Dr. J. showing Minion the light(ning)…

Dr. J. has a Berkeley brainwashed minion who he holds in high esteem. The young man, despite being a lefty, is an otherwise good and decent human being, and a fine physician (who knew, right?). Dr. J. has hope that the young man, with the gentle mentoring that only a Sith Lord can give, will see the light. The reason Dr. J. has hope for the young man is that as a practicing (reform) Jew, he has a sense of the sacred that many true progressives do not have.

Minion brought up the Chick-Fil-A controversy basically to say that his perception was, as the Czar described the progressive view to be. Minion sees marriage purely as a legal construct regulated by the state, and no more. As such he feels that you should get to pick one and run with it.

He respects Dr. J.’s difference of opinion because knows that Dr. J. sees marriage as a sacrament and that that sacrament is only extended to the union of a man and a woman. He also knows that Dr. J. doesn’t give a rats ass what two gay people do, or even what two Methodists do, or whatever, so long as they aren’t attacking the Catholic Church and its institutions. Dr. J. has a whole post where he discussed this, and as he discussion turned to benefits, Dr. J. will direct you to this column.

So, of course at that point the discussion turned to the HHS Mandate. All of Dr. J.’s lefty prog Facebook friends (damn you Quaker and Ivy League educations) are all getting excited about their state mandated ‘free’ goodies that coming down the pike. Free speculum exams, woo hoo, sounds like a good time to Dr. J.!

Minion is absolutely convinced that it is the Catholic Church’s, nor Catholic Charities, and certainly not a Catholic small business owners such as the Newland’s has any business with what is going on in their lay employees bedroom, or if they use birth control or not. There, Dr. J. is in agreement.

Minion makes the flawed leap in logic that the employee should be able to buy insurance that covers his or her contraception, and it is none of the employers business.

If the employee bought insurance out of his own pocket, without employer subsidization, Minion is correct. It is none of the employer’s business. Dr. J. agrees with that.

However, that is not what Minion was saying. He goes on to say that the employer should offer HHS mandate free insurance (which is now illegal btw) to those who want it, and HHS Mandatetastic health insurance to employees who want that.

Let them choose, he says.

That is where he makes his mistake.

Dr. J. informed him that the employer rightfully has a say as to what he is offering to his employees because he is paying, at times 60% of each and every premium. Therefore, if his employees want him to pay for their contraception (or 60% of it) it becomes his business.

Minion didn’t like being confronted with that reality. It basically blew a hole in every argument he had.

He suggested, “They should only hire Catholic’s then.”

Dr. J. then smiled. He reminded Minion that a) that for most positions would be against the law and b) even if they hired only Catholics, they would still have to, by law, buy the problematic insurance. There is still a law that violates their conscience. A law Minion concedes he would waive in that scenario.

Dr. J. took this further. He brought up the economics. He informed Minion that the HHS mandate will increase insurance costs, and furthermore given how cheap birth control and such are, employed, wage earning individuals have money to pay for these inexpensive items. Minion tried and failed to turn around the ‘it’s cheap so who cares’ argument. Free services increase demand, and drive up cost.

He also pointed out to Minion that a series of uncomfortable questions would end up being asked in job interviews and he thought Minion wanted the employer to mind his own business.

Dr. J. reminded Minion that the best way to keep the employer out of his bedroom was to take the employer out of the equation. Get rid of the HHS mandate, pay for his own contraception and his privacy is his own again.

Ironically, the HHS mandate thus takes away freedom and privacy from the employee, who is trading it for ‘free stuff.’

Nothing in life, after all, is free.

Dr. J.