FTT Off-Topic: Paying Your Employees May Be Against Your Religious Beliefs

As always with FTT O-T, if this sort of thing offends you, there's a big wide Internet to go enjoy. Scroll or split to your heart's content; these little missives are just for me to clear myself and amuse those of you who read everything. Moving on.

So there's a political kerfluffle over how religious organizations are being "bullied" by the federal government into providing contraceptive health benefits to their female employees, and how this is a great problem, because it's against their beliefs.

And there is, of course, any number of people who want to tell us how this means the Obama Administration is forcing a secular belief system with socialism and demon-humping and abortions for funsies for all. No, seriously.

And I get that the first rule of politics is to remain elected, and how appeasing people who vote is how you do that, so there will likely be some compromises made and it's all best left not looked on, nor commented about...

But, um, ya know what, religious organizations?

Law trumps belief. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. Someone important said that last part once -- some Mexican guy, I think. Hay Zeus.

In that I can believe any damned fool thing I want (If I hire a female employee and she's cute, it's in my religious beliefs that I get to show her mah Little Elvis!), but if it's against the law, I don't get to act on those beliefs.

A real shame, this. Mah Little Elvis feels slighted.

There's also this.

If you really feel that paying for contraceptives for your employees is anathema, you should probably stop paying your employees at all. Or get them to agree to live their lives under 24/7 surveillance. No, just the women.

Because, um, once you pay the little dears actual cash money and let them out of your proud patriarchal sight? THOSE SHAMELESS HUSSIES MIGHT USE THAT MONEY TO BUY CONTRACEPTIVES. The horror!

You see, it's not really about The Man bullying you into doing things you don't want to do. It's about you treating your employees the same as other organizations. Like they were, I don't know, fully formed adults that were capable of making their own decisions, answering to their own Maker, and living their own lives, with the free will that is supposed to be the arbiter of their eternal fate.

Or is all of that stuff just for the marks in the crowd, gentlemen?