The Gadfly “To persuade and reproach” - Socrates, The Apology
Vol. XII, Iss. V April 1, 2010
Catholicism and American Healthcare Reform It only takes a brief look back at American history to realize that Roman Catholics have long supported the Democratic Party. The reasons for this are historically many, however, centering on the fact that most Catholics in America were European immigrants and the Democratic Party, was then, and is now largely the party of immigrants. Additionally the Democratic Party has a long history of protecting the rights and dignity of the worker, which is central tenant of Catholic Social Teaching. However, in recent American history there exists a clear distinction between authentic Catholicism and an active participation in the Democratic Party. This rift centers on the Democratic Party’s support of both abortion and of gay marriage, two things that the Catholic Church has
always opposed. This leads into the issue of the current healthcare system in America and the healthcare reform proposed by President Obama. (I am not saying that the current plan in the Congress is the right plan. Obviously if there is public funding for abortion in the final proposal then a Catholic cannot in good moral conscience support the bill.) Now it is important to recognize that the United States is the only industrialized nation in the world without a system of universal healthcare. Additionally, I for one, find it rather surprising that here on campus I have heard such vehement opposition to any notion of universal healthcare in America. Initially I was very taken aback by this. It is a fact that the universal
healthcare systems in Western Europe are generally well accepted by the people there. Another note of interest is that if there were any major moral problems with the system then wouldn’t one expect the Roman Catholic Church to warn against the evils of universal healthcare? In fact, however, the Catholic Church has a long history of supporting affordable healthcare for all. From Pope John XIII’s Encyclical Peace on Earth: But first we must speak of man's rights. Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary Continued on page 4
To Cuss Or Not To Cuss F***, P***, TW**, SH**, WA****, C***, CR**, M*****F*****, CO**SU****, PU***, A**. If you know all these terms, I am sorry for you. If you regularly use all these terms, I am ashamed for you. If you only use these terms to illustrate how “serious” you are, you are an idiot. Why? Because the use of profanities is a uniformly stupid practice and it really
irritates me when otherwise intelligent people feel the need to litter their otherwise banal vocabulary with low-grade, overused obscenities in order to prove a point. Now, first off, I feel the need to tell you that the geniuses at Scientific American (motto: We point out the obvious) conducted one of their usual mind-blowing studies and discovered that when someone is under a great deal of physical stress, nothing makes them
feel better than to let loose a really blue word. So if a Wile E. Coyotesize anvil slams on your foot in the middle of the J.C., I give you full permission to shout the Fword really loudly. But if you are having a slightly passionate discussion with your roommate about healthcare and you decide to drop the F-bomb a couple of times just to let people know you’re angry about it, you are a moron. Because A) using Continued on page 5