Allies? Enemies? Friends? Catholics?

"Who is who?" in the HHS Mandate battle is a tough question to answer. I started writing a post about how all Catholics are to blame for creating an atmosphere for something like this to be possible, but then folks like Mark Shea started squawking about how we needed to stop "bayonetting" our allies and join forces with those willing to fight alongside us in this battle, and I was scared out of the idea. Not surprising, he meant Bishops, Politicians, and Media that are infamous for attacking the Church, but not folks like Michael Voris.

Succumbing to a bit of weak-spine issues, I refrained from writing my post. But, there seem to be some articles that are coming out that might support my argument. Mainly, a poll in USA Today that shows that 58% of Catholics asked, believe that contraception should be a required coverage.

Granted, we don't know what the people that are identifying as Catholic mean by that label, but it does show how the media is going to position this issue. On top of that, it isn't a far stretch of the imagination to think that an average reader would believe that 58% of Catholics think this way. Why? Well because, Catholics have a pretty poor track record when it comes to adhering to Church teaching, and the general public knows that. Whether it is dissident priests and Bishops, heterodoxical Catholic media, or Catholic politicians that ignore Catholic teaching - the public is well accustomed to Catholics that wear their faith as a label and not as a philosophy.

So, while I don't think it serves us much good to attack one another in an effort to place blame, I do think we need to evaluate how to move forward. It is important that we understand and address the problems that are degrading the view of Catholics in the public sphere. We all need to work harder at being stronger Catholics and in defending the faith against cultural and secular attacks.

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