Zimmerman
Active member
This is a letter I wrote to who used to be my priest (I'm not religious
whatsoever) while I was still forced to go to church. I wrote it in
response to a homily he gave last weekend. I heard he got a standing
ovation so I read it online. Here is the homily:
http://www.scpny.org/pdfs/Special%20Events/PJB%202012-07-01%2013th%20Sunday%20in%20OT%20B%202012.pdf
In my letter I had to be careful to stay respectful and all that jazz so
yeah. I also only stayed on the topic of his homily, healthcare and
religious freedom. I'd also like to discuss other similar things but
this is the letter:
A
Letter to My Former Priest
Response to July 1st,
2012 Homily
Let
me begin by assuring you that this letter is coming from the mind of a
non-religious, but religiously educated mind. I myself have chosen not to
follow a faith, but 100% respect other beliefs. I will not insult, deface, or
poke fun at any religion in this letter, nor will I show any bias. I will only
base my response to your homily delivered on July 1st, 2012 on fact,
reason, and the homily itself. I encourage you to keep an open mind in reading
this. Much of it will be from a “Christian” perspective.
You
begin by citing a classic Gospel tale in which your god (please do not take
offense to my mechanics when writing the word, “god”. This is simply how I
spell the word and am not trying to denounce your belief) heals two sickly
women. These are the beautiful stories which have built the Christian faith and
instilled good views of charity.
Next
you cite the Declaration of Independence in that our natural rights, given to
us by our “Creator,” are to be protected by the government. You must remember
that the “Creator” you cite is not the one you preach about. Many of the
founding fathers were deists, we are not a Christian nation, and when they used
the word, “Creator,” they did not mean any specific god from any specific
religion.
Now
that I have finished clearing up some quick things, I’ll break into the meat of
my letter. I am sorry you feel that your religious rights are being infringed
upon. They are not. The United States has 100% religious freedom. This is not
changing any time soon. We also have a separation of church and state. This
also will not change.
Here
is where I show that I, in fact, am not biased against your teaching. Mayor
Nutter’s regulation is ludicrous. I am offended that I can’t give some guy a
sandwich in Philadelphia. I feel that this is my right. However, this is not an
infringement on religious freedom. It is simply an infringement on my right to
give some guy a sandwich in Philadelphia.
The
Catholic Church’s recent publications and interpretations have unfortunately
turned into a huge misunderstanding of both the healthcare law, and their own
religion. I’ll add that I for one am not for the healthcare law; I believe the
United States needs a single-payer universal healthcare system like those used
in several Scandinavian countries. However, the mandate is still better than
our previous “system,” if it could be called that, and if one looks at it on a
larger scale, it is much more Christian. I just blew your mind, didn’t I. The
law the Vatican has been speaking out against? How could it be?
I
really wish the majority of Christians would actually follow Christ’s teachings
instead of listening to their now politically involved Vatican. According to
the Bible, Jesus was a great man, out to heal the sick, clothe the naked, and feed
the hungry. All for free. Jesus was out for no profit of his own. Our current
healthcare system leaves many Americans of all walks of life uninsured, and too
many people die every year because they simply cannot afford to stay alive.
People fall sick, and fall into debt. This is not what Christ would have
wanted. If your Jesus spoke to us about the new law, he would probably say
something like “Good try America, you have made the first step toward a better
healthcare system for all, not just those who can pay.” I know, there are some
parts of the law you may not like, but isn’t it still better than the previous
one? Is healing the sick, one of Jesus’ main priorities, less important than a
small part of the law which will make healthcare available to all people?
Now
on to what you feel is infringing on your religious freedom. Contraception,
abortion. You knew these two words would come up. Unfortunately, they had to.
The new law will never force a pill down a woman’s throat. The new law will never
force a woman to abort her pregnancy. It is simply ensuring that all women have
equal healthcare provided to them under the law. A woman should never have to
leave their job because their employer is uncomfortable with providing them the
care they need. I respect that the Catholic Church is against abortion and
contraception. What I disagree with is their assertion that free will should be
taken away from others. That’s right. Free will. The free will you believe your
creator gave you at birth. It is given to everyone, and no law can take that
away. Therefore, Christians should not be advocating outlawing abortion or
contraception. They shouldn’t even be against having to provide them as
healthcare to those who need them. They simply shouldn’t use contraception or
get an abortion. This is the Christian way. If you are pro-life, why are you
against affordable healthcare? If you want to follow your faith and be against
these things, don’t use them. But to refuse someone else their free will to use
them is simply un-Christian.
I’m
all for speaking out for your rights like founding father Charles Carroll
bravely did. If your religious freedom was being taken away, I would be right
there with you on the front lines of the debate. Even though I am not
religious, I want the freedom to be religious or not. However, these rights are
not being taken away. As Jon Stewart said, “You’ve confused a ‘war on your religion’ with ‘not always getting
everything you want.’…America isn’t Nazi Germany. And the secret police aren’t
coming for ya. Hell, the IRS isn’t even coming for ya. This government ‘hates’
religious organizations so much, it lets them keep $100 billion a year in
offerings tax-free.” The church doesn’t even have to pay taxes like everyone
else, and yet they feel they are being persecuted, and are becoming more and
more involved in politics. The Catholic Church deserves its natural right of
free speech, but if they want to influence our lawmakers and population, they
should be paying taxes.
In closing I must say
that I have been very confused with the Catholic Church recently. They seem to
be contradicting their own good and pure beliefs. I encourage Catholics along
with Christians everywhere to advocate for healing the sick, to advocate for
free will. I’m sure Jesus would not agree with an every man for himself approach
to healthcare, and nor would he want free will to go by the wayside. He would
want the sick to be healed. The bill was found to be constitutional by
Christian people in the Supreme Court. I really wish the Catholic Church would
look at the big picture and realize that the new system will be more Christian than
the old one, and their rights are definitely not being taken away.
Sincerely,
Jon Zinter
whatsoever) while I was still forced to go to church. I wrote it in
response to a homily he gave last weekend. I heard he got a standing
ovation so I read it online. Here is the homily:
http://www.scpny.org/pdfs/Special%20Events/PJB%202012-07-01%2013th%20Sunday%20in%20OT%20B%202012.pdf
In my letter I had to be careful to stay respectful and all that jazz so
yeah. I also only stayed on the topic of his homily, healthcare and
religious freedom. I'd also like to discuss other similar things but
this is the letter:
A
Letter to My Former Priest
Response to July 1st,
2012 Homily
Let
me begin by assuring you that this letter is coming from the mind of a
non-religious, but religiously educated mind. I myself have chosen not to
follow a faith, but 100% respect other beliefs. I will not insult, deface, or
poke fun at any religion in this letter, nor will I show any bias. I will only
base my response to your homily delivered on July 1st, 2012 on fact,
reason, and the homily itself. I encourage you to keep an open mind in reading
this. Much of it will be from a “Christian” perspective.
You
begin by citing a classic Gospel tale in which your god (please do not take
offense to my mechanics when writing the word, “god”. This is simply how I
spell the word and am not trying to denounce your belief) heals two sickly
women. These are the beautiful stories which have built the Christian faith and
instilled good views of charity.
Next
you cite the Declaration of Independence in that our natural rights, given to
us by our “Creator,” are to be protected by the government. You must remember
that the “Creator” you cite is not the one you preach about. Many of the
founding fathers were deists, we are not a Christian nation, and when they used
the word, “Creator,” they did not mean any specific god from any specific
religion.
Now
that I have finished clearing up some quick things, I’ll break into the meat of
my letter. I am sorry you feel that your religious rights are being infringed
upon. They are not. The United States has 100% religious freedom. This is not
changing any time soon. We also have a separation of church and state. This
also will not change.
Here
is where I show that I, in fact, am not biased against your teaching. Mayor
Nutter’s regulation is ludicrous. I am offended that I can’t give some guy a
sandwich in Philadelphia. I feel that this is my right. However, this is not an
infringement on religious freedom. It is simply an infringement on my right to
give some guy a sandwich in Philadelphia.
The
Catholic Church’s recent publications and interpretations have unfortunately
turned into a huge misunderstanding of both the healthcare law, and their own
religion. I’ll add that I for one am not for the healthcare law; I believe the
United States needs a single-payer universal healthcare system like those used
in several Scandinavian countries. However, the mandate is still better than
our previous “system,” if it could be called that, and if one looks at it on a
larger scale, it is much more Christian. I just blew your mind, didn’t I. The
law the Vatican has been speaking out against? How could it be?
I
really wish the majority of Christians would actually follow Christ’s teachings
instead of listening to their now politically involved Vatican. According to
the Bible, Jesus was a great man, out to heal the sick, clothe the naked, and feed
the hungry. All for free. Jesus was out for no profit of his own. Our current
healthcare system leaves many Americans of all walks of life uninsured, and too
many people die every year because they simply cannot afford to stay alive.
People fall sick, and fall into debt. This is not what Christ would have
wanted. If your Jesus spoke to us about the new law, he would probably say
something like “Good try America, you have made the first step toward a better
healthcare system for all, not just those who can pay.” I know, there are some
parts of the law you may not like, but isn’t it still better than the previous
one? Is healing the sick, one of Jesus’ main priorities, less important than a
small part of the law which will make healthcare available to all people?
Now
on to what you feel is infringing on your religious freedom. Contraception,
abortion. You knew these two words would come up. Unfortunately, they had to.
The new law will never force a pill down a woman’s throat. The new law will never
force a woman to abort her pregnancy. It is simply ensuring that all women have
equal healthcare provided to them under the law. A woman should never have to
leave their job because their employer is uncomfortable with providing them the
care they need. I respect that the Catholic Church is against abortion and
contraception. What I disagree with is their assertion that free will should be
taken away from others. That’s right. Free will. The free will you believe your
creator gave you at birth. It is given to everyone, and no law can take that
away. Therefore, Christians should not be advocating outlawing abortion or
contraception. They shouldn’t even be against having to provide them as
healthcare to those who need them. They simply shouldn’t use contraception or
get an abortion. This is the Christian way. If you are pro-life, why are you
against affordable healthcare? If you want to follow your faith and be against
these things, don’t use them. But to refuse someone else their free will to use
them is simply un-Christian.
I’m
all for speaking out for your rights like founding father Charles Carroll
bravely did. If your religious freedom was being taken away, I would be right
there with you on the front lines of the debate. Even though I am not
religious, I want the freedom to be religious or not. However, these rights are
not being taken away. As Jon Stewart said, “You’ve confused a ‘war on your religion’ with ‘not always getting
everything you want.’…America isn’t Nazi Germany. And the secret police aren’t
coming for ya. Hell, the IRS isn’t even coming for ya. This government ‘hates’
religious organizations so much, it lets them keep $100 billion a year in
offerings tax-free.” The church doesn’t even have to pay taxes like everyone
else, and yet they feel they are being persecuted, and are becoming more and
more involved in politics. The Catholic Church deserves its natural right of
free speech, but if they want to influence our lawmakers and population, they
should be paying taxes.
In closing I must say
that I have been very confused with the Catholic Church recently. They seem to
be contradicting their own good and pure beliefs. I encourage Catholics along
with Christians everywhere to advocate for healing the sick, to advocate for
free will. I’m sure Jesus would not agree with an every man for himself approach
to healthcare, and nor would he want free will to go by the wayside. He would
want the sick to be healed. The bill was found to be constitutional by
Christian people in the Supreme Court. I really wish the Catholic Church would
look at the big picture and realize that the new system will be more Christian than
the old one, and their rights are definitely not being taken away.
Sincerely,
Jon Zinter
![[hamnuts]](/data/avatars/m/171/171426.jpg?1745610909){kind=avatar}
