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Another Kennedy acts as theologian

CWN - December 09, 2011

Another member of the Kennedy family dabbles in theology, with a predictable political slant.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend announces that the "conservative bishops" of the US are "out of step" with their people insofar as they oppose contraception. Most Catholic women use contraceptives, she observes, and so it is unreasonable for the hierarchy to oppose the practice. (She does not address the question of whether the bishops should renounce the Decalogue, since most Catholics sin.)

The former lieutenant governor of Maryland argues that the US bishops are hypocritical in their opposition to a proposed mandate that would require contraceptive coverage in health-care programs. She charges that "they have chosen to engage in supreme doublespeak by choosing to cite 'freedom of conscience' as a justification for denying women their own freedom of conscience in resolving this intensely personal issue for themselves." She ignores the central point of the bishops' opposition: that the proposed policy would not merely allow women to use contraceptives--a practice that American law already makes legal--but coerce others into paying for the practice.

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Show 3 Comments? (Hidden)Hide Comments
  • Posted by: Gaby - Dec. 09, 2011 7:44 PM ET USA

    Sounds to me like she's got that "doublespeak" thing nailed down pat.

  • Posted by: Exaudi nos - Dec. 09, 2011 7:25 PM ET USA

    oh the joy of being your very own pope.

  • Posted by: AgnesDay - Dec. 09, 2011 5:11 PM ET USA

    And I, for one, shall regard Lt. Gov. Kennedy's theology with the same regard I have that of all the other Kennedys. I know I'm impressed.

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