I am a Nebraska Catholic, and - since reading the following story in the Lincoln Journal-Star - I have been ashamed of our local religious leaders for their betrayal of everything that is good and right in the Church's teachings:
The debate over sexual orientation and religious conviction has spilled over into state rules for licensed psychologists.
Psychologists should be able to refuse to treat - and refuse to refer clients - because of religious or moral convictions, Jim Cunningham, executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, said during a licensing rules hearing Thursday. The conference also supports a similar "convictions of conscience" rule for licensed counselors, social workers and marriage and family therapists.
Without any conscience clause, Catholic Charities in Omaha and Catholic Social Services in Lincoln might have to stop hiring licensed counselors and psychologists, Cunningham said. The Lincoln agency provides about $100,000 in free mental health services, he said Thursday.
While most ethics codes for professional counselors and psychologists allow professionals to refuse to offer services based on ethical or moral convictions, the codes generally require the professional to refer the client. But even referring clients could be a violation of conscience when the service violates moral or religious convictions, Cunningham said.....
Without a moral exemption, a psychologist who believes homosexual relationships are immoral might be required to counsel homosexual couples on building a better relationship, said Edward Stringham, a Lincoln psychologist....
But another Lincoln psychologist said the conviction of conscience language opens a Pandora's box. It could allow any provider to discriminate against virtually anyone -as long as they claim a conflicting moral or religious belief, said James K. Cole, who represented the Nebraska Psychology Association at the hearing.
There have been no known problems nationally or in Nebraska with claims that psychologists are forced to compromise moral or religious values because of the national ethics code requiring them to help refer a client, he said.
I weep for my Church. That is neither metaphor nor hyperbole. A Catholic Church that lobbies and fights for the right to turn its back on those in need is not the Church in which I was raised. Nor is it the Church in which I believe.
What is saddest about this whole situation is that the Nebraska Catholic Conference isn't just some outside group abusing the Church's name to serve a reactionary, right-wing political agenda. This is an actual body within the Church that doesn't adopt any policy or take any position without support from each of Nebraska's three Bishops.
It is morally repugnant to suggest that providing a simple referral to someone in need could ever be a violation of conscience. Those who would claim as much are only proving their own lack of conscience - and shouldn't be practicing their diseased form of mental health care in the first place. That the Nebraska Catholic Conference would even stoop to threatening an end to their services if they don't get their way is just further proof of how deep the rot has taken hold.
You want to know the principles that guide me as a Catholic. Here's some good examples:
Fundamental to Catholic tradition and teaching are a belief in and commitment to the inherent dignity of every human being--the clearest reflection of God among us....
Scripture teaches that God has special concern for the poor and vulnerable....All persons are entitled to participate in society in a manner which acknowledges and respects their dignity as members of the human community.....
Health care is a basic human right which flows form the sanctity of human life. The public-policy process is challenged to ensure that all persons have access to adequate health care.....
Every person has a right not only to life and bodily integrity but also to the means that are necessary and suitable for the proper development of life - among these is the right to necessary health care.
Each of these principles is declared on none other than the Nebraska Catholic Conference's own website. Here, they also declare:
The Nebraska Catholic Conference represents a tradition which opposes oppression, exploitation, discrimination, and disrespect. The Conference is an advocate for social policies and conditions which promote justice and bolster the dignity and value of each person.
What we see in the Nebraska Catholic Conference's call for a "conscience clause" is a clear betrayal of the very tradition they claim to uphold. They are asking for the right to discriminate. They have positioned themselves as advocates for injustice. Their demand alone is disrespectful and degrading to those deemed unfit to serve - casting stones as if they were somehow above sin.
Unfortunately, the Board of Mental Health Practice appears to have buckled to the Nebraka Catholic Conference's demands for a so-called "conscience clause" where counselors are concerned. But, so far, they've at least shown more fortitude against such an unconsciounable rules change for actual psychologists. For their sake, for the sake of those in need of mental health care, and for the sake of our local Catholic Church leaders who have so surely lost their way, let us pray that strength continues. |
