Same-Sex Marriage vs. Religious Liberty
This is a lengthy, sobering article by Maggie Gallagher for the Weekly Standard about the clash between freedom of religion and same-sex marriage/anti-discrimation laws.
She begins with a discussion of Catholic Charities no longer being licensed by the state of Massachusetts because it will not place children with same-sex partners. To date the state has refused to grant Catholic Charities a religious exemption. Since Catholic Charities "discriminates" by upholding Church teachings, it is no longer allowed to facilitate adoptions in the state.
This kind of ban on religious groups' participation in the "public square" may well be a forerunner of what is to come. Gallagher discusses several pending cases and issues and quotes a number of attorneys who are experts in the field.
A cautionary article which is well worth a read.
Monday Update: Stanley Kurtz adds his thoughts at The Corner.
posted by Laura @ 7:07 PM
2 Comments:
You are slightly misinformed in your post.
It is not that Catholic Charities refused to place children in qualified gay and lesbian households that caused the end of their adoption services, it is because they refused to even CONSIDER qualified gay and lesbian applications. There is a tremendous difference.
Furthermore, it was not even the decision of Catholic Charities to end their adoption services!!
The 42 member board of the Catholic Charities of Boston voted UNANIMOUSLY to continue considering the applications of qualified gay and lesbian families.
The four bishops of Massachusetts chose to override the decision of their own child welfare experts, and close ALL adoption services instead. As a Catholic, I cannot understand how you would not see THAT as the immoral part of this story.
A simple google search would have turned up the fact that the information used as a source for this post(not unusual in any of Maggie's writing) was utterly misleading.
because they refused to even CONSIDER qualified gay and lesbian applications."
Of course they refused to consider these placements. If they weren't going to place them in these households, which would violate Church teaching, why would they "consider" it? That makes no sense to me.
The bishops took a courageous stand to uphold Biblical teaching. If the state had agreed to give Catholic Charities a religious exemption, Catholic Charities could have continued on as usual placing children for adoption. The state, not the church, forced the decision by insisting that the Church conform to the state's value system.
I fail to see anything misleading whatsoever in this article; rather, it seems to me that you simply disagree with the choices that were made by the parties involved. I think it's clear that Catholic Charities is ultimately responsible to the Church (in the form of its bishops), not to its board.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Best wishes, Laura
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