NCR Editorial: On HHS mandate, the bishops' fight is with themselves

On one side are, for lack of a better term, the traditionalist bishops in the sense of those who see the conference as a prudent, mediating force in the culture, grounded in the teaching of the church yet keenly aware that the political arena in the United States is not a Catholic cathedral, it is a place where we Americans learn to accommodate each others’ differences.

On the other side are those whose language turns apocalyptically purple at the slightest agitation, the partisans who speak only in absolutes and whose worldview requires enemies in every corner. Such intransigence only provides a greater rationale for those who wish to marginalize the church. They can’t accept a near-total victory on this matter of the HHS mandate because it would signal the end of a fight they relish.

Worse than being transparently ungracious and nakedly partisan, the culture warrior bishops compromise the church’s opportunities to weigh in on the important matters of gun control and immigration reform coming up quickly. If they were to get things to go their way half as much on those issues as they have on the HHS mandate, we could all feel much better for the prevailing winds in the culture.