Students of American history remember that in the beginning, this country did not have a very tolerant approach to different religious beliefs. Things got so bad that for many years it was illegal in many colonies to practice Catholicism and it was pretty commonplace to see signs such as the one above on many businesses. In fact, Massachusetts was probably the least tolerant of all the colonies, even making the death penalty available for priests who dared to say Mass.
Though the country has obviously come a long way in this regard, it is also obvious that we have not shed such anti-Catholic sentiment completely. This became clear a couple of days ago when Martha Coakley – Democrat candidate in next week’s senatorial election in Massachusetts – gave this response to a question about Catholic hospitals and doctors that would want conscience protections in any health care initiatives so that they can practice medicine without having to participate in things like abortion.
Transcript:
Ken Pittman: Right, if you are a Catholic, and believe what the Pope teaches that any form of birth control is a sin. ah you don’t want to do that.
Martha Coakley: No we have a separation of church and state Ken, lets be clear.
Ken Pittman: In the emergency room you still have your religious freedom.
Martha Coakley: (…stammering) The law says that people are allowed to have that. You can have religious freedom but you probably shouldn’t work in the emergency room.
There is so much wrong with this exchange – including a misunderstanding of the Church’s position on what is available to rape victims and what Catholic hospitals can do for them. But, I’ll save that for another time. Right now, with Tuesday’s election in MA rapidly approaching, it is important to just focus on the Democrat’s ridiculous idea that doctors who have reasonable objections to participating in things like abortion should find other work – that there is simply no room in American hospitals for Catholic doctors. And I assume that this also means that Catholic hospitals in general should close if they can’t provide abortions. 
Bill Donahue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights says that Ms. Coakley is not only attacking Catholics, she is trampling on religious freedom. Statement here.
Please make sure your Catholic family and friends living in Massachusetts know where Ms. Coakley stands on Catholicism and religious freedom.
Full radio interview with Ms. Coakley can be heard here.
