KRMG didnt used to be this crazy

[patric]

St Francis Hospital was issued a citation for an unattended, lit candle in their sanctuary by the federal agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid, but rather than approach it as a fire safety issue, the hospital and its legal partners chose to present it as an attack on religious freedom.  Hiring a big-guns law firm sounds a lot more dramatic than re-designing the candle holder and asking for an exception, but...

Here's how two different news departments, owned by the same media company, handled it:

Fox23:  
Saint Francis hospital fighting citation against sanctuary candle
TULSA, Okla. — The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a high-profile DC law firm that takes on religious liberty cases has sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of the Saint Francis Health System.
At issue is the hospital system’s request for an appeal and reconsideration from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that would allow them to continue a longstanding practice of burning a “sanctuary candle” in its chapels.
"This has never been a problem before, this has been approved by the fire marshall," said Lori Windham, vice president and senior counsel with the becket fund for religious liberty. Windham said the candle is inside a glass holder, which is inside another a glass holder and under a brass cover up on the wall.
In a letter from the centers for medicare and medicaid services dated April 20,there's a reference to the use of lighted candles, which states that such candles must be "placed in a substantial candle holder and supervised at all times they are lighted." But according to information gathered by the joint commission and a survey, found that "there was a lit candle with open flame burning unattended 24/7."
In her letter to HHS she writes, "the citation is inconsistent with the applicable fire-safety rules, with which St. Francis complies. The false choice put to St. Francis violates the religious freedom restoration act and the first amendment."



Now KRMG:  
Biden Administration threatens Tulsa hospital accreditation over chapel candle.
Tulsa  — A law firm representing Saint Francis Health system says they are appealing a decision from to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The issue is a candle that burns in the chapel after an inspection in February.
“The Biden Administration has decided to shut down the largest hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the 12th largest hospital in the United States of America,” said host of the Erick Erickson Show on KRMG.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Hmmm, let's see. KOKI Fox 23 is a local affiliate reporting in a local story and trying to do so with as little political bias or opinion.

Erick Erickson is the host of a syndicated national show that seems to toe the line of the right of the right of the conservative party, and more than likely want's to blame the problem on the Biden administration.

Sounds like Erickson is just like a lot of the other national mouthpieces on both sides of the aisle pushing their parties agenda.

Erick Woods Erickson (born June 3, 1975) is a conservative American radio host and blogger. He hosts a three-hour weekday talk show on WSB 95.5 FM and 750 AM in Atlanta, which is syndicated to other radio stations around the U.S. He also writes a right-wing political blog called The Resurgent. Prior to this, he was editor-in-chief and CEO of another conservative political blog called RedState.[2] He was a political contributor for CNN from 2010 to 2013, and afterwards was a contributor to the Fox News Channel before leaving the network in 2018.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erick_Erickson

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/966-the-erick-erickson-show-28487552/

[swake]

St Francis is the 12th largest hospital in the nation?

[dbacksfan 2.0]

I have a question, out of all the hospitals in the US that have Catholic or other religious affiliations, since most every good size hospital has a chapel,
why in the world did they choose St. Francis?

[patric]

WWJED?

https://johnerling.com

[dbacksfan 2.0]

WWJED?

https://johnerling.com

Ski The Tulsa Mountains, that and I think he would be a bit more diplomatic than Roy D. Mercer.

[patric]

I have a question, out of all the hospitals in the US that have Catholic or other religious affiliations, since most every good size hospital has a chapel,
why in the world did they choose St. Francis?

A new state law.

At issue is not so much the candle, but the overly-aggressive implementation of a state law going into effect this November. Senate Bill 404 states, “It shall be
deemed a substantial burden to exclude any person or entity from participation in or receipt of governmental funds, benefits, programs, or exemptions based solely on the religious character or affiliation of the person or entity.”
https://www.ocpathink.org/post/independent-journalism/biden-administration-threatens-tulsa-hospital-over-candle


Fortunately, in the 21st century, a nuns habit is completely flameproof so it must be that Biden hates God.

The memo says candles are “the number one cause of fires in dwellings” and cannot be allowed in resident’s rooms but may be used in other locations where they are placed in a substantial candle holder and supervised at all times while they are lighted.”
The letter tells Saint Francis to work out something...
https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/update-living-flame-waiver-granted-for-saint-francis-south/article_37b7fb92-eac6-11ed-a7bd-5fe438071616.html

Well, they did.  The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty apparently couldn't wait for the law to even take effect before seeking its blood meal.

[swake]

Even worse for KRMG, this issue is about a candle at St Francis SOUTH.

Which decidedly is not the 12th largest hospital in the United States. Maybe in the Tulsa area?

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/update-living-flame-waiver-granted-for-saint-francis-south/article_37b7fb92-eac6-11ed-a7bd-5fe438071616.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

[dbacksfan 2.0]

I think going after a hospital and threatening to pull funding over a candle in the chapel is on the extreme side of things when you consider schools like Oklahoma Baptist receive federal funding in the form of student loans and grants. That's the same as Medicare/Medicaid essentially. It just still strikes me as odd to go after St. Francis unless they went after them because of Oklahoma's passage of SB 404 and that St. Francis is privately owned non profit.

Back to the original post about KRMG, that's what happens with corporate owned stations that carry nationally syndicated shows and they pick up on a story from one of the states the show is carried in, do a one sided opinion segment without any real research, rile up their base, and then 24 hours later it's not even mentioned by them again.

[swake]

I think going after a hospital and threatening to pull funding over a candle in the chapel is on the extreme side of things when you consider schools like Oklahoma Baptist receive federal funding in the form of student loans and grants. That's the same as Medicare/Medicaid essentially. It just still strikes me as odd to go after St. Francis unless they went after them because of Oklahoma's passage of SB 404 and that St. Francis is privately owned non profit.

Back to the original post about KRMG, that's what happens with corporate owned stations that carry nationally syndicated shows and they pick up on a story from one of the states the show is carried in, do a one sided opinion segment without any real research, rile up their base, and then 24 hours later it's not even mentioned by them again.

This has nothing to do with religion, it's a fire safety problem.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

This has nothing to do with religion, it's a fire safety problem.

I get the fire safety issue, as noted in the daily dead fishwrapper Tulsa World from Patric's link earlier

The CMS response cites a 2006 memorandum to state nursing home inspectors. The memo says candles are “the number one cause of fires in dwellings” and cannot be allowed in resident’s rooms but may be used in other locations where they are placed in a substantial candle holder and supervised at all times while they are lighted.”

but St. Francis South is what, 15-20 years old, was built to building and fire code with this situation in mind and has had how many inspections since completion, and the memorandum was written 17 years ago and they're just now filing a violation?

Are they going to investigate Mercy and St. Anthony hospitals in OKC? How about the other 600+ Catholic hospitals in the US?

CHA advances the Catholic health ministry of the United States in caring for people and communities. Comprised of more than 600 hospitals and 1,600 long-term care and other health facilities in all 50 states, the Catholic health ministry is the largest group of nonprofit health care providers in the nation. Every day, more than one in seven patients in the U.S. is cared for in a Catholic hospital.

https://www.chausa.org/about/about/facts-statistics#:~:text=Comprised%20of%20more%20than%20600,for%20in%20a%20Catholic%20hospital.

Are they going to threaten them with loss of funding from CMMS if they don't comply?

[Red Arrow]

This has nothing to do with religion, it's a fire safety problem.

I actually find the fire safety issue to be a Red Herring.  Someone is just being a jerk. 

[patric]

This has nothing to do with religion, it's a fire safety problem.

And yes, probably someone is being a jerk, just enough to give other jerks something to hook onto.

Saint Francis was issued a citation during their re-accreditation process for the candle. However, the Oklahoma delegation, made up of U.S. Sen. James Lankford, U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, U.S. Rep Tom Cole, U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice and U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen, said this was a violation of religious freedom.

https://www.fox23.com/news/local/lawmakers-say-tulsa-hospital-sanctuary-candle-will-continue-to-burn/article_97ab21b8-eb4e-11ed-96bb-63a59632c13f.html

[tulsabug]

And yes, probably someone is being a jerk, just enough to give other jerks something to hook onto.

Saint Francis was issued a citation during their re-accreditation process for the candle. However, the Oklahoma delegation, made up of U.S. Sen. James Lankford, U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, U.S. Rep Tom Cole, U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice and U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen, said this was a violation of religious freedom.

https://www.fox23.com/news/local/lawmakers-say-tulsa-hospital-sanctuary-candle-will-continue-to-burn/article_97ab21b8-eb4e-11ed-96bb-63a59632c13f.html

I think this is a whole bunch of arseholes running into each other but, seriously, can they not use a flame imitating light bulb? Is there some commandment forbidding this? Would God really give a shiate?

/ also - who designed that? It looks like a cross between a 30's Flash Gordon spaceship and a dildo.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

I think this is a whole bunch of arseholes running into each other but, seriously, can they not use a flame imitating light bulb? Is there some commandment forbidding this? Would God really give a shiate?

/ also - who designed that? It looks like a cross between a 30's Flash Gordon spaceship and a dildo.

I haven't attended a church service of any kind since W was in office Obama was halfway through his first term, (I have a sort of allergic reaction to any organized religion) but I seem to remember that some have gone to LED lit candles for some things.

I doubt very seriously the Catholic Church would stop using an actual candle in this case, since it's part of the history/tradition/ritual of the eucharist candle.

As for the design of the one shown, that's probably to comply with building/fire codes.