Respect for Religious Scruples Being Enacted Into Law

The Idaho state legislature is considering a law which would allow pharmacists licensed and practicing in that state to refuse to fill prescriptions which are offensive to their religious beliefs. So a Catholic pharmacist in Idaho could refuse to dispense birth control pills. Even though the prescription is legal, and neither the doctor nor the customer have any religious objection to birth control.

The bill has already passed the House and is now going to the Senate. It is supported by many religious groups as a proper recognition of religious conscience and respect for individual religious scruples.

I have not read the text of the bill, so I don't know whether a pharmacy could refuse to hire a Catholic pharmacist whom they knew would refuse to fill contraceptive prescriptions. I suspect that the bill requires "reasonable accommodation."

I think the bill will soon be considered not broad enough.

What about a mortuary who hires a Hassidic Jew? Orthodox Jews believe that touching a dead body makes one "unclean."

Muslim cab drivers in large cities such as New York refuse to take passengers who are carrying alcoholic beverages. Shouldn't they be protected, too?

It is against the Mormon religion to use coffee, tobacco, or tea (as well as alcohol). Should a restaurant be forced to hire a Mormon who refuses to serve coffee to a customer, or a glass of wine?

Should a Muslim be able to refuse to make a ham sandwich, if he works in a deli?

A simpler solution: if you are Catholic, don't become a pharmacist. If you're a Jew, don't look for a job in a deli or a funeral parlor. If you're a Mormon waiter, go get a job in some small town in Utah.

But it seems to be perfectly all right that nonbelievers are paid their wages in money that says "In God We Trust." And nobody objects if the nonbeliever's children have to recite the Pledge to the flag with the words "under God."

Religious attitudes need less respect, not more.

Religion vs Superstition

The Pope has been in Africa this week, and performed mass there.

He urged the Catholic Africans to help their countrymen to abandon superstition, magic, reliance on shamans and witch doctors. They should rather accept Christianity (in its Roman Catholic form, of course).

It is dangerous to believe in such superstitions, Benedict said.

Indeed! I agree with His Holiness entirely.

It is dangerous (as well as emotionally harmful) to believe such superstitious things as these:

- sprinkling with magic water while a witch doctor says magic words will wipe away your faults;
- a priest saying the proper words will turn a cracker into actual flesh;
- eating a bite of magic cracker-flesh will make you acceptable to the gods;
- if a demon possesses someone you love, you can get a witch doctor to "exorcise" the demon by waving a cross over him and saying certain magic words;
- you had better participate in the magic rituals on special magic days, at least twice a year;
- you can ask holy dead people for special favors;
- burning candles on an altar has a magic effect and will bring you your wishes;
- a Jewish rabbi who was executed two thousand years ago for treason wants you to devote your life to him.

Yes, superstition can be a terrible thing, if you let it get hold of your mind.

The Pope's Solution to AIDS

The Pope is visiting Africa now, and speaking there about the many problems that plague that great continent.

One of the most troublesome problems is the prevalence of AIDS, a withering disease that is usually (but not always) transmitted by sexual contact. The easiest and most widespread preventive measure is the use of condoms. Where condoms have been widely distributed and have been easily available, the incidence of AIDS has dramatically decreased.

But the Pope is opposed to promoting the use of condoms in Africa as a means for preventing the spread of this life-threatening disease. His alternative solution?

Abstinence!

Yes, His Holiness suggests that an entire continent become celibate. No more sex, no more physical love, no more children.

Why, one must ask, is the Pope so opposed to condoms? The answer seems obvious: for so many years the Roman Catholic Church has been opposed to any form of birth control (except abstinence, or the so-called "rhythm method"), and condom use was one of the most widely used contraceptive methods. One must suspect that it is only that long aversion to condoms as contraceptives that now colors the Catholic pontiff's rejection of a simple and effective method of preventing death for millions of Africans.

Another example of narrow-minded religious dogma causing human suffering.

Fortunately, most people ignore the pronouncements of the Pope. Thank God for that!