Catholic Bishops Continuing Bigoted Push Against Gays/Where they put on Earth for that?
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is beginning to have problems with the Justice Department with regards to their position on same-sex marriage. As with the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the public spotlight on the Catholic hierarchy’s bigotry- as it is starting to be described- and on their shortcomings. It is starting to be obvious that they are trying to distract people by talking about religious freedom when, in reality, this is not about religious freedom.
Recently, Bishop William Lori testified before Congress that it is not bigotry to discriminate against lesbians and gays if that is their religious belief. He totally ignored the fact that it is the religious belief of many Southern Baptists that it is alright to discriminate against Catholics, and that this would mean that it is not bigotry in his eyes.
In a press release, The Rainbow Sash Movement (a Catholic laity movement resisting the way that the Catholic hierarchy portrays the LGBT Community) wrote:
Following Lori’s testimony Archbishop Gomez of Los Angeles said Catholics are being denied their Civil Rights because the Justice Department believes that DOMA is unconstitutional and therefore they will not defend it.Archbishop Gomez, cites the push to legalize “same-sex” marriage as example of government suppression of religious freedom. He says the move to legalize “same-sex” marriage has caused Church adoption and foster-care ministries to shut down rather than “submit to government demands that they place children of same-sex couples or provide benefits for same-sex employees.”Gomez appears not to understand that if a state has either Civil Unions or Gay Marriage laws you cannot discriminate against Gay Couples if you accept state funding. His rationale appears to be because we have always have been allowed to discriminate in the past we should be allowed to do so in the future, and that any law that does not allow us to do that is an attack on religious liberty. The Rainbow Sash Movement finds the Archbishop’s conclusion totally illogical therefore unreasonable and a further example of a bigoted mentality that justifies itself in the name of habit.The ongoing circus in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis/St. Paul further illustrates why opposition to Gay Marriage is motivated not by Gospel Values, but by bigotry. Archbishop John Nienstedt is out of touch with many lay Catholics according to a recent large survey . The survey showed only 35 percent of Catholics oppose same-sex marriage.
They also pointed to the problem that is being faced in Minnesota. They reported that Scott Alessi, who was writing for the US Catholic- a Roman Catholic publication of the priests and brothers known as the Claretian Missionaries, even noted that Niensted’s decision to go to war in Minnesota was unusual. Alessi wrote “Nienstedt has made clear that for priests in his archdiocese, fighting to ensure that the state defines marriage in the same way as the church is today’s top priority.” Alessi also wondered if anti-same sex marriage amendment was an appropriate use of resources saying “If an archbishop can call upon all his pastors to form grassroots committees, appoint parish leaders, and organize a large-scale effort, is this the issue on which to do it? What if every parish developed an unemployment committee dedicated to helping out of work people in the parish community find jobs?”
The RSM also wrote:
In a recent letter to President Obama Cardinal Francis George of the Archdiocese of Chicago claims that there should be a Conscience Clause in any legislation passed so Catholics can pick and choose what laws they have to follow, and which ones they don’t when it comes to Gay Marriage and women’s right to choose. Following-up on that letter he wrote a column in the Chicago New World accusing gay activists of using the issue of equality as a way to get back at the Church for its past and current hostility. The flip side of that coin is that the Bishops promotion homophobia in the name of God will only promote bigotry and violence against gay people.What these bishops don’t want to understand is religious organizations cannot discriminate against Gay Couples where state funding is guided by a nondiscrimination laws that apply to Gay Marriage/Civil Unions. If the Bishops want to discriminate in states with non-discrimination laws based on Civil Unions and Gay Marriage they will have to seek funding from their own Diocese and Archdioceses and not a government subsidy.The Rainbow Sash Movement understands it’s not persecution not to get a government subsidy. Nobody has a right to government subsidies. If the secular majority decides secular agencies should handle gay marriage/civil unions in a non-discriminatory fashion it is not up to Catholic Bishops to pick choose what laws they and will not obey. Promoting discriminatory policies while providing public services is bigotry and it is something the bishops can no longer hide from.
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