Denver Catholic

2 I LOCAL NEWS JANUARY 8, 2014 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER 'High times' in Denver bring hard times for parents ARCHBISHOP'S COLUMN MOST REV. SAMUEL J. AQUILA BY NISSA LAPOINT Government must not dictate our beliefs Anyone who has ever visited Mullen Home for the Aged and the Little Sisters of the Poor is well aware of the ministry of charity they provide to the elderly and dying at their residential home. They serve those who are on limited incomes and provide a home for them imbued with the values of the Gospel. The Little Sisters of the Poor have to be one of the least likely groups to sue the federal government, but they did so last September because they cannot compromise their Catholic faith and accept the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate, which includes sterilization and abortifacients. On Dec. 31 their case jumped into the national spotlight when Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted them temporary relief from the mandate. But on Jan. 3 the U.S Justice Department, in a brief protesting the relief and calling for its cancelation, demonstrated that it does not understand that the sisters sincerely believe in the Church's teachings. The government's lawyers said that the Little Sisters only need to accept the accommodation that President Barack Obama offered religious institutions that object to the mandate. All that Mother Provincial Loraine Marie Maguire would need to do, they asserted, is sign a form that says the sisters object to providing contraceptives–some of which can cause a chemical abortion–and sterilizations on religious grounds. What the lawyers for the Department of Justice did not emphasize is that by signing the form, Mother Maguire would also be designating a third-party administrator to pay for and provide those same immoral services to her employees. The Little Sisters of the Poor and many Catholic and Christian institutions have maintained that the administration's accommodation is just a shell game, since they are still required to pay the third-party administrator for providing the services they cannot morally support because they violate the dignity of the human person. The conscience of Catholics is violated by the action of the government. The Obama administration does not seem to comprehend that an accounting scheme does not carry weight in moral matters. It also does not appear to understand that the Church's teaching on contraception is clear, is drawn from sacred tradition and the Scriptures, and is binding on all Catholics who put their faith in Jesus Christ and the Church. This legal and legislative battle is bigger than the government forcing religious sisters to set aside their convictions. Indeed, this mandate sets a precedent that should concern all people of faith. The Obama administration has decided that the Catholic beliefs about contraception, potentially abortion-causing drugs like Ella, and sterilization are only lawful for Catholics to hold if they work for physical churches. If you are Catholic and own a business, you must forfeit your beliefs when you open your doors to the public. If you are Evangelical and run a nonprofit, such as a charity that helps orphans, you must provide potentially abortion-inducing drugs like Plan-B to your employees. If you refuse to sacrifice your beliefs and violate your conscience, you will be fined up to $36,500 per employee, per year. These crippling fines will take away the livelihood of people who do good and charitable works because their faith moves them to work for the common good and the good of society. See Aquila, Page 5 Some parents aren't feeling so mellow over the advent of legalized pot smoking in the state due to growing concerns about inadequate child protections. Colorado mom Gina Carbone, of Christ the King Church in Denver, joined other uneasy parents in forming the nonprofit Smart Colorado to protect youth from unintended consequences of marijuana laws. "I live in a decent neighborhood, but we have pot shops all over the place. My kids smell it and they see the pot shops," Carbone said of her four boys. "There's so much hype because it's new, but we really don't think proper provisions have been thought through. The protections are not there for the kids." Voter-passed Amendment 64 ushered in legalized recreational marijuana in Colorado. On Jan. 1 when the law went into effect, thousands stood in lines outside pot shops to purchase an ounce or less of marijuana. In Denver alone, 18 pot shops received licenses before Jan. 1 to legally sell cannabis, and an estimated 100 in the state. Cannabis can come in a variety of forms; the drug can be smoked, vaporized or infused into products. The concern arose as parents discovered the ease of access and deceptive packaging of some marijuana-infused products sold as candies, sweets and sodas, Carbone said. One day after marijuana was legalized, a Longmont toddler tested positive for THC, an ingredient in pot. Her mother told police the child ate a pot cookie that she had found outdoors, according to 7News Denver. The girl was reportedly released from Longmont United Hospital. "It's just so easy to consume now and that's not mentioning food items," Carbone said. "It's a hard job as a parent to try to protect your kids." She's advocating regulations in the law to protect children from exposure and new school curriculum to educate youths about the risks. Studies from the New England Journal of Medicine show heavy marijuana use reduces youth's IQ GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY FILIPPO PICCONE/DCR PARENTS are concerned about the Denver City Councils' vote allowing residents to smoke in public view on their property. levels as much as eight points. In a local study, the Denver Office of Drug Strategy found Denver's youth ages 12 and up are increasingly at risk. Almost 18 percent of Denver youth cited use in the past year in 2010, up from 15 percent in 2008. Nativity of Our Lord parishioner Joan Bridges, mother of nine children, said she's against "anything that keeps a person from rational decisions or negatively impacts their future." But she said she's not concerned about her children using pot. "We've talked about it as parents and joked with the kids about it," he said. "I don't think there's a real concern—not more concern than there is drinking alcohol." Other parents, like Steve Bell of St. Thomas More Church in Centennial, a member of the ministry Men for All Seasons, said he had a talk with his high school and college-aged children about pot once it was legalized. He told them if they were caught smoking, he would not fund their education. "I had frank discussions about it with my children," he said. "I told them, 'I'm an investor. Those historically who smoke pot are bad investments. If you chose to smoke, I choose not to invest in your education.' We're a family with limited resources and we have to use those resources wisely." Carbone is advocating comprehensive drug education to combat messages about pot as an all-natural, cure-all and acceptable recreational activity. "We really want to have a comprehensive education," she said. "If we're not going to do it through the government, I think our schools need to do it." PRO-LIFE RESOURCES Do you have a business, ministry or service that respects life from conception through natural death? Let our readers know in our Pro-Life Resources ad listing that will be published with our January 15, 2014 issue. Deadline January 9, noon. Contact Linda at 303-715-3212 or linda.engel@archden.org. There is a small fee associated with the listing.

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