Sad, sad news regarding adoptions today. Catholic World News reports that Boston Catholic Charities will no longer be doing adoptions because of the Massachusetts law that requires adoption agencies to allow homosexual couples to adopt.
This is a very troubling development. If religious agencies are not allowed to operate under their own precepts and follow their own religion's guidelines, then where is the free practice of religion in the United States? Would it be equally "wrong" to allow an Orthodox Jewish organization to adopt only to Orthodox Jews? As long as there are state and other adoption agencies that allow others to adopt, where is the problem?
Will Catholic and other religious schools be forced to hire teachers and staff whose beliefs go directly against their church's teaching? Where will people who want to adopt go if their consciences do not allow them to use an organization that goes against their belief system?
The other issue this brings up is one of government funding. It has always been my contention that as soon as a private school accepts government funding, the precedent is set for the government to begin to dictate the curriculum at the school. I was a lone ranger in my son's Catholic elementary school because I didn't want them receiving any money from the state which could jeopardize their Catholic identity. Apparently, there are many organizations and people within those organizations who don't mind the government dictating (to private institutions) what is taught, who gets hired, and how they run their business.
For organizations whose purpose is to support life or serve their religious beliefs, it would be wise to stay far away from governmental funding and government control in order to follow the dictates of conscience and the belief system they serve.
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The other issue this brings up is one of government funding. It has always been my contention that as soon as a private school accepts government funding, the precedent is set for the government to begin to dictate the curriculum at the school.
ReplyDeleteI applaud your honesty on this point. Catholic Charities in Boston actually receives the overwhelming majority of their funding from non-sectarian sources outside of the diocese--including quite a bit of public money. That's an important part of the situation here. Even if they managed to get some sort of religious exemption to indulge their anti-gay hate, they would lose a tremendous amount of funding.
I think the bishops' decision is disgraceful and bigoted, but it's better than trying to have it both ways--claiming religious privilege while spending tax dollars.
The precident has been set, legally, in this country, that with government funding comes the responsibility to follow the government's dictates. It should be obvious that for the Church, that is not possible. Therefore, they should not accept government funding so that they can continue to follow Church teaching.
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