world because of this.

    And if somebody tries to say there are still condoms, I will throw a box at them and hope the pointy corner hits them in the eye. Why? That is one single thing and it is no where near 100% affective. One thing that guys can do besides having a snip snip. They should be adding options for guys to have birth control too, but no, they're taking them away from women in an overpopulated country.

    Sorry. I'm angry too and I got a bit ranty. We are still friends. The people who passed this law and I? Probably not so much.

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  2. A thoughtful response to an emotional issue--thank you!

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  3. This is what I was talking about on my blog. A hot button issue will cause a heated reaction that results in stereotyping an entire group. Of course not all Christians are close-minded hate-peddlers. Just as not all atheists are Christian-hating heathens. How has group-speak not evolved to the point where we're able to hold nuanced conversation or hold two disparate thoughts in our minds at one time? The knee-jerk reaction to damn a group is not productive.
    To your second point, you're absolutely right, this is an attack on women with a teensy tinsey veil of religious belief draped over it. I'd argue that they made a knee-jerk reaction of "IT'S ABORTION" when the morning-after pill came about before actually taking a pause and looking into the facts. Or vaginas and lack-of-control-over-those-vaginas, scared them so much they took such a backward issue all the way to the Supreme Court.
    One knee-jerk reaction I do have is that I hate the acronym "SCOTUS" it makes those corrupt black-robed fossils sound almost cute. I'll stick with using the massively aggrandizing word "Supreme" when talking about those disconnected dirt bags.

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  4. Glad that you brought in the Christian Liberal angle. Too many people confuse religion with the far right. Becomes an easy stick to beat any suggestion of progress with.

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  5. One of the better responses that I've seen in the past few days (you should see some of the crap on Facebook). This is about as realistic and pragmatic of a response that a person could give.

    Father Nature's Corner

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Love to read what you have to say! Keep the comments coming!