I don't need to piddle on a stick to know one ugly baby is coming

I did not have a chance to see last evening's FOX News episode of "The Five" until it was re-aired in the wee hours, when I had already put the computer, the cat, and myself to bed, so my response to one particular issue had to wait until today... and it spent the night brewing into a fine, boiling pot of five-alarm chili.  

What got my dander up?  Juan William's cavalier view of the POTUS' policy toward faith-based health care providers.  He sees nothing wrong in requiring all hospitals, health centers, clinics, and such to provide every form of birth control and abortion, regardless of how the center's faith may view said products and services.   He sees nothing wrong in requiring faith-based employers to provide full coverage of said products and services in their health insurance policies, regardless of what faith may be the founding tenets to the employer's business (school, non-profit organization, etc.).  The first argument he makes is that it's not an attack on the Catholic Church because "the hospitals are not churches, they're hospitals.  The colleges are not the Church..."  And, yet, Juan, the people who run them, the people who founded, them, the preponderance of people who take advantage of their services, may be members of said church. To tell them that they are not allowed to observe their faith while practicing what their faith tells them to do (you know, that good deed thing, and the spreading of The Word thing), isn't that an attack, therefore, on their faith?  

Further, these organizations are not public properties, they do not belong to the government, they are not to be operated or directed by the federal government, and their right to believe and to express that belief are protected from federal intervention (need I remind one of the Constitution of the United States of America, and the first Amendment thereof?).  

But Juan goes on to say, "If they don't like the rules, they don't have to operate these businesses..."  They can shut down their hospitals, colleges, adoption agencies (as has happened in IL, may the consequences not be as terrible as I think they will), and other operations, and find some other ways to pass their time and expend their energies.  So, if your faith doesn't allow you to object to a practice that the government, in completely arbitrary fashion, says every member of your profession must follow, you must shut down the entire operation, thus putting all your employees on the dole and your patients or customers out on the street.  

Sure.  That works for me.

After all, you can't get birth control pills, abortions, or other women's services anywhere else in the country (because obviously there is no available service for women right across the street at the next hospital,  Planned Parenthood, or Family Planning clinic, you can't get condoms or spermicide or other such from the local supermarket or drug store for a negligible price, you can't order the same over the internet from discreet agencies...).  Just because it's not provided, and provided FOR FREE from one group with a moral compass, that group must be shut down.

Now that we've covered that Catholics can't actually have hospitals, outreach programs, or schools, let's go back and work on those Jews and their banks.  They have a long history as nice targets, too, since they, too, have faith-based laws and a sense of moral rectitude which sets them apart from the masses.  All your banks are belong to us.

And, since one lovely study shows that a certain amount of beef protein is necessary for brain health and development, Hindu and vegan restaurants -- and any other such establishments -- will be required to serve a nice, rare porterhouse steak to any customer or employee who might demand one, free of charge.  Refuse, and the government will shut down your business.    Forget your moral outrage, how dare you deprive somebody of something in your place of business that he could get for himself almost anywhere else on the planet?!

Artists of all faiths, get your brushes and chisels and other gear ready -- if you paint or carve a crucifix or a portrait of the Virgin, you're going to have to provide a pentagram or Old Nick to the next group, free of charge.   Or, actually, knowing the bulk of the artistic community, and all things being equal,  be prepared to produce a free Virgin Mary after you've finished your paid commission in sympathy for the Devil.  By recent actions, the President of the United States indicates you have to, and his supporters say he has the right to do so. 

To Juan, and anybody else who thinks the administration is only trying to take care of all women and their health needs, I say, "Look again."  You don't have to be a Catholic to be infuriated by the current administration's direction.  You don't even have to be a person of faith.  This is clearly an assault on one faith, and an attack on one is an attack on all.  It therefore follows that an attack on the Constitutional right to freedom of expression of religion is an attack on all rights of all Americans.  

This policy is the baby which must be aborted.