Santorum and the Bishops

Commentary By Ron Beasley

I have thought all along that the recent birth control flap had little to do with birth control.  The Republicans and tea party crows are opposed to it because it comes from Obama.  The Catholic hierarchy is opposed to it because it is a threat to their power - the power to control women and sex.  Over at Balloon Juice recovering Catholic Dennis G. has some great insight.

The Bishops are demanding an end to any rule that requires any insurance company to cover any contraception or family planning as basic health issues for women. This is just the latest iteration of a centuries old objection to women having control of their bodies, their lives, their happiness and their liberty by the conservative power-focused elites running the Roman Catholic Church. This objection manifests itself in screeds against anything that treats sex as an activity separate from breeding and/or free from the dictates of Church Law.

And yet, I don�t think this latest play is about sex or even the Church trying to control the lives of women�I think it is about power and that sex, women, gay marriage and a host of other culture warrior issues are the pathway that they see as the golden road.

Yes the golden path back to "the good old days" before the reformation and the American and French revolutions.

For anybody who has looked at the history of the Catholic Church (and any organized religion for that matter) a key part of their activities over time becomes how to maintain power, privilege and influence�and all the goodies that come with it. Eventually that is all that matters for the institution. The greatest success in this effort always comes when political leaders bow to the dictates of the Holy Roman Church and agree to make State Law subservient to Church Law. Back in the days of Kings and Queens you only had a handful of elites you had to work with and the mutual pursuit of power inspired many of them to treat Church Law as State Law. It worked for a long while and then came the Reformation, Protestantism, King Henry, the Enlightenment, Democracy and eventually a desire by more and more people to make their laws free of religion and the dictates of any Church.

The United States of America was founded on the belief that Church and State are separate and that the Laws of this Nation trump the laws of any religion�including the Roman Catholic Church. As you can imagine, this has made the conservative wing of the Catholic Church quite sad. For over a century they have been on the losing end of many political fights�especially when it comes to women in America. The Church opposed suffrage for women and any effort over the years that might free women from the Church sanctioned role of breeder. The Church has fought every form of contraception and lost most battles. They also have lost the battle of finding any American politician who was willing to embrace the idea that US Law should be subservient to Church Law�until now.

While there are two Catholics in the race, Santorum and Gingrich, only Santorum is the true cultural warrior who could be counted on to place the will of the Bishops above the Constitution.  Once again the Bishops would have the power they desire.

Supporting a Santorum surge is an opportunity for power and that is why the Bishops are doubling down on opposing any insurance company offering any contraception or family planning services to anybody, anywhere. Ultimately the entire issue is about power and not about sex.

Of course the Catholic hierarchy is so out of touch even with American Catholics they can't see that there is no possibility that Santorum could win a national election.  I suspect they may also fear the growing power of the Church of Latter Day Saints and would not like to see the Mormon Romney in the White House.

Cross posted at The Moderate Voice