>>>http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/10/politics/contraception-controversy/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
>>>
>>>This is what I think makes this guy such a good President. When there is firm opposition to his views he will bend. He isn't dug in like some. In this case he recognized major resistance to a policy decision and gave them an out, without abandoning those the policy was intended to benefit. I don't call that caving in, I call it dealing with reality in a badly polarized country.
>>>
>>>You don't hear so much any more from those who thought he was too inexperienced or soft to be President. He is a lot tougher than he is sometimes given credit for. He pushed the button on taking out Osama bin Laden, something his more bellicose predecessors had been trying to do for years. That was a risky operation that would have blown up in his face big time if it had failed. He said go.
>>>
>>>He stood up for the "bailout" of banks during the financial crisis in 2008, when he was the opposition candidate and had every political reason to oppose it. Because he thought it was the right thing to do. (In case anyone has forgotten, the government wound up making money on the deal).
>>>
>>>I don't think he is perfect and have disagreed with him on some things. He has made some mistakes, as all Presidents do. He's still my guy. And he will undoubtedly be reelected.
>>>
>>>Barry Blitt of the New Yorker hit pay dirt again on the cover of the issue published Super Bowl week --
>>>
>>>http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/The-New-Yorker-Cover-February-6-2012-Prints_i8682641_.htm
>>
>>This topic really gets me ticked when I think about it. The way I see it the Catholic church seems to get offended and thinks they're being persecuted if they don't get things their way. They don't want to spend the money on contraception (they prolly need it to pay off all the abused alter boys). What this boils down too is a bunch of bible thumpers trying to impose their belief on others. Rick Santorum seems to be the poster child for such idiot thinking recently.
>
>My view of the Catholic church is nowhere near that dark. I am not Catholic but my ex-wife was and our daughters were raised Catholic. They went to a Catholic school through 8th grade and 5th grade, respectively. Tricia's side of the family were/are all Catholic. So I have had a fair amount of exposure to it. I am certainly not going to defend molesting priests or the higher-ups who protected them -- no one could -- but in my experience the priests and parishioners were almost all exemplary people. It's really a case of broad conclusions being drawn based on a few bad apples.
>
>The prohibition against contraception is part of church orthodoxy. I know many Catholics, especially from our age on down, who think it's bunk, but some take it seriously. Even though I don't agree, I am not going to knock anyone's religious beliefs. Nor do I blame the bishops, other than maybe for grandstanding. Unless and until the Vatican changes the orthodoxy (not too likely IMO given the current pope, previously known as the pit bull of the Vatican) they have little choice but to take positions like this.

Ok well WHY is contraception part of church orthodoxy? From what I understand it's hugely unpopular among the flock - surely you see the obvious monetary gain for the church right? The Catechism of the Catholic Church specifies that all sex acts must be both unitive and procreative. I can't imagine anyone not connecting the dots here....