But What Do The Ordinary Catholics Want?

I have written quite a bit about the demands of the American Catholic bishops when it comes to insurance coverage for contraceptives. But what do the ordinary Catholics want?

A new survey tells us:

• A majority (55%) of Americans agree that “employers should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception and birth control at no cost.” Four-in-ten (40%) disagree with this requirement.
• There are major religious, generational and political divisions:
◦ Roughly 6-in-10 Catholics (58%) believe that employers should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception.
◦ Among Catholic voters, support for this requirement is slightly lower at 52%.
◦ Only half (50%) of white Catholics support this requirement, compared to 47% who oppose it.

Fascinating. Overall Catholics are at least as likely to support contraceptive coverage as the majority of Americans.

But then what a religion requires is not determined by its ordinary members. I think they would do a better job of it.

As an example, take the Catholic church belief that artificial contraception is sinful. Who decided that? As far as I know it was celibate men and celibate men only. The one group which will never have to think about the practical consequences of that decision.

Now that is weird.