WASHINGTON — Nine months after he officially endorsed same-sex “marriage,” President Barack Obama vowed to make that policy goal a top priority of his second term — a stance that has galvanized the Democratic base but stirred concerns from other quarters about the impact on religious liberty.
“It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began,” stated Obama during a Jan. 21 inaugural address that outlined his goals on economic and social issues, as well as foreign policy.
“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law — for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” said the president, though his address provided no specifics on how he would advance equal rights for same-sex couples.
Obama equated the struggle to secure “marriage equality” with Rev. Martin Luther King’s crusade to win civil rights for black citizens, earning applause from the Human Rights Campaign, a leading advocate of same-sex “marriage.”
“By lifting up the lives of 'LGBT' [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] families for the very first time in an inaugural address, President Obama sent a clear message to LGBT young people from the Gulf Coast to the Rocky Mountains that this country’s leaders will fight for them until equality is the law of the land,” said Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, in a statement released after the inaugural address.
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, responded to the president’s address with a statement that underscored the Church’s respect for the dignity of all persons, while insisting that the truth about marriage could not be changed.
“I honor the president’s concern for the equal dignity of every human being, including those who experience same-sex attraction, who, like everyone else, must be protected against any and all violence and hatred,” wrote Archbishop Cordileone in an email to the Register.
“But the marriage debate is not about equality under the law, but, rather, the very meaning of marriage. Marriage is the only institution that unites children with their mothers and fathers."
“Protecting this understanding of marriage is not discrimination, nor is it some kind of pronouncement on how adults live out their intimate relationships; it is standing for the common good,” he stated.
Archbishop Cordileone added that an urgent matter of justice was “the equal right of all children to grow up knowing and being loved by their mother and father. I pray for the president and for all our nation’s leaders, that they will grow to understand and support this enduring truth.”
Supreme Court Cases
Obama made his vow just months before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on two landmark cases that deal with legal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8, which blocked same-sex “marriage” in the Golden State. The high court is expected to issue rulings on both cases by late June.
During the president’s first term, his administration announced that it would no longer defend DOMA, the federal law that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and the White House approved a new policy allowing service members who are openly homosexual to serve in the military — a reversal of the so-called “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
The policy shift on DOMA sparked protests from House Republicans, who said the administration had reneged on its responsibility to defend laws enacted by Congress. Meanwhile, Church leaders expressed concern that the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” would force military chaplains to violate their religious beliefs or resign from the armed services.
Now, in the wake of Obama’s 2013 inaugural address, both supporters and opponents of “marriage equality” expect that the White House could move on several fronts to fulfill the president’s pledge.
Bill Duncan, the director of the Marriage Law Foundation and a professor at The Catholic University of America School of Law, outlined a number of options available to the president in his second term.
“He can push for a repeal of DOMA and continue to interfere with its enforcement and/or defense (assuming that issue is not settled by the current case). He can, and may still in the Prop. 8 case, direct the Department of Justice to file briefs opposing state marriage laws (there are two other challenges to state laws on federal constitutional grounds pending in the courts),” Duncan told the Register.
“Given the president’s expansive view of executive power, it is not inconceivable the administration might try to create a marriage-alternative status like domestic partnership by executive order or by supporting legislation.”
Duncan also noted that the Obama administration could press the issue in international forums. The White House has already made the advancement of homosexual rights a top foreign-policy priority, and Duncan predicted that it might “weigh in on” the issue during “U.N. debates over whether marriage is discriminatory.”
What’s at Stake
As the president ponders his options, religious leaders and religious-liberty advocates will also be reviewing legal and legislative strategies for protecting their freedom to support traditional marriage.
Over the past year, Catholic leaders have strongly opposed the legalization of same-sex “marriage” on moral grounds, and “marriage equality” laws and anti-discrimination statutes that make sexual orientation a protected status have also had practical consequences for the free exercise of Catholic institutions.
In places like Boston, such statutes led the closure of Catholic foster care and adoption agencies that won’t place children with same-sex couples.
During the 2012 campaign year, as voters in four states considered a variety of measures dealing with “marriage equality,” Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, warned that changing the nation’s marriage laws could result in severe penalties for Catholic institutions.
“The real threat lies in the area of licensing of Catholic Charities’ adoption agencies and accreditation of schools and universities that maintain their support of traditional marriage,” said Archbishop Lori in an interview with the Register just weeks before the election.
If DOMA was overturned, Archbishop Lori said, it was “not unthinkable that defending traditional marriage will be regarded as bigotry and hate speech and that all kinds of strictures will be placed on our schools.”
Robert George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University and a leading Catholic public intellectual, has repeatedly contended that the legalization of same-sex “marriage” will have a dire impact on religious liberty.
At one time, advocates of legal marriage for same-sex couples argued that changing the nation’s marriage laws would have no impact on religious freedom, but now, George reported, those who object to same-sex “marriage” are being stigmatized and attacked for their beliefs. Indeed, just weeks before Inauguration Day 2013, the Christian pastor who had been appointed to offer the benediction at the public swearing-in ceremony stepped down following protests over an "anti-gay" sermon he gave in the mid-1990s that criticized the "homosexual lifestyle."
“[A]dvocates of redefinition are increasingly open in saying that they do not see these disputes about sex and marriage as honest disagreements among reasonable people of goodwill,” said George in a 2012 article posted on the Public Discourse website, “Marriage, Religious Liberty and the Grand Bargain.”
“They are, rather, battles between the forces of reason, enlightenment and equality — those who would ‘expand the circle of inclusion’ — on one side and those of ignorance, bigotry and discrimination — those who would exclude people out of ‘animus’ — on the other,” said George.
More Litigation Ahead
As the White House acts on the president’s pledge to advance equality for same-sex couples, the need for robust conscience protections has become more urgent, but hard to obtain.
Douglas Laycock, a top constitutional scholar who supports the legalization of same-sex “marriage” but who is also a strong proponent of religious liberty, told the Register that “same-sex ‘marriage’ is being proposed around the country with a minimalist exemption” for clergy who refuse to preside at weddings for same-sex couples.
“In every state so far, broader religious-liberty protections for religious institutions have been added. They are often thrown in at the last minute, badly drafted and deeply ambiguous. There will be litigation about what they mean,” said Laycock, the Robert E. Scott Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law.
Laycock noted that the slew of legal challenges to the federal contraception mandate filed by objecting religious institutions and business owners will preview the opposing arguments in future free-exercise cases dealing with “marriage equality.”
“Religious institutions will claim exemptions under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (with respect to federal law) and under state free-exercise clauses and state RFRAs (with respect to state law). The litigation over the contraception mandate is a precursor,” explained Laycock, who won an unanimous decision in favor of religious liberty in the landmark 2012 Supreme Court case Hosanna Tabor v. EEOC.
But he cautioned that it was “hard to predict” the outcome of future litigation involving the free exercise of Catholic institutions resisting “marriage equality” laws. Further, he stressed that “individual citizens and small businesses have not been able to get explicit exemptions from same-sex ‘marriage’ laws anywhere.”
Outcome in Doubt
The outcome of the two marriage cases before the Supreme Court will help shape the strategy of church leaders and religious-freedom advocates, but few scholars are prepared to issue any predictions.
Supporters of “marriage equality” argue that their election-year victories have increased the likelihood that the high court will rule in their favor. However, Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, noted that “the vast majority of states have codified the commonsense view held for thousands of years: that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.”
Now, those who oppose same-sex “marriage” will be asked to ratchet up their legal and legislative strategy, as well as their arguments, against any change in the nation’s marriage laws.
“Catholic leaders might well take a cue from Cardinal George of Chicago, who recently wrote that the Illinois Legislature could no more change the nature of marriage than it could repeal the law of gravity,” George Weigel told the Register.
Robert George, in his Public Discourse article on marriage, reminded his audience that a revolution in U.S. laws and opinion about marriage was not “inevitable.”
“Same-sex ‘marriage’ and the assaults on liberty and equality that follow in its wake are ‘inevitable’ only if defenders of marriage make their adversaries’ prophecies self-fulfilling ones by buying into them.”
Joan Frawley Desmond is the Register’s senior editor.
Edward Mulholland: By Any Other Name? The Manipulative Metaphysics of Redefinition
Patrick Lee: The Right to Redefine Marriage?
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Most US Bishops have not corrected ‘Catholic’ politicians who obstinately persever in grave sin with public excommunication, although most have written statements against homo-sexual marriage and against abortion.
The lack of excommunication teaches louder than words that same-sex marriage and abortion aren’t all that bad.
Public excommuncation (ab homine) for grave public scandal teaches the offender, and teaches other Catholics as well as non-Catholics that the Church is serious about its teachings on grave matters.
The lack of publically handling SCANDAL and relativism within the Church in the USA by our leadership has aided and abetted not only heretical and schismatic Catholic politicans but also - 50% of those who call themselves ‘Catholic’ to vote for Obama and other pro-same-sex marriage and pro-abortion politicians.
Those who vote for these politicians aid and abett them in their stated efforts of same-sex marriage and abortion.
When our Bishops do not do their own jobs, the Church suffers.
Bishops we will pray for you. Please be brave and follow the example set by St. Paul - “Drive out the wicked person from among you.” 1 Cor 5:11-13.
Same-sex couples can already: live together; purchase property together; name each other as beneficiaries, and give financial and health powers of attorney to each other.
They can choose chasity and go to Heaven, or choose sodomy and go to Hell.
Radical homo-sexuals want other people’s children (through adoption) to set the example that a mother and father are not necessary or desireable, and to teach them their lifestyle.
Radical homo-sexuals want to prove that the family as instituted by God is not important.
Gen: 19:1-29; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10.
CCC: 2357, 2358, 2359.
CCC: ” 1652 By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory.
Children are the supreme gift of marriage and contribute greatly to the good of the parents themselves.
God himself said: “It is not good that man should be alone,” and “from the beginning [he] made them male and female”; wishing to associate them in a special way in his own creative work, God blessed man and woman with the words: “Be fruitful and multiply.” Hence, true married love and the whole structure of family life which results from it, without diminishment of the other ends of marriage, are directed to disposing the spouses to cooperate valiantly with the love of the Creator and Savior, who through them will increase and enrich his family from day to day.”
Gen 2:18; Mt 19:4; Gen 1:28.
In his Inaugural, Obama also failed to apologize to Mormons. The federal government “interfered” in their “right” to “marriage equality” when it adopted anti-polygamy laws. Mr. Obama should immediately call for the current Utah delegation to be unseated from Congress and replaced by the illegally unadmitted polygamous State of ... Deseret.
I am not sure that Prof. George accurately expresses a Catholic concern. If the State forced the Church to marry gay couples, to abrogate what the Church teaches about sexuality and marriage ethics, then, yes, gay marriage would rip into religious liberty. As a Church we must be clear in teaching the truth, but do so in such a way that we conduct ourselves “with malice toward none, with charity toward all,” and that the truth as we experience it stand on its own.
JOHN M GRONDELSKI,
Good point, I’ve wondered about that, too. It’s likely just a matter of time before both gender & number of spouses are seen as rights of choice.If polygamists contribute heavily to the Democratic party it may come to pass.
this is a man who does not know his alleged Christian faith, nor does he understand history. in addition he has not kept up with medical data, which shows a strong correlation to being in a gay relationship and having an early death that generally has nothing to do with AIDS. people in those relationships tend to die a minimum of 10 years earlier. so basically what he is promoting is something that is against the litmus test of Scripture, has been proven in history to bring civilizations down, and in modern culture has beeb shown to kill off that population at earlier ages.
but I suppose we get exactly what we pay for so to speak. just as with the Israelites, who insisted upon judges, we have insisted as a nation on this silver tongued master of deception.
Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us.
Thanks for this important article!
Just 2 minor quibbles, both factual: Archbishop Cordileone is chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. It is no longer an Ad Hoc Committee. And Archbishop Lori is chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. Perhaps these changes could be made to the article?
The USCCB has a catechetical website about marriage, Marriage: Unique for a Reason, and there is a section on religious liberty implications: http://www.marriageuniqueforareason.org/religious-liberty-video/.
Bethany Meola
Program Specialist, USCCB Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage
God cannot be happy with this move to make lawful and honor sinful activity. God help all of us If the President gets his way on this.
It appears that the last obstacle between Obama and communism is the Catholic Church.
The forces of evil are strong. They seem at this point invincible. We trust in God’s love and mercy not to let this happen.
Has the United States become a situation of the spiritually blind leading the spiritually blind (including Christians) down the dark wide road of sin away from God and strong high standard moral values making it eventually a situation where the Divine Justice of Jesus Christ will be left no choice but to replace His Mercy (God is long suffering not wanting that any should perish(ie/in hell) with Divine Justice to an overwhelming non-recoverable degree of chastisement such as the United States and Americans have never before experienced.God calls homosexuality an abomination.There is archeological evidence that Sodom and Gomorrha were destroyed by great heat. God will not be mocked forever by any nation on earth.Mankind is but dust of the earth with individual souls each of whom must willfully choose its eternal destiny to live with/in the Light of God or to remain unrepentant and live in eternal darkness away from the Light of God.
Anne, it is time for the church to take a step forward, not back. Excommunication does nothing positive for the church. It only divides and strives to make it impossible for a catholic to hold national office. Even so, excommunication lacks the force it once held during the Holy Roman Empire. If your posture is to embarrass only that is served, no good comes from it. It has always posed a problem to blend ‘value judgments’ and ‘beliefs’ with ‘truths’. There is no argument present preventing the church from preaching against gay marriage, homosexuals as objectively disordered, and homosexual life-style as intrinsically evil. But, to interfere in others lives is a problem. To chastise and admonish a president and politicians for fulfilling a solemn oath to uphold the law,
to promote the General Welfare is anti-American.
Barack Obama is a dangerous man. He is the son of the father of lies. Obama exhibits the classic signs of a male who has indulged himself in the homosexual lifestyle: narcissism, woundedness, lack of virtues, against Christian teachings, “all about me” syndrome, lack of value for unborn children, etc. Men (and women) who have lived such a disordered sexual lifestyle typically have depraved minds as Romans 1 tells us. These persons who have sinned in this grave manner and who do so obstinately will lead us (and our children) to damnation. The secular progressives (his sycophants and independent power mongers) are also of a disordered mind (darkened intellect). They will excoriate anyone who professes biblical values. Those Christians who voted for Obama, either time, definitely need to examine their consciences and remember that we are required by our faith to inform our consciences of His laws and then to strengthen our will in order to make the sacrifices necessary for a virtuous republic. Oftentimes, one can get a glimpse of a person’s conscience through his eyes. Watch how cold Obama’s are!
There is hope. When abortion on demand became the law of the land, there was no Thomas More Center, no legal organization to push back against the tide of evil masquerading as law. We have the means to push back now, and I am thankful that we can do so, always with love and with peace and with the knowledge that it is the work of the Holy Spirit; we must always pray as we work. Pray, and lean on the perfect understanding of God.
The Episcolpals are coming to our Catholic Church in droves now. We had another couple Sunday, not related to each other join the Catholics.Each and everyone so far states they want to follow the teaching of the Bible and Ten Commandments and a faith centered on Jesus Christ.
Obama is and remains an enemy of The Catholic Church and the faithful. I will not comply.
Supporting same-sex “marriage” is at least consistent with Obama’s support of abortion on demand, since availability of the latter is necessary in order to make traditional marriage equal to same-sex “marriage” in a world where marriage is no longer tied to the bearing of children.
Obama’s main goal it so ruin anyone with values and morals….the destruction of the Catholic Church and all its people and everything we hold dear. God Help Us, Mother Mary intercede for us!
Jesuitical graduate of Boston College, you are correct that excommunication divides the wheat from the shaft, the good from the bad, and the Faithful from the heretics and schismatics.
There is no room for compromise on abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and/or embryonic stem cell research.
SCANDAL, HERESY, SCHISM and relativism must be curtailed in the Church. The Church must stand for truth at all times - not compromises to the truth.
Saving Souls comes before man-made government.
” Can. 1399 In addition to the cases established here or in other laws, the external violation of a divine or canonical law can be punished by a just penalty only when the special gravity of the violation demands punishment and there is an urgent need to prevent or repair scandals. “
No matter how many times the word marriage is put into quotation marks, it doesn’t change anything. It does, however, reveal the ignorance of the writer(s).
Can some Catholic PLEASE explain to other Catholics on this site the difference between civil law and religious practice?
Civil law regarding marriage doesn’t affect Catholics in the slightest, except for gay Catholics who then have the same rights and responsibilities as their heterosexual brothers and sisters, should they wish to take advantage of the oportunity for civil marriage. Catholic churches don’t have to do a darn thing, and can continue their homophobic attitudes and practices to their hearts’ content.
whether or not a person suffers from same-sex attraction is a totally subjective determination.
in fact, an unscrupulous person can claim that he or she suffers from same-sex attraction solely because they wish to punish or disrupt the lives of others.
there is no objective way to determine whether or not a person suffers from same-sex attraction.
an unscrupulous person could claim to suffer from same-sex attraction today because they can see a benefit from making such a claim and after acquiring the benefit they can deny they currently suffer from same-sex attraction.
under the proposed dissolution of traditional marriage, best friends who have NO sexual attraction to each other can marry and receive any government or private benefits related to this imaginary construct that replaces traditional marriage.
many employers will pre-emptively strike out against the effeminate male or masculine female by not hiring anyone the employer believes even MIGHT be suffering from same-sex attraction. the backlash to this same-sex attraction could well be extremely damaging to the employment opportunities of not only actual individuals who proudly proclaim their same-sex attraction but also innocent heterosexuals who might be perceived as being practicing homosexuals.
the can of worms that same-sex marriage and the raising of sexual behaviors to legally protected classes is enormous and cannot even be fully understood or estimated.
I just learned last night how Liberal and Democrat the majority of the USCCB. This is why there are “No Excommunications”. I’ve learned years ago that Liberalism is a religion. It doesn’t matter if one is a Catholic Bishop or priest. They are First Democrats and Liberal. They will never go against their First Religion or Party.
keep in mind that all secular governments are basically atheistic.
also, representative democracy gives a few people of average or below average intelligence, people of limited sometimes very limited knowledge and people of questionable moral character power over the lives of many.
this is a fundamental reason that the founders made the powers and authorities of the central government well-enumerated and few while allowing everything else to be under the dominion of the states and the people.
it is also the reason the principle of subsidiarity as applied to government is essential to a well-ordered, free and prosperous world.
without question, secular government is needed in a world as diverse as our own. but only the principle of subsidiarity can preven the secular government from becoming a totalitarian tyranny.
Our gay brothers and sisters are treated exactly the same as the rest of us under the law—each is free to marry any unmarried person of the correct sex, age, and acceptable degree of blood relationship he or she can find who is willing to marry. It’s really not a difficult concept.
a necessary distinction should be made between the Church acting as an agent of the state in order to gain Catholic couples state recognition of their marriages and the Church witnessing Catholic couples entering in to the Sacrament of Matrimony.
being able to preside over the Sacrament of Matrimony does not require the Church to be an agent of the state.
Catholics who enter the Sacrament of Matrimony will still be able to take whatever steps the state requires to have a civil “marriage”.
Are we guilty of continually waiting until our freedoms are threatened and the truth is so watered down and twisted until we remember to turn back to God for His truth and protection of true freedoms to prevail? Shame on everyone of us We all share responsibility for this situation we find ourselves in. In confession, I prayed for forgiveness for my part in the the level of sin and destruction we are seeing! We all need to implore God for His forgiveness. We may be guilty of taking so much for granted and standing back as these horrors unfolded. Our of fences are many. We must humble ourselves, seek God’s Holy Face and Holy Will for each one of us! The time is now! Pray! St Padre Pio says The Rosary is the weapon! Grasp the Rosary! Pray!
Hoping for the courts to rule in defense of marriage is a foolish hope. They will rapidly find a “right” in the constitution for homosexual marriage. These are the same people who find a “right” to murder the unborn. It’s past time to realize we are under an organized program of insidious rule that has nothing to do with constitutional law. We are given shows to placate us, but the intent and goal has already been preplanned. We need to take our heads out of the sand. If forced to bend on these principles, the Church should shut every charity, adoption agency, hospital and school in the nation. The time to negotiate with this evil is long over.
Susan Lersch, What we do affects others for good or for bad. It lifts us up or brings us down. This is a reality that religious people recognize as a spiritual component, but no matter how you label it, it is a reality. When government encourages same sex attaction they are nursing a moral inclination to contradict a man and woman’s given nature. It should be a signal that something is not right. What is happening in their life? Who and what is influencing them? How are their relationships? Do they like or fear the opposite sex? Are they teased alot? Have they been labelled? It’s like saying, “If I lie, it will only hurt me.” No matter how much they believe that, it has moral consequences that affect all society. It’s just not true. Lies don’t stay contained and neither does sexual sin. When a state or government encourages a behavior that is morally questionnable it makes the state less moral, less safe, further from God and further from loving its neighbor. (See the division caused by Roe v. Wade and the millions of children who have died and mothers and fathers who were told this was the “best” way to handle their “problem.” This has caused grave moral consequences to all of us.) Our bodies show that by nature a man and a woman are sexually complimentary. The children born from male/female relationships are a confirmation of the correctness of this form of union and a complimentary pairing to meet the needs of the child. That is why other relations that may be sexual but are not complimentary are in quotes. They differ in this way. If you are truly Catholic, then you recognize that marriage is a union that has the potential to create life, sharing with God in the creation of new life. It is clear to anyone that this is the normal and intended use of our sexual nature. When we cross that boundary we hurt all society. We hurt friendships. Is it a friendship or a homosexual relation? If I like this person will they think I am sexually interested in them? As a child will I be labelled as homosexual if I hang out with my friend? It affects how adults and children can relate. Teachers may not be one on one with a child anymore. Children can’t be hugged. Adults monitor or spy on each other to protect children. That’s sad that we are doing that. When we cross that boundary how does it differ from a man or woman using his/her prestige and position to take advantage of a teen or vulnerable person? Money, prestige, free stuff, a life of ease can be very powerful and appealing to a troubled person in a society that doesn’t let him know the spiritual consequences to his soul of homosexual relations. The teen may think everything is just fine, but we know they are being taken advantage of. When we cross that boundary how does it differ from a parent sexually abusing their infant child? What if they say they love them and they are just expressing it? If the child is made for sex with whomever what is to stop the powerful from saying they are sexual beings from birth and should be prepared for that reality? When we cross that boundary how does it differ from first cousins marrying? If “love” is the only criterion then first cousins, parent/child, man and beast are all fair game. By ignoring all the negative sides to crossing this boundary we open the doors to predatory behavior and more deviant sexual sin, less tolerance for morality, divisive relations between Church and State and on and on. Right now transsexuality is a recognized psychological disorder and yet it is already being lumped by our President in with homosexuality which is not( but which many believe is also a psychological disorder). All laws have a moral component. To deny that is to not understand the law. Now a component of society has been pushing to recognize same sex relations as equal to marriage. And some of the same sex couples are our friends and neighbors or relatives. There is a temptation to make a decision based on emotions but that means ignoring the truth. It is not homophobia to see past the emotional to the spiritual and moral and societal consequences but you are already labelling. Phobias are fears. This isn’t about fear. It’s about recognizing that the union is different and not beneficial to a strong society.
Fear not, have hope, do not worry. We have a shephard who has conquered the world. He knows His sheep, and they know Him. He will not abandon us, especially in our hour of need.
Mary Williams-
The Rosary Indeed. Holy Hours as well. The Catholic Church is splintered, however She will prevail. America on the other hand may end up becoming the “example.”
It’s possible that forty years of apathy and silence from many Bishops and Laity has caught up to us. I’m optimistic about the future of Our Holy Church and the vocations to the priesthood but the plight of Religious Freedoms is this land is gloomy at best. The blood is on all of our hands. Forty years of abortions on demand is bad fruit and now more than ever we collectively must repent and secure Gods blessings by coming back to Him. Public servants that are Catholic must, Must be held accountable for their views that are contrary to the Faith. Hold communion from them until they are In Communion with the teachings. CCC is for all Catholics, not some. Accountability must be enforced on Public Servants…VP of USA to City officials.
Those of us deceived by gay logistics should consider the frogs in cool water getting boiled in steady increments.
Gay political agenda certainly understands it. They also understand that with all their monies and no responsibilities they are fooling the lazy and ignorant amongst us as they steal the culture from behind their closed closet doors.
they will continue to operate from behind the doors because that is where their stealth is. There is no good, no justice, no fairness in their perspective. Their leaders hope to destroy religion and God and that is because the De’Ville is their guiding principal.
The majority of Gaydom and their supporters have a superficial understanding and a weak countenance.
They will not support anything that take some back bone.
They will not be hung on a cross because they fear the ridicule of Gaydom…
OR PERHAPS THEY ARE CAUGHT UP IN THEIR HOMO SEXUAL SINS…
HIV/AIDS is a cancer to humanity.
The cells should be inoculated.
reading these posts has been quite an eye-opener. what a sad bunch of people read this paper. the article tries to tell us that the main concern is the “right” of children to a mother and a father (setting aside, for now, the strange fact that not once has the church ever tried to outlaw single parent adoptions, nor has it objected to placing children with single parents). and yet, there is but one brief mention of this “right,” followed by a bunch of whining about the church no longer being able to compete for certain public contracts using tax dollars, including tax dollars of gay people, as long as it exercises it’s constitutional right to discriminate on the grounds of religious liberty. not one of the comments posted here even touches on the supposed “plight” of children who, supposedly, are the reason the church opposes marriage equality for those whose sexual, emotional and romantic orientations are directed towards other people of the same gender, other than to absurdly suggest that it is the intent of gay parents to “make” their kids gay. no wonder marriage equality is advancing so quickly. there is simply no logical argument that it in anyway threatens heterosexual marriages. it means only that religious and other organizations that discriminate can no longer do so using taxpayer dollars. boo hoo.
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“But, to interfere in others lives is a problem. To chastise and admonish a president and politicians for fulfilling a solemn oath to uphold the law…..”
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Jesuitical graduate, again you present a subtrafuge instead of reason. Law is meant to “interfere in others lives”. That is it’s purpose. And when there is an attempt to change the very nature of family life with law, reaction and opposition is to be expected. Our president ignores his oath and issues instructions to his Attorney General to disregard the law.
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This presidency is pushing us as close to totalitarianism as he can by personal fiat. Will you be helping to take us the rest of the way?
“...what a sad bunch of people read this paper.”
John, I am wondering how you know can know what this article says without joining them.
Howard,
Thanks for your post.Pretty funny.We can really set ourselves up when making comments.
:)
Anne: Excommunication is automatic. God enforces it.
Homosexual activists and their liberal supporters have been very successful in labelling their critics as “bigots.” However, the only “bigots” out there are the ones that hate heterosexual society. Homosexuals have been pushing their vile agenda onto society since 1973, after they forced the American Psychiatric Association into dropping homosexuality as a mental illness through a long campaign of threats, intimidation, constant disruption of meetings, and, eventually, infiltration.
Any group of people who parade through our streets naked, with open displays of sadomasochism, bondage and public sex acts, should be open to scrutiny. No normal human being behaves in this way. Their habit of having multiple sex partners, bath house orgies and even “bug parties” (where willing participants go to become deliberately infected with a disease or virus ) to be more “accepted” within the GBLT community, is in need of psychiatric help.
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 63% of msm (men who have sex with men) in the USA are now HIV positive, which is 44 times higher than in any other identifiable group. Another one third are also infected, but don’t know it until they become chronically sick. Anal cancer is now increasing among homosexuals by 1-3% per year, and anal gonorrhea is now at epidemic levels in San Francisco. Going back five years to 2008, homosexual men were responsible for 63% of ALL syphilis cases in the entire USA. For a group of people that make up a mere 2% of the population, this is pretty shocking. By the way, the entire GBLT population of the USA is a mere 3.8%. Why Obama is making them a special case can only be viewed in light of his hatred for all that America is.
Studies show that GBLTs not only suffer from a higher percentage of STD’s than the rest of the general population, but are also vulnerable to mental health issues and addiction problems. Homosexual activists claim that this is due to the discrimination that they regularly face in society. Yet almost every country in the western world has laws protecting (and promoting) homosexuality, with stiff legal action taken against anyone who dares to open discriminate against them. I would say that it is their wreckless, health destroying “lifestyle” that is at the root of their self-inflicted problems, rather than outside discrimination. Indeed. homosexuals live an average of 13.5 years less than heterosexual men, The CDC does not even keep statistics for gays over 65, as almost 50% of homosexuals die before the age of 50, and 50% of lesbians die before the age of 48. How many gays or lesbians over 80 do you know? Even those who are in “monogamous” same-sex relationships still die younger than heterosexual married couples.
Romans 1:27 states: “and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving IN THEIR OWN PERSONS the due penalty of their error.”
Starting to ring any bells? Do you think that God might actually know better than we mere selfish, self-centred mortals?
Same sex so-called “marriage” is not about “equality” or “human rights”. It is about legitimizing the lifestyle of a special interest group. Nothing more. In spite of the legalising of same sex unions, or even marriage in some countries, same sex unions are in the minority. A recent poll taken in Britain among gays & lesbians revealed that only 27% were in favour of marriage. They much preferred to have “open” relationships. The “fight” for same sex “marriage” in Canada, which was legalized in 2005, fizzled out when 18 months later, only ONE same sex marriage union was performed in Toronto, Ontario, which has the biggest queer population in the country. So much for “fighting for their rights.”
Same sex marriage has nothing to do with equality. It is about breaking down a heterosexual institution so they can throw it back in our faces.
Laws are means to express public opinion, promote public good, and restrict public health threats. They are not the source of good, God is. If and when the executive branches of those powers and principalities seek laws contrary to God, they should be rejected and opposed. If and when the legislative branch of those powers and principalities seek laws contrary to God, they should be rejected and opposed. If and when the judicial branches of those powers and principalities seek laws contrary to God, they should be rejected and opposed. We hope our nation will follow God, but if it joins the Babylonians, we are not obligated to. God will deliver us, whether it be to Israel or the lions. Stay with God.
I think that calling homosexuals haters is interesting when they’re being called immoral in the town square with some of the broad strokes painted by Mr. Gibbons. Sounds hateful to me. Yet gays are the haters?
I do have to ask: why can’t homosexuals have religious freedom too?
Howard, some time ago, many years that is, I studied Austin Fagothey SJ, Right and Reason. His book on ethics dealt with the heart and soul of the construct of law. In his book Fr. Fagothey instructed the purpose of law is
‘freedom for’, not ‘freedom from’. Therein lies a major difference. Law is to enhance ones purpose of choice, freedom to pursue it. Law is not the mere exclusion of behavior ‘freedom from’. According to Fr. Fagothey, church action to interfere with the civil right of gays to marry truly merits the ‘freedom from’ award.
Bill Gibbons: The CDC says that 2% of the population is gay and male. (A very low estimate IMO) That would mean there are 6,400,000 gay men in the U.S. based on the population of 320,000,000 people. There are approximately 30,000 new HIV cases involving gay men every year. That means that the other 6,370,000 gay men (or 99.5%) don’t have HIV or AIDS. Oddly enough, the way you paint the picture, you make it seem as if every gay man in the country has AIDS or syphilis or gonorrhea. Of course, straight people don’t suffer from any of those issues, right? It must be a lot easier to rationalize bigotry and discrimination if you can demonize the people you don’t approve of. What better way to do that than to make them all seem inhuman. So who’s actually the monster in this scenario?
As for the shorter lifespan diatribe. That’s completely false. You can’t use statistics from 30 years ago based on gay men living in San Francisco, and extrapolate that all gay men in 2013 sleep with 1,000 men and die when they’re 45. The only organizations that are still peddling this nonsense are anti-gay hate groups. You said yourself that the CDC doesn’t even keep those records, so what reputable organization did you garner this accurate information from? ...NARTH perhaps?
Jesuitical, I haven’t read Fr. Fagothey, but based on what you’ve related I’d say that the Church does indeed seek ‘freedom for’ rather than ‘freedom from.’ The problem is that you’re ignoring what it seeks the freedom for, such as place children for adoption according to its own teachings, and teach the fullness and truth of the Gospel to the faithful, both of which have led it afoul of the law where same-sex “marriage” is recognized. The Church does not seek to prevent two people of the same sex from committing to each other, which they can do whether the law recognizes that union or not.
Kevin, the problem lies in your statement; “...what it seeks the freedom for,...” It is not the province of the church or anyone else to seek the ‘freedom for’ anyone else, but for the individual to seek freedom for itself aside from the influence, decisions, and determination of another. In this case the church is deciding and imposing its religious requirement on others differing in faith. Such is the interference of the church on the civil rights of gays. As the church continues to cast aspersions on gays from its pulpit, to call gays ‘objectively disordered’ or its lifestyle as ‘intrinsically evil’ may be out of date and touch, but falls under the province of its absolutist religious judgments. “...fullness and truth of the gospel…” also is a problem, since ‘truth’ is substituted for ‘belief’ and used as a value judgment.
Charles, I have a much more serious concern with your reply regarding the nature of ‘law’. When you introduce God as the source of law and good, that might well be. But, who is to say, or speak the intent of a god; you, Hindu, Jew, Buddist, Muslim. Any god we can understand is no god at all. As soon as one religion cites its god in its manner of religion, yet another religion has it definitive point of view…which is to prevail; yours. Every religion sees the other as silly and bogus, not its own. I simply go one religion further. Atheist have as much concern with the goodness of law as does the spokesperson for any religion.
What would you expect from a man never raised from childhood in the American experience? Never raised even in the western civilized world. While technically he might be a citizen (although there is still enough doubt), his power to impose his beliefs on the culture along with Catholic politicians and pro-Obama Catholics make him the most dangerous man in American history. Since the USCCB has never gotten serious with him and drawn any line in sand, he knows the Bishops are a pushover. The gospel tells us Jesus drew a line in sand by violently overturining the moneychanger tables in the Temple. When will the Bishops finally stand for righteousness rather than continuing to hide in their Sacristy? It’s not that Obama isn’t listening to Catholics and Evangelicals. He simply doesn’t care.
“the purpose of law is ‘freedom for’, not ‘freedom from’.”
Jesuitical graduate, law in itself is merely the exercise of power. It’s purpose is to further the goals of those who enact them. To pretend that there is an intrinsic good or meaning beyond that, is to try and sell your goals. History, especially the 20th century, has proven my statement.
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Also, I am wondering why you are trying to attach yourself to the Jesuits in these conversations. Are you one? Graduates from many American Catholic (so called) colleges have no standing as to the superiority of morality or thinking in today’s America.
Jesuitical graduat of Boston College said,
Of course, that doesn’t preclude people working for Catholic adoption agencies or individuals who want to write or speak the Gospel themselves (or simply want to practice professions like psychology in accordance with what is morally right) from bringing the same complaints the Church does, in full accordance with what Fr. Fagothey says. Am I right?
Howard, ‘law’ regulates the conduct of behavior, and look no further than the opening sentence of the Constitution; to form a more perfect union and the set of following circumstances which it ordains for the good ole USA. Are you in possession of another history of the 20th century, known only to you.
J.D.,
You must have missed world history of the 20th century, and the 19th.
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Then you agree with me. Freedom “from” or “for” is meaningless except when discussing morality, law is totally dependant upon the goal desired. Regulating behavior was the outstanding feature of slavery laws, separate but equal laws, internment laws in Europe, abortion laws, etc. If you watch JLTV currently, they are running the original Eichman trial movies. I heard a transcript of his from an interview being read as he listened. It read, ”Hitler’s word had the force of law.”
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Law is RAW POWER. The only thing that can control it is objective truth. That truth is not found among men who do not look outside themselves – hence the Catholic Church. Those Jesuits that continue to defy Catholic teaching will find themselves eventually in the same position as the women religious currently. You all have vowed to obey the Pope, you can find yourselves splintered off and wandering in the wilderness.
Kevin, correct none of those you cite are prevented from writing or speaking the gospel or should they be. It is only those with differing opinions are prohibited from acting in accord with their consciences that must be prevented. Speak or write as you will.
Howard….I cited an ethics book; Right and Reason by Autsin Fagothey SJ. That book is a moral guide as to what ‘law’ ought to be. I cited the Constitution of the USA, a product of the Enlightenment, which recognized America as a culturally diverse nation and instituted concepts of law promulgated by Fagothey. What do you do instead; make Fagothey’s case for him by citing known heinous offenders, autocratic dictators, all of whom abused the law, prohibited an orientation of a culturally diverse society to exist. Your reply is ludicrous, citing example after example what the law ought not be, and what happens when Fagothey is not followed.
Sorry folks, it’s over. There is no stopping the inexorable flood of secularism, relativism, and materialism that is drowning the West. We are morally, intellectually, and financially bankrupt. You can blame Obama but the people put him there. We, the people, are vile. The Church and its faithful need to understand what is going to happen from this point. The pressure from the secular government is going to become greater and greater. First, the Church will be forced to abandon its “public” ministries (adoption agencies, anti-human trafficing, hospitals, other charitable activities) because it cannot submit to the government-imposed mandates on moral and life issues (e.g., providing or making referrals for contraceptives & abortion, placing adoptees with gay couples). This is already happening, and will dramatically accelerate. Next, the Church and its faithful will be labeled as societal pariahs because they will not endorse or recognize “gay” marriage. Both the institution and its members will be labeled as bigots, many will lose their jobs (already happening) and will be shunned by society. These battles are already lost. Are you willing to suffer this for the teachings of the Church? My guess is that 75% of American “Catholics” are nots o willing (especially considering more than half of all self-identified Catholics voted for Obama), which means Church membership will shrink dramatically, the pews and coffers will be empty, parishes and schools will close, and the Church will become completely marginalized in the U.S. After the house of cards that Western Civilization has become crahses down, as it inevitably must, the Chuch will be left standing and people will start to return to it. But it ain’t gonna be pretty in the meantime.
J.G.
Riiiiight. What ought to be. How difficult is it to dream? My argument with you is that you seem to be putting all hope and belief in LAW. What it ought to be and never can be. Law itself is a tool like science, not an ideology – until now.
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The American Constitution is indeed a ground breaking document. And as our anointed one has said, living. Which means that it can be changed and understood and ignored AT WILL. It is a document written by men with exceptional wisdom. Men with un-exceptional wisdom are the inheritors.
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I started by saying that you present subterfuge. In order for the “diversity” you wish to take place, paths must be cleared. If we all focus on changing law and accept the dictates, then maybe no one will notice that the moral problems have been over powered.
Jesuitical graduate of Boston College said,
So this really flies in the face of what has actually happened in Canada and Sweden, where clergy ran afoul of the law for nothing but speaking and writing, even as no one else was actually prohibited from acting in any way they please. It seems to me this is clear justification that the laws they ran afoul of are unjust.
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Don,
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I would give my life for the Church. Yes, we will see further persecution. If you lived through the Communist era, even in the U.S. you saw what happens. The state FIRST gets rid of the Church.
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A smaller, leaner, smarter, faithful Church. This has been predicted. When society devours its weak and totalitarianism prevails, we will still be here as they were in Poland and the USSR.. .
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Part of Washington’s Farewell Address 1796
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“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
Howard -
The entire Christian moral framework of Western Civilization is being washed out from under our feet. We must fight the good fight, of course, but it is hard to be optimistic that the tide can be turned. Traditional Christian values have gone from being almost universally accepted, to being merely tolerated, to being vocally rejected in a mere 50 years. We can have confidence in the Lord’s assurance that the Church will prevail - or at least that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I am afraid, however, that the radical secularism, moral relativism and sexual libertinism that now define the West must first run their course and utterly fail. That will be a painful process. Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and be more hopeful that the culture can be re-taken.
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Don, I was going to say something optimistic to you but changed my mind. Then I just a minute ago received this email from the Walk For Life West Coast organization. They said in part about the 2013 Walk:
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“As always we were joined by members of all faiths, all races, and all ages. As always the walkers were peaceful, courageous and happy, the living Culture of Life on the streets of San Francisco. And this year more than ever our hearts were strengthened by the incredible number of young people at the Walk. Truly they are our future.”
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I traveled with a bus full of young people to the Walk. The enthusiasm is amazing. You just wait.
When we as Roman Catholics finally educate ourselves about the real cause behind homosexuality we will have to wear sackcloth and ashes. Perhaps in doing so we will begin to understand where the Church where has often been wrong on similar issues in their history. Crying about ‘gay rights’ as an impediment to Catholic religious liberty does nothing to help bring about the necessary Christian healing between opposing parties.
Religion in the western world has never enjoyed more freedom than today. Catholics and members of other religious institutions are completely free to practise their religion and obey its teachings. This freedom is partially guaranteed by the the U.S. constitution it is ultimately the Separation of Church and State that makes this possible. While such separation prevents that State from supporting any religion or from interfering with it also obliges religion to leave the public sphere open to all. When both sides respect the boundaries, secularism provides a framework for freedom of conscience, tolerance and democracy. Secularism does not guarantee human rights but it helps make them possible.
Trebert, Welcome.
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I am going to notify everyone who is been involved in the SETI project that we have finally discovered a communication from an extraterrestrial.
Equal to civil rights? Seriously? So now any cause is of that same magnitude? I’m no historian, but I haven’t seen the “heterosexuals only” drinking fountain or bathroom. I’m not black, but had I lived through the 60s I can’t imagine equating the two. It would be like equating Iraq war to World War Two. Oh wait. A different idiot tried that.
I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. This issue is a slippery slope of ambiguity. When do we begin to sanction sexual deviancy because deviants are “born devinat”? Why are perpetrators now the victims? Oh, I almost forgot, today we are a society of victims, every one else is guilty except “the devil made me do it.
Archbishop Cordileone said it right - it’s not about equality under the law, b/c marriage is something the law can’t fundamentally define. This is why we have an amendment that lets the churches have their role and the government its own apart from that realm.
This is part of the test of democracy - that the people have the sense to elect the right person to govern justly. We the people have elected Washington, Lincoln and Reagan, but we failed with Obama. We have to start over with hearts of the American people if we want to change the course of a president’s agenda.
I thank God to see these comments that show the seriousness of this issue. We are going to experience great evil if this thing passes. Look at what has happened already in Canada. The homosexual activists will not be satisfied with just getting their way. They will force us to deny our consciences and agree to marry them and provide facilities for their weddings and receptions. Those who refuse will be sued and will lose their jobs. Many Catholics will choose to ignore this evil and out of ignorance or willfulness will show contempt for Church teaching. We must pray and sacrifice not to cave and deny Jesus Christ.
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