Monday, June 30, 2014

What's Your Hobby?



It's no secret I was profoundly dismayed by the Supreme Court decision today to allow a for-profit company to claim it has greater religious freedom rights than those afforded to persons as their justification to deny women a critical part of their overall health care.  You can stop there to feel good about this ruling or you can look a bit deeper and acknowledge that this is a corporation, started by a man from a family of preachers and his two sons, that is denying women the power of decision making in caring for their own bodies and health in the best way for them and often under the direction of a medical professional.

This got me thinking about why more women aren't outraged at the slope we are beginning to descend. Also, it got me thinking about the women who support these kinds of rulings and how narrow their vision is.

Being schooled as a Catholic, those Ten Commandments often come to mind when I ponder actions, such as this, that are lauded in the name of god.  I mean, I would imagine every Christian woman who claims superiority over others because of their relationship to god would be devout followers of the sacred tablets.  Let's review:

1) You shall have no other gods before me.
What about that glass of wine every night that you can't live without?  Or is it scotch?

2) You shall not make idols.
What would we find if we looked in your bedside table drawer?

3) You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Check your passion! Are you sure you always scream, "Oh! Goodness!"?

4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Do you always send the gardener back home when he wants to work on Sundays?

5) Honor your father and your mother.
Surely this includes in-laws.

6) You shall not murder.
I have searched for a qualifier that makes this apply only to humans.  I'll keep looking.

7) You shall not commit adultery.
Doesn't that occasional guilty gratitude for a break from the obligation that you have, in between the repressed rage and anger knowing about the late nights at the office, make you a tad complicit?

8) You shall not steal.
Remember that stop at the charming vineyard taken as a business expense deduction on last year's taxes?

9) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
In modern day interpretation, I'm comfortable applying this to lumping all women who use birth control in the category of dirty-sex-for-pleasure-seekers without bearing the consequences... like you willfully did.

10) You shall not covet.
Let's face it, that new car decision was partly to keep up with the Joneses.

Now, I know I'm rusty on the good book and perhaps I could be corrected here or there, but in wracking my brain, I don't recall reading that we get to run Judgment Day, at least from this earthly life time.  How about we get a new hobby and let people choose their own sins, live with those choices and burn in their own infernos.  



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