Catholic Bishops Celebrate ‘Religious Freedom’, Thomas More, Without Irony
Fred Clark, the owner of the Slacktivist Blog, recently posted a commentary on the Catholic Bishops’ latest anti-women’s healthcare protest. The bishops are now using Thomas More as a mascot, without any sense of irony.
Thomas More was executed by Henry the VIII for refusing to go against his own conscience and religious beliefs. He also persecuted William Tyndale, who committed the crime of translating the bible into English. Fred Clark summarizes the situation:
To fight for religious liberty, one has to understand what that means, and the bishops have made it clear that they simply do not. Like their patron saint, Thomas More, they think that religious liberty involves their liberty to impose their religion on others.
Their ‘Freedom Fortnight’ campaign might be something I could believe or respect if they took for its symbol instead someone like, say, Mary Dyer.
But the ‘religious liberty’ these bishops are fighting for is at the other end of that rope. They don’t care about or sympathize with Mary Dyer’s religious liberty. What they’re upset about is that, unlike the theocratic puritans of 17th-century New England, they are no longer free to do whatever it takes to restrain such uppity women.
All I can say is that Thomas More was as ready to die for his beliefs, as he was willing to kill for his beliefs. Today’s bishops are ready to dish out suffering, but they sure can’t take it.
“Thomas More vs. Mary Dyer: The bishops don’t know what ‘religious liberty’ means”