Puffs

Living in a ‘rural’ area of the United States, I suspect that many of us receive our National news from our TV.

TV is not all bad, but it certainly is not all good either. I know of individuals who do not have a TV in their homes.

Over the past many years I have received a few bits of advice: “don’t watch FOX news on TV . . .” or “Rush Limbaugh doesn’t know a thing . . .” Etc.

What I have concluded from the well intentioned (if not sometimes silly) advice was that all accurate “News” come from the major networks: NBC, ABC or CBS, or even CNN. Those others sources cannot be trusted.

Interesting outlook on life. They conclude their source of news from one place is enough and can be trusted to be ‘true and accurate.’

All this, in spite of my inclination to “get my news from more than one source.”

I have noted the above several times before, but wanted to repeat it before starting the following.

“The Equality Act” is the latest bit of black magic the new federal governmental people are trying to tell us what is good for us. The Equality Act isn’t getting a lot of publicity, but the House of Representatives has passed it on a straight line political party vote. The traditional “News” outlets certainly are promoting it from what I’ve seen.

To help circulate a little information about this “Equality Act” consider the following. Most all of the following comes from the United State Council of Catholic Bishops. To be honest, I haven’t seen any of it on the national News shows.

“Human dignity is central to what all of us believe.  Every person is made in the image of God and should be treated accordingly, with respect and compassion.  That means we need to honor every person’s right to be free of unjust discrimination.

“The Equality Act purports to protect people experiencing same-sex attraction or gender discordance from unjust discrimination. Although this is a worthy purpose, the Equality Act does not serve it. And instead of respecting differences in beliefs about marriage and sexuality, the Equality Act discriminates against people of faith precisely because of those beliefs.  In the process, the Equality Act codifies the new ideology of “gender” in federal law, dismissing sexual difference and falsely presenting “gender” as only a social construct.

“The Equality Act: • exempts itself from the bipartisan Religious Freedom Restoration Act, in an explicit and unprecedented departure from one of America’s founding principles, thereby infringing on religious freedom and making it more difficult for individuals to live out their faith.

“• Forces religiously operated spaces and establishments, such as church halls, to either host functions that violate their beliefs or close their doors to their communities.

“• Requires women to compete against men and boys in sports, and to share locker rooms and shower facilities with men and boys

“• Forces faith-based charities that serve all people to violate their religious beliefs, and threatens the welfare of thousands of beneficiaries of charitable services such as shelters and foster care agencies, by forcing a multitude of them to be shut down.

“• Jeopardizes existing prohibitions on the use of federal taxpayer funds for abortion, likely pressuring or even mandating the performance of abortions by health care providers in violation of their consciences, and ultimately ending more human lives.

“• Hinders quality health care, by forcing health care professionals, against their best medical judgment, to support treatments and procedures associated with “gender transition.” 

“The Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental provider of human services in the United States, helping millions of Americans in need through its parishes, schools, hospitals, shelters, legal clinics, food banks, and charities.  Our core beliefs about the dignity of the human person and the wisdom of God’s design motivate both our positions on marriage, life, and sexuality, and our call to serve those most in need and the common good. By running roughshod over religious liberty, the Equality Act directly undermines the Church’s ability to fulfill that call.”

I have “never” heard NBC, ABC or CBS report on the above viewpoints. Hence one of the reasons I often try to present an opposite point of view from what is so often, the only thing reported on the above news outlets.

I am no smarter or have any better insight concerning the national news than anyone else, but I do listen to both the usually liberal sources, NBC, ABC or CBS, but I also listen to, or read other news outlets.

A O