An Unholy Mission

What matters more in this world, Catholic dogma or the well-being of the people who live in? Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, seems to think it is dogma. The Cardinal, in his crusade to impose hardline Catholic doctrine on social policy, has recently issued a code of medical ethics which states that doctors must not offer any service that conflicts with the Cardinal’s quasi-Medieval (and downright dangerous) beliefs regarding healthcare. Therefore, they must not prescribe contraception or offer abortions or IVF treatment. The General Medical Council has deemed this code to be unworkable, but despite this the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth in north London is expected to implement it in the next few weeks.

This intrusion by hardline religion into social policy represents a direct threat to healthcare and puts Catholic values above patients, an abhorrence for the medical profession, which is supposed to put patient care above all else. Never mind the fact that absence of contraception doesn’t prevent people form having sex (and, in fact, increases unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases), and that abortions may be necessary to save the life of a woman, Cardinal Murphy O’Connor is determined to see that Catholic dogma is the writ that runs in this nation, and damn the consequences, though they be disastrous.

This is not the only time that the Cardinal has sought to impose his extreme version of Catholicism on this nation. Last month, he tried to block laws on embryo research by lobbying Catholic MPs. Not caring that such research could save millions of lives in the future and provide cures for some of the most debilitating genetic diseases, the Cardinal tried to force Catholic MPs to choose between his hardline beliefs and public good. He has also led an attempt by extremist Christians to prevent homosexuals from adopting, basing his case not on evidence or rationality, but on bizarre arguments derived from a few lines of the Bible, lines which many others do not believe.

Religion is fine, I have no problem with religion, even extremist religion, as long as it is observed in private. As soon as it invades public policy and men like Cardinal Murphy O’Connor attempt to impose it on others, it becomes dangerous and must be resisted by anyone with a social conscience.