Jesus healed the sick

     So another state is joining the ranks of Virginia as being worse than Ohio. Michigan's legislature is working on a bill that would prevent doctors from having to treat gay people. They will be allowed to object to treating the person based on "moral, ethical or religious grounds." Maybe it's for the best though eh? I wouldn't want my doctor to be an ignorant, dimwitted bigot. Might try shock treatment. Then there's the thought that perhaps somewhere, a gay doctor will refuse to treat a Catholic based on religious and moral conflicts. Wouldn't that be ironic?

     Now what I don't understand is why a doctor would be morally objected to treating a gay person. Don't they take an oath to heal the sick? So if they refuse to treat someone who is sick, are they not breaking that oath? I think at that point they are a politician, no longer a doctor. And what makes it immoral to treat a gay person? No one is asking the doctor to have sex with the patient - as a matter of fact I think that's already illegal. Where in religion does it say that a doctor should not treat another human being who is ill? Isn't that what Jesus did? And what kind of ethics does it take to think that one person's self-righteousness should take precidence over another person's health? This is truly becoming a sick and twisted society.

     At the heart of this drama is the Michigan Catholic Conference. Their very own bigot for public policy said this was a victory for religious freedom. Actually it's a free ticket for discrimination, and a slippery slope to hellish problems. I mean who's next after gays? On the Michigan CC website it states that their mission is to "identify needs in areas of morality, health, welfare... civil rights, and determine ways to meet those needs." I guess if a few of those conflict, like civil rights, healthcare, and morality just throw the whole thing out the window. Yeah, way to improve health care is to not treat gay people. Yeah, that solves the morality problem. But whoops - then there's civil rights. Ahh.. who cares, right? Later in their Policy statement it reads: "The Catholic community brings to the public debate its rich tradition of service to the poor, education of the young, and care for the sick in its pursuit of a just society." Dear God, they're a bit off course. Maybe they should insert "oppression of minorities" and "influencing government bodies." I have some Christian friends who would be so ashamed...

(sources: Michigan Preparing To Let Doctors Refuse To Treat Gays, Michigan Catholic Conference website)