…the Supreme Court will hear arguments by Hobby Lobby, a nationwide chain of craft stores, asking the court for the right to discriminate against their employees who are entitled to reproductive health care under the Affordable Care Act. I know that Hobby Lobby’s owner family, the Greens, are deeply religious people, and I respect their beliefs. They object to certain forms of birth control, claiming they constitute abortion (a “fact” disputed by much of the medical community). The Greens claim that corporations, through their owners, have freedom of religion ”” a very slippery slope. But should the entire company and its 14,000 employees be held hostage by the beliefs of its owners?
We know that most American women, regardless of what religion they are, use contraception at some point in their lives. As a pastor, I have seen firsthand what a gift it is to be able to control when and whether one has a child. It offers women some measure of control over their lives.
Sometimes, even for a bishop, it’s embarrassing to be a Christian. Not that I’m embarrassed by Jesus, whose life was spent caring and advocating for the marginalized, and whom I believe to be the perfect revelation of God. I’m just sometimes embarrassed to be associated with others who claim to follow him.
[blockquote] Sometimes, even for a bishop, it’s embarrassing to be a Christian. Not that I’m embarrassed by Jesus, whose life was spent caring and advocating for the marginalized, and whom I believe to be the perfect revelation of God. I’m just sometimes embarrassed to be associated with others who claim to follow him.[/blockquote]
The feeling is mutual Mr. Robinson.
Yeah, don’t you just hate it when Christians stand up for freedom and rights? I mean, seriously, can’t they just burn a little incense to the Emperor? What’s wrong with these people???
I find it embarrassing to be in the same church as Bishop Robinson, to be from the same seminary as the Presiding Bishop, and lots of other things… but I live with it.
If I were in the place of the owners of Hobby Lobby and the court found against me on this, I would simply close up shop and tell all the newly unemployed that they could thank the benevolent government for the loss of their job. The Greens are probably kinder and more Christian than I.
RE: “I’m just sometimes embarrassed to be associated with others who claim to follow him.”
Oh don’t worry — that “association” is blessedly going away, Bishop Robinson. And those who do believe the Gospel and follow Christ are working hard to make certain that the secular masses understand you’re disassociation with the Christian faith — every single time you come up in conversation.
His presentation of the issue is as twisted as his own misunderstanding of the Gospel.
If I’m wrong I will GLADLY stand corrected – but this isn’t even a religious rights issue. It has to do with employers running their company as they see fit and offering benefits they feel will attract and keep employees. These are BENEFITS not RIGHTS. If Hobby Lobby didn’t want to optical insurance we wouldn’t be here.
Bishop Robinson on the one hand seems to object to provision for those who are euphamistically termed “entitled to reproductive health care” in a company being “held hostage by the beliefs of its owners” and on the other hand states that this is because “our religion should be about more love, not less; more dignity, not less”.
I don’t understand how love and dignity are afforded by Bishop Robinson to vulnerable zygotes and children in his argument. I don’t see any Christian love there for the children.
However when he says “Sometimes, even for a bishop, it’s embarrassing to be a Christian” – yes, I can understand why Bishop Robinson would find Christian belief “embarrassing” given his views. Perhaps he might be less embarrassed by Spartan and Moabite child care practices.
VGR would hold the ecclesia captive to his personal interpretation which is due to his personal practice, an imposition of lex genitalis lex credende, which apparently eludes his intellect. Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
And, yes, VGR, it is embarrassing to be associated with you since secular people can’t tell the difference “Zeitgeistian” and Christian thanks to your obfuscation.