A Visit To The Reality Community: Americans Have Sex. Americans Use Birth Control. Let's Move On.
Rob Boston printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Wed Sep 03, 2014 at 11:17:03 AM EST

Over the weekend, Americans United Senior Litigation Counsel Greg Lipper took part in a panel discussion about the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision at a meeting of the American Political Science Association here in Washington, D.C.

This report by the Christian Post is worth a read. Reporter Napp Nazworth focuses mainly on the comments made by Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Tocqueville associate professor of religion and public life at the University of Notre Dame. Read his comments and be afraid - or simply amused. (Do note that this story gets one thing wrong. It reads as if Lipper compared opposition to birth control to racial segregation. Actually, he compared religious opposition to racial integration to the current religious opposition to LGBT integration.)

Muñoz argued that "the left" really won the Hobby Lobby case. His reasoning seems to be that our side won because the discussion all along was about the scope of the contraceptive mandate, not whether there would be such a mandate.

Muñoz asserted that the case was really a clash between two views of human sexuality. He said the "traditional view" holds that "men and women are called to live to a normative standard of human sexuality that they themselves do not create." The competing perspective, which Muñoz called the "modern view," says that "men and women are and ought to be their own authors of what constitutes the proper use of sexuality."

Let's unpack this a bit. I'm especially interested in Muñoz's claim that human beings did not create the "normative standard of human sexuality" that they are expected to adhere to. So who did, then?

If you guessed "God," that's not quite right. Rather, this standard, which we are all expected to honor and cling to unquestioningly, was created by (surprise!) the all-male clergy of the church that just happens to own the University of Notre Dame. Sure, they say they speak for God, but, you know, a lot of people have made that claim over the years.

Furthermore, this standard of "normative" human sexuality was hammered out by these clergymen something like, oh, 1,500 years ago and it hasn't moved one iota because we all know that social norms certainly haven't changed in that time.

 "The Hobby Lobby case wasn't really a contest between the traditional and modern views of human sexuality," Muñoz added. "The only dispute was how thoroughly the modern view was going to route the traditional view."

Allow me to interpret for you: "You're not listening to the leaders of the Catholic Church when everyone at my college knows full well that the leaders of the church are right! You're making me very mad!"

Actually, the Hobby Lobby case was a clash between the reality community and the "my-religion-gets-to-tell-you-what-to-do" community. Sadly, the reality community lost because the Supreme Court decided in part that what matters is not facts but what people believe to be true (even if it's not).

Yet those pesky facts won't go away. Here are some that are interesting:

* Ninety-five percent of Americans have sex before marriage.

* Most Americans who want children say two children is the ideal number to have.

* Women can start bearing children during their teen years. A woman, generally speaking, can remain fertile until into her 40s.

* Virtually all sexually active women, at some point in their lives, use some form of birth control. Eighty-eight percent have used birth control pills, patches or intrauterine devices.

* Several studies have shown that access to affordable, safe contraceptives has made it possible for more women to take part in higher education and more fully participate in economic life.  

Add it up. What all of this means is that most heterosexual women are going to spend a lot more time trying to avoid pregnancy than they are trying to get pregnant. Hence, birth control is a vital public health issue. It was included in the Affordable Care Act for that reason, not as a way to annoy the Roman Catholic bishops.

See, what's really bothering Muñoz and his ilk isn't the contraceptive mandate. Their beef goes much deeper. What troubles him is that people are 1) having sex before marriage; 2) engaging in sex because they happen to enjoy it and not just because they want to have babies 3) taking part in family planning. These things bother Muñoz because people are not listening to his church's bishops.

And, get this: Many of those people who are not listening to Muñoz's bishops are members of his own church. That stings.

This is a bitter truth for the theocrats to face, so it all must be a conspiracy: "The left" is trying to force religion out of public life. "The left" hates God and Christianity. "The left" favors hedonism.

Not quite. "The left" (and plenty on "the right" too) happen to live in the real world, the world where consenting adults have sex and engage in responsible forms of family planning because they realize that, in an ideal society, every child would be wanted and loved and not brought into a family that can't afford to raise him or her.

No one in America is being forced to use birth control. Most people do it voluntarily and want access to it because it improves their quality of life. It makes no sense to put roadblocks in their way.

Perhaps instead of constantly carping about the overheated machinations of "the left," Muñoz and his bishops should look inwardly. The fact is, they had every right to make an argument against birth control and did in fact make one. It just wasn't a very good argument, and the people consciously rejected it.

In that sense - in the sense of cultural realities and the way Americans choose to live their lives - Muñoz is right: The anti-contraception forces did win the battle of Hobby Lobby but are steadily losing the war.

We can't force these folks to join the reality community; I wouldn't want to. But we can do this: We can stop them from elevating their rejected, outmoded, out-of-touch dogma to the status of public policy that all must follow. 




Display:
I was a bit surprised to find out that two was considered the ideal number of kids for most of Americans(that were surveyed), but in my family(I'm in my early 20's so kids aren't in my immediate future) the rule is "two hands, two kids".

by Hirador on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 03:00:31 PM EST

Is something that busy bodies do not do. They want to be free to tell us how to live. It can go too far very easily. And then there is the fact that Christianity isn't about democracy or a republic, it is about the Divine Right of Kings and totalitarianism. What they can't get through persuasion, they want to do with Holy Steamrollers. They must not get that far.

Govt is supposed to protect us, but there are limits. Which is why extremism with the (some) Drug war has warped and weakened our individual freedoms over the 100 years of its quasi Fascist reign.

Most people do not want theocracy or too much govt in the home and personal life. Nature is balance, we need to emulate Nature and have balance too.

by Nightgaunt on Sun Sep 07, 2014 at 08:44:04 PM EST




by khughes1963 on Wed Sep 03, 2014 at 08:20:09 PM EST


WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (329 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.