Friday, March 28, 2014

Conscientious Objection, Nuns, and President Obama

UPDATE: The battle for women's reproductive health has been joined by America's Nuns. Nuns supported the ACA, and now they have come out in support of the contraception mandate. 

It is the Nuns against the Bishops and Hobby Lobby. My money is on the Nuns. Sign a petition in support of the Nuns HERE.

What is nonviolent civil or religious disobedience? Gandhi's definition is the clearest in my opinion:
"I have also called it love-force or soul-force. . .  I discovered in the earliest stages that pursuit of truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one’s opponent but that he must be weaned from error by patience and compassion. For what appears to be truth to the one may appear to be error to the other. And patience means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean vindication of truth, not by infliction of suffering on the opponent, but on oneself." - Mohandas Gandhi.
Let us examine the definition of violence:
Violence is defined by the World Health Organization as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation. This definition associates intentionality with the committing of the act itself, irrespective of the outcome it produces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V...
A Conscientious Objector takes on the burden of the Objection. That is the nature of nonviolent conscientious objection, religious or otherwise. Transferring the burden of one's own conscientious objection onto the Other is not conscientious objection. It is assault.

The Roman Catholic Church and the Religious Right are engaging in the War on Women as allies. They sent in some Nuns to the battle along with the requisite Corpos. Some other Nuns have filed a brief supporting the Affordable Care Act. 

This religious war on women is not new. It is very old. And now the Nuns are in a civil(?) war up to their necks. Do most America's Nuns support the ACA? Evidently, they do.
As further proof that conservative efforts to paint President Obama as the enemy of religion are a red herring, nearly two dozen leading Catholic nuns filed a brief in the Supreme Court last week supporting the president’s signature legislative accomplishment. As they explain in their brief:
Amici curiae represent the leadership of Catholic women’s religious orders from across the United States. Amici and the orders they serve have a long history of public service in healthcare in America dating back to the 1700s. These services include founding hospitals and free clinics and providing free healthcare to the underprivileged and uninsured. The work by Amici gives them a unique perspective on the unmet healthcare needs of the poor, as well as on the positive impact that will result from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA” or the “Act”). . . .
Amici believe that a civilized society must ensure the provision of basic healthcare to its citizens regardless of their ability to pay for it. They further believe it is a moral imperative that all levels of government institute programs that ensure the poor receive such care. They believe Medicaid expansion under the Act is critical to the communities they serve
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/02/23/431147/catholic-nuns-file-brief-supporting-affordable-care-act/