Who's hypocritical?

 On the Separation of Church and State

Obama is on the wrong side of the insurance issue with the Catholic Church.  Sure, the red state of GA has a similar law.  Sure, the law may have been that way during the Bush years at some point.  Sure, the Catholic Church may have looked aside allowing years of child sexual abuse go on.  All that doesn't matter.  The Catholic Church should not be forced to provide insurance that pays for birth control it does not approve of nor should it be forced to cover abortion costs it doesn't approve of.  The Church is not a secular organization.  Opposition to birth control and abortion are legitimate and long establishes policies consistent with the long standing beliefs of the Church.  Imposing that the Church violate deep and long-standing tenets of its beliefs clearly crosses the line between the separation of Church and state.

In a similar vein, the state is obliged the protect the rights of all individuals.  Bans on gay marriage are based solely on the religious beliefs of individuals or inherent prejudice against gays, and ought to be struck down everywhere they appear.  Marriage as it is performed by the state is strictly a legal agreement.  Yes, many religions are against homosexuality.  Yes, successful marriages are glued together by love rather than the law.  But within the context of the state, barring gays from marriage, treats them as different before the law.  A state that claims the mantel of freedom won't be free to all until the law provides the same rights to all individuals.

This is not an attempt to draw an equivalency between the two.  It is true, however, an observation that it is hypocritical to claim on side of the argument without embracing the other.

Komen and Goin'

The left was quick to jump down the throat of the Komen foundation for pulling funding for breast cancer screening by Planned Parenthood.  However, it is absolutely true that if you fund any operation some part of that many goes into the infrastructure of the organization.  The infrastructure of Planned Parenthood includes some abortion services.  Hence, even though Planned Parenthood claims the funds are ear-marked for only one thing, it is almost impoossible for it to be completely true.

This reasoning is exactly why state funds should never be given to religious charities even though they are providing needed services.  It is almost impossible for some part of that funding to support the infrastructure of the religion, violating the separation of Church and state.

Komen, got exactly what it deserved:  a massive black eye and likely a drop in donations for a year or two.  The move was transparently political and driven by the newly departed VP.  They were, however, perfectly entitled to cut-off the funding - even it was to deprive screening for women that might otherwise not get it.  But if you want to do it because you are against abortion, say you are doing it because you are against abortion.  Then let the market place decide if it wants to support your cause or not.

Passing comments

What fun it was to see Romney get his ass handed handed to him by Sanctorum.

Duke beat UNC - :( - but a great victory for Duke.

We're still living in la la land on the deficit.  Yes, Virginia we will need to cut social programs and raise taxes.  That problem makes the separation of Church and State seem a bit more trivial.